October 16 Council Meeting

Had everybody for the meeting. Kind of a light load, so it went rather quickly.

During Citizen's Comments we heard a request from the Roland Area Development Corp for around $2000 for a sign along I-35 to tout the lots in our industrial park. Since it was not on the agenda, no action could be taken, and it will be discussed at the next council meeting. The RADC meets at Homestead Housing on the 3rd Monday at 6:30 PM, if anyone is interested in attending their meetings.

We got an update on the sidewalks in Britson Park. The sidewalk along the street is being installed, as well as the driveways to the parking lot.

The council authorized me to sign the contract with Veenstra and Kimm for Engineering work for our sanitary and storm sewer work. I said I would, pending approval from our city attorney. (As an aside, got the ok yesterday, and I signed the contract). The contract is to get V&K to start doing the actual engineering work, and not just the estimate work that was done previously. We also had a little discussion of how to pay for the sewer work;property tax, straight fee on sewer, usage fee or a combination of that. No decision was made. My preference is a straight line item on the sewer bill, across the board for everybody. I don't think it should go on property tax.

Lastly, we had a brief discussion about the billing clerk hiring process. As of the meeting date, we had 8 applications. I was at City Hall yesterday, and we are at about double that now. CM Balmer and Canny and myself, along with City Clerk Meredith will be reviewing the apps, and choosing candidates to interview.

Job Opening for P/T Billing Clerk/Receptionist

Our billing clerk, Janet Olson, is retiring at the end of the year. We would like to get a replacement in soon, to let the veteran train the newbie. If you, or someone you know might fit the bill, please send in an app/resume. HERE is the link to the posting on the city website.

October 2 Council Meeting

Long overdue to comment on this, but I've been busy I guess. I'm suffering from senioritis a little bit.

Had everybody there again, so that is good. Had the usual standard non-controversial stuff first, including a report on a meeting regarding a citizen concern about animals at a house. That got taken care of by the resident getting the proper documentation/licensing for their dogs and chickens.

I made the official proclamation about October 31 from 6 to 8PM as Beggar's Night in Roland. I also appointed Jeremy Heaberlin to the Park Board and Matt Dahlsten to the Planning and Zoning Commission. So I have all slots of Boards and Commissions filled. Yay! Thanks to all our volunteers to those positions.

Next we talked about the sewer trunk line, and made a big step in moving forward. The council agreed that the new trunk line will run under Cottonwood Street, and that we will move forward with the total plan of correcting issues in Roland by installing a new sewer main under Elm for two blocks to tie the new Cottonwood line in to the Linn Street line. This will give sewage in the SE part of the city a more direct route to the treatment plant, and keep it out of the NE part of they city, where it runs now.

So the council approved a motion to have the engineering firm of Veenstra and Kimm present an engineering services contract for this at the next council meeting. Additional work includes a surface water retention pond in the field on the SE part of the city. This will be an above ground holding area during high rain events. If we do this, we will not need to install new storm sewer along Elm. If approved, this whole project will cost $1.8 Million. I will endeavor to have a longer dissertation on what this sewer work will accomplish, how it will work, who will benefit, and who is going to pay for it, in a future post.

Lastly, the council discussed the resignation of Billing Clerk Janet Olson. We have listed the opening on the city website, and we will accept resumes/applications thru Oct 28. Myself, Jerry Balmer, and Duane Canny will be doing the interviewing.

That pretty much hits the high points of the meeting, next meeting is on the 16th.