November 6 Council Meeting

Had everybody at the council meeting on 11-6, and also Council Member-Elect Andrew Webb. He will take office on January 2. I think the meeting went about 75 minutes or so.

We got an update on asphalt repairs around the city, most of them are on the east side of town. Crack filling will be on hold until next spring due to the weather turned cold.

We, as in years past, knocked December down to 1 council meeting. We cancelled the meetings on the 4th and 18th, and are having one on the 11th. December typically doesn't have a lot going on. When I first got on the council, we only had meetings once a month. However I was in favor of twice a month. We stayed on top of things a little more, and the meetings went more quickly. Two shorter meetings do not seem as painful as one long meeting. But in December we can get along ok with just one

The council passed two resolutions in regard to financing our sewer projects. One was to set the public hearing, and the other was just some administrative stuff regarding borrowing. The public hearing on our financing will be at our December 11 meeting.

We tabled a RADC request for funding for a sign touting our industrial park along I-35.

We had Micheal Hart from Northland Securities present that gave us a very informative presentation regarding the city's ability to borrow money for our sewer project, and how to pay for it. The project is going to cost $1.8 million approximately. We can pay for it via property tax, via sewer charges, or a mixture of both. The presentation showed how it would affect property tax payers, if paid that way, or what rates would have to rise via sewer. My preference is that is all goes on sewer bills on a line item charge that we all pay. We run our sewer department just like a business. It does not receive funding via property tax. We charge what it costs to run our sewer system. I think this is no different. Everyone will see it on their sewer bill, and that it will simply go away when it is paid off. From a little straw poll of early opinion at the council meeting, I gather I am alone in that opinion. I would say the council is leaning to doing a mix. And I get that. That is a way of spreading it around I guess, and property owners in the city have a vested interest in having a good sewer system. But I think it is important to keep our property taxes low. When people look at moving somewhere, they will get an info sheet showing the tax on a property they are interested in. Do people look at water and sewer rates? And again, as I mentioned, sewer is a business. That business should not be subsidized outside of that business. And that is what happens if we use property tax to pay for this.

Lastly, we had a report from Drew Kamp who is assisting communities in Story County with economic development and such. He gave us an update on the county's use of TIF money for grants for economic development activities. City Clerk Jodi Meredith and I did a grant request for assistance on paying for asbestos removal at the two properties on Main Street that will be torn down for a new city hall. We found our that half of our request was funded, and we will be receiving approximately $6900 towards that effort, so that was a nice grant to get.