May 7 Council Meeting

Had everybody for the meeting, tho CM Sargent had to leave at 7. I think the meeting took about an hour and a half.

We had a presentation, small discussion around street repair. We did have some past pondering about paving East Maple--the concrete section. Though two different engineers said it is still in good shape, and just needs some minor repairs. So that is going to be put off for now. Take a look at that street sometime. It was poured in 1963. That thing has held up great for being a 50 year old road.

We had an extended discussion regarding leasing of city property--at our city sheds on the north side of town---to 1 Source Wireless, which wants to put up a tower which will have Verizon cellular equipment. One neighbor to the property was opposed to the plan, and came to the meeting to give his reasons against the tower. He did present a petition of people opposed to the tower, but he was the only one that came to the meeting to speak against it.

I get why folks may be opposed to a cell tower. But just like power lines, and sewer lines, they have to go somewhere. And I think on city property, on the edge of town, in an area zoned Industrial, is an appropriate place for a cell tower. In a previous meeting, the Board of Adjustments approved the tower 5-0, and in this particular council meeting, the city council voted 5-0 in favor of signing the lease.

So at some point, the tower will go up, Verizon will put their gear on the tower, and those of you who have Verizon service will have improved coverage in town. But just sayin'...US Cellular has cared about the folks in Roland for about the last 10 years. Their repeater is still transmitting from the water tower.

The council also approved an increase in compensation for our City Clerk Jodi Meredith. Jodi has recently completed her Certified Municipal Clerk classwork. We have in the past given city employees raises as the increase their professional certifications. Jodi is doing a nice job for the city, and I certainly felt the increase was worthy.

The council finalized the ordinance for the No Parking Zone by Britson Park. Pretty basic stuff there. Another basic task was approving our contract with Wellmark for employee health insurance. We only had a 1% raise in rates this year, so that was good, and certainly atypical for most employers.

Lastly, the council approved, with one dissenting vote, to go forward with the trunk line sewer by boring it under Samson Street. We could never work out an arrangement with most of the property owners along Samson Street to take the less expensive route along the creek. So here is the deal Roland residents.....

This plan is going to cost an extra $200,000. So because of the unwillingness of those people to be a little flexible for the good of Roland, with approximately 550 households in Roland, you are going to have to pay an extra $350 or so because those folks aren't team players. So those folks just handed you a bill for $350.00. Enjoy.