by Carrie Moritz, Gazette
On Monday, the Garretson City Council met in regular session. While much of the one-hour meeting appeared routine, many of the items involved were those that encourage the community to keep moving forward in planning and development. The council also set their equalization meeting and received information on issues with utility billing.
The meeting began with updates on utilities and the city website. For Committee Reports, billing clerk Sonya Swanson reported that natural gas prices were up substantially for February, increasing by $0.28 per ccf to $1.46. Luckily, February was a warmer month, which helped to keep usage down.
City Finance Officer Paetyn Dreckman reported that the software that takes online utility bill payments went through an upgrade, and due to security reasons, it was unable to transfer billing details. This has forced all on-line payment users to re-enter their billing information, and several users, especially those on automatic payments, had not yet done so. This is causing a backlog of late or non-received payments.
When asked by councilors what had been done so far to rectify the issue, she stated they had sent several emails, included that information in mailed utility bills, and posted notices on social media. Dreckman reported that their next planned step was to acquire a list of those users who had not updated their information, and she and Swanson were going to begin calling them.
Dreckman also pointed out continued problems with meter readings, which have been occurring for a while. Oftentimes, Swanson can catch it when she's processing the billing, but not when it's through electronic billing. Dreckman said a quick phone call or email to city hall can easily rectify the issue.
The final update Dreckman had about utility billing was the naming and list order of the charges. Currently, the order of charges and the names of the surcharges are confusing, and she is hoping to work with the utility billing processor to re-order and adjust the names of those charges to help clarify them.
Dreckman then reported that the newly-remodeled city website should hopefully go live by the end of the week at CityofGarretson.com. It is being set up by the same company as the school's website, Apptegy, and has its own standalone app that is now available in the Google Play and Apple app stores. To download, head to your app store and search "City of Garretson." The app will look familiar to those who already have the school's app, and will run much the same way.
Next was sewer and streets updates. The City Maintenance Supervisor position has been renamed to Public Works Director, and will be headed by Jordan Doane. Doane reported to the council that they have begun to seek out companies for chip sealing, and that summer pool preparations have begun. City Building Inspector JR Hofer was hired in February as a Public Works Manager, effectively taking over Ryan Nussbaum's former position in the maintenance department.
After a first reading amending city council appointments, the council approved a garage placement variance and a liquor license transfer. The liquor license will now be held by Kimberly Konda, who recently took over The Treasure Chest. The business sells local wines along with other regionally-made and local-interest items.
Then, the council set its Equalization Meeting date. It will be held on Wednesday, March 20 at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall.
To further the city's goals in development, the council was then asked to approve the submission of a $2,500 grant application for traffic control devices, such as flashing stop signs or school zone signs. Discussion was held on what type of devices could be purchased, their likely costs, and areas of town that could benefit from one. The council opted to have the city employees move forward with the application prior to deciding where to use any received funding.
The council also formally approved receipt of the $600,000 Community Access Grant that was reported on by the Gazette in January, and were informed by Cole Gebhart of Sayre Associates that advertising for bids on 4th Street would be starting within the next two weeks, with a closing date of April 3. If things move along on schedule as the engineers hope they will, construction could begin in early June. Gebhart expressed Sayre Associates' intent to hold a public meeting at the Legion once the bid has been awarded, so that residents can ask questions and learn more about the construction schedule.
In the two final areas of development, South Eastern Council of Governments (SECOG) representative Sophie Johnson presented on a regional effort they are doing to pursue federal grants for safe roads and streets, and Dane Ekdom of ISG presented the final Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) to the council.
Johnson informed the council that SECOG would be applying for a Planning and Demonstration Grant from the U.S. Dept. of Transportation to assist in developing a Safety Action Plan. The Action Plan would include "adopting innovative technologies and strategies to promote safety", and participation in the SECOG project required a $2,500 cost share and commitment letter to participate. However, for that investment, the city would be eligible to apply for grant funding for road safety projects.
"I'm going to be clear, you're not going to get a new road from this," Johnson clarified. "You're not even going to get resurfacing, likely. It's for safety improvements."
She continued, "So it'd be like rumble strips, high friction surface treatments, lighting, signage, sort of like the traffic control grant that we were discussing earlier today. Sidewalks, maybe a bike path depending on what the report says, signal improvements, shoulder widening, those types of things."
The council opted to move forward with the commitment. Next, Ekdom presented on the final CIP. He pointed out that just because this was a final draft didn't mean the document wasn't allowed to change and evolve. It was meant to outline and prioritize the city's needs and plans, and to put into one place many of the documents that were scattered, such as sewer permits, water rights, and utility maps. It also outlines outstanding city debts and breaks down surcharges and payment plans. It's a comprehensive document, and a digital link can be requested by calling or emailing city hall. After his presentation, Ekdom asked the council to be ready to vote on the final draft at the next meeting.
Due to the Easter holiday, the April meeting of the council will be moved to Monday, April 8 at 6:30 p.m. at the Legion. It is open to the public, and all are invited.
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