| Garbage
fee rate hike requested
The Cottonwood City Council heard a proposal from Walco to raise garbage fees a proposed 2.8% starting October 1 at their July meeting Monday, July 11. This would amount to a 40 cent increase on residential users. Marietta Holman of Walco said this is mostly due to the increasing costs of fuel and insurance. The council will take this under advisement during their budgeting process. They’ll have a budget workshop meeting next Tuesday, July 19. In his water report Martin Fowler said they have a mystery developing. He said they lost about 500,000 gallons of water somewhere last month leading him to believe they may have a major leak somewhere but it’s not coming to the surface. They pumped 4.3 million gallons last month with 2.7 million winding up through user’s water meters. A lot of the difference can be accounted for with water used for road work but it still leaves better than half a million gallons unaccounted for. He said they will keep an eye on this. Nuxoll reported the sewer treatment system was inspected near the end of June by Jerry Schaeffer. They got dinged on the bookwork but otherwise the report was very complimentary. Jack Duman reported that the sign grant money has arrived at Ferdinand and they will be working up an order among the entities involved in the grant which includes Cottonwood, Ferdinand and several local highway districts. He also reported he has asked a couple of the state Dept. of Transportation officials to look over their sidewalk grant request and see where they could make it better. He reported the dust abatement program seems to be going very well. Using a smaller outfit to do the work is allowing them more time to get streets prepped. He’s still looking at paving work on King St. from the carwash to the park and is trying to get a time worked out. He and Shelli Schumacher also mapped out the sidewalk bulb they want to put in at the corner of the fire station to redirect traffic to where it should be and protect the hydrant. In the land and buildings report Schumacher said she and Nuxoll met with Scot Schlader and Teel Bruner of Prairie Youth Sports and had a good discussion. They were receptive but couldn’t commit to anything until they’d run it past their other members at their next meeting, which will be sometime in August. They did sign an agreement on the new outfield fence on the southeast field. It will be a permanent type fence but would be pulled back out if the city ever deems that necessary. Mayor Denis Duman reported the fire department is seeking a zero-match grant that would provide for some recruitment and retention incentives for firemen. It would also allow for bonuses for continuing firefighters to compensate for the time away from their families to attend training. He reported they have also been awarded a grant on public awareness to the tune of about $25,000. This includes things such as smoke alarms, extinguishers, public informational meetings, etc. A resolution was read and approved amending the city’s employee sick leave policy. The major change is putting a cap on the amount of sick leave than can be accrued. The council adjourned to an executive session at 9:15 p.m. The next regular meeting will be Monday, August 8 at 8 p.m. |
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