Progress, property and repairs highlight City Council meeting

    Three central themes dominated a brief Holyoke City Council meeting Tuesday, Feb. 7, as decisions were made regarding city property, city repairs and progress in various city projects.
    
    Progress
    —City Superintendent Mark Brown reported at the Tuesday meeting that the Colorado Division of Aeronautics and Armstrong Consultants would finally be conducting the final inspection for the new Holyoke Airport partial parallel taxiway project Wednesday, Feb. 8.
    The weather held, the inspection was conducted and the taxiway is now open.
    —Ten applications have been received for the city recreation director position, with six of them from local community members. The applications were reviewed at a meeting Wednesday, Feb. 8.
    —Kevin Scott was granted permission to move forward and rent office space for the rec director in the upstairs of the Peerless Center at $140 per month, plus another small charge for internet access.
    
    Property
    —Six sealed bids for a half-section of city farm ground south of town were opened at the Tuesday meeting, with Allen Reuter taking it at $86,200 per year for the three-year lease. Reuter’s bid beat the second-highest bid by over $20,000 per year.
    —A subdivision exemption request was granted to CHS Grainland, allowing the portion of the lot on which Rudy’s GTO and the oil station sit to be separated off for separate ownership. Rudy’s GTO was formerly the CHS Grainland car care center.
    The lot met all criteria for division, as no issues were present regarding utilities, roads or drainage.
    —Clair Anderson had a house moved to town Jan. 31. Power lines had to be dropped due to the height of the house, causing temporary outages for some homes on the east edge of town.
    Repairs
    —Brown also reported at the Feb. 7 meeting that problems with the main pump of the sewer lift station pond required the ordering of new parts.
    —Sundance Power Pole Inspections will be checking city power poles for rot in late April or May, a service that has not been conducted since 2001-2002, according to Brown. At that time, 48 bad poles were discovered, leading Brown to guess that with similar numbers, the cost of inspection and repair could be as high as $8,000-$10,000.
    —Electrical repairs caused power to be temporarily shut down Friday, Feb. 3, down the alley between Interocean and Campbell avenues from the courthouse to the park and over to the city pool.
    
    Other reports
    It was also reported by Brown at the Tuesday meeting that Morgan Eurich has resigned, and his last day will be Friday, Feb. 17.
    Police Chief Doug Bergstrom reported 216 calls for service from Jan. 12-Feb. 1, as well as eight citations, five reports and 31 warnings.
    
    Other business
    In other business at the Feb. 7 meeting, the council:
    —approved the 2016 year-end transfers.
    —granted a travel request of $628 for Jeremy Thompson to attend the Colorado Rural Water Association conference in Denver.
    —paid $100 for 2017 High Plains Highway membership dues.
    —approved a liquor license renewal for Holyoke Golf Club Inc. and waived local fees.
    —approved a tastings permit application renewal for Red’s Liquors, LLC.
    —held a 25-minute executive session for the purpose of receiving legal advice on specific legal questions and determining positions relative to negotiation.