City pledges $2K for county housing survey

    Phillips County Economic Development Director Trisha Herman approached Holyoke City Council last Tuesday, Jan. 15, asking the City to help PCED match state grant money for assessing the county’s housing shortage.
    PCED is seeking $12,500 in pledges from several local entities to finance a housing assessment in Phillips County. The figure represents half of an estimate calculated from three preliminary bids. The other half of the cost, PCED hopes, will be matched by an administrative grant from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs.
    The City voted unanimously to pledge $2,000 toward the PCED goal. Other organizations that have agreed to pledge funds include Melissa Memorial Hospital, Haxtun Hospital District and PCED. Holyoke School District is in the process of approving a pledge, and Herman also plans to approach the Town of Haxtun with a funding proposal at its next council meeting Monday, Feb. 4.
    Herman also mentioned that an $18,000 estimate was received from Hanna:Keelan Associates, P.C., of Lincoln, Nebraska.
    “If we had these six entities all put a pledge down, we could have way more than enough,” she said. “If you all would like to support this project, we’d be very appreciative.”
    Because the grant being sought by PCED can only be disbursed to a government entity, PCED will be approaching Phillips County Board of Commissioners to ask for its support, both by facilitating the transfer of funds and by contributing County funds to help match the grant.
    Herman added that collaboration between multiple county entities would help demonstrate the community’s support for the survey.
    A shortage of available housing was identified by businesses as an obstacle to recruiting and growth at a countywide PCED meeting Oct. 22.
    Herman has since coordinated her efforts to pursue a survey with Yuma County Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Maggie Metzler. She said that because of an overlap between Phillips and Yuma county data, HKA is willing to offer each county a discount if they both choose the company.
    Phillips County was last assessed in 2004. Herman stated that a current housing survey is the first step toward quantifying the county’s housing shortage and opening up new opportunities for grant funding.
    The City and other contributors will not be expected to pay out their pledge until the surveyor is hired.
    Also at last week’s council meeting, a request from the Holyoke Community Childcare Initiative for City support in seeking a separate DOLA administrative grant was approved. Mayor Orville Tonsing was directed to sign a letter of support that confirms the City’s willingness to facilitate the transfer of funds from the State to HCCI.

Printers Paper & More chosen for network services
    Council members accepted an $860 per month bid from Printers Paper & More for network services, effectively severing the City’s previous business relationship with Sterling-based New Age Electronics.
    The decision came after New Age Electronics informed the City that they would no longer offer services on an as-needed basis, but instead would demand a monthly contract.
    The NAE bid of $1,895 per month was criticized as being too expensive by the council. Council member Kevin Scott also expressed his desire to keep the City’s money within the city.
    “I think we need to keep it local,” he said.
    “An over $12,000 per year difference is huge,” added member Steve Moore.
    In 2017, NAE merged with Platinum Technology, also of Sterling. County commissioners voted in December to hire Platinum over PPM for County IT services, citing the additional manpower offered by Platinum.
    City Clerk Kathy Olofson said the County’s needs were greater and more complex than the City’s needs, which could be served by PPM.
    
Highly qualified officers recognized with raises
    At the recommendation of Holyoke Police Chief Doug Bergstrom, the City also approved a proposal that will give pay raises to police officers with bilingual skills and college degrees applicable to law enforcement.
    “It shows that we want to keep these officers here who are doing a good job for us,” he said.
    Bergstrom specified that officer Mary Seeley will be receiving a $1 per hour raise because of her bachelor’s degree, and officers Joseph Marcum and Jorge Salas will be receiving 50-cent hourly raises because of their associate degree and fluency in Spanish, respectively.
    The department will retain its telephone-based Spanish interpretation service for situations in which Salas is unavailable.
    
Officials, rec director report
    Bergstrom reported that his department, including code enforcement, handled or generated 263 calls for service from Dec. 27-Jan. 9.
    They wrote 14 citations and two reports and gave out 44 warnings. Code enforcement handled two animal complaints, four dogs at large and 10 ordinance violations.
    Regarding the City’s ongoing recodification project, City Attorney Al Wall said he hopes to send a draft of codes to Municode early this week.
    Wall also mentioned that an ongoing legal case concerning water rights in Colorado and involving the City of Holyoke will be going to a 10-day trial in June. The case challenges the constitutionality of a 2010 state senate bill that could threaten local access to deep water wells.
    At the recommendation of Wall, review and adoption of the operating agreement between the Heginbotham Library Board of Trustees and Holyoke City Council was tabled.
    Recreation Director Victoria Dunker reported on the success of the Jan. 13 Nuggets Skills Challenge, which drew more than twice as many young participants as the 2018 challenge. Eight representatives from the Holyoke competition will be sent to the sectional competition in Fort Collins on Feb. 10.
    A visit from former Denver Nuggets player and current Nuggets Ambassador Mark Randall has been scheduled for Holyoke kindergartners through sixth-graders Jan. 28. The event will include a talk about sportsmanship, and Nuggets apparel will be handed out to students.
    Registration for the Feb. 18 3-on-3 basketball tournament is now open. The Recreation Advisory Committee will also be meeting with Alli Howe of the Northeast Colorado Health Department on Feb. 6 to discuss City participation in an NCHD program.
    
Other business
    In other business at the Jan. 15 meeting, the council:
    — Heard from library board member Sandy Triplette who introduced new board member Jordan Gerk.
    — Agreed to a wage schedule for library employees, as presented by the library board.
    — Approved purchase requests from the Holyoke Police Department for a $1,500 Crimestar laptop license, four new cellphones with cases from Viaero Wireless for $800 altogether and a 2019 Ford Police Interceptor SUV from Bonanza Ford for $30,302.68, plus lights, graphics and radios from Wireless Advance for $12,490.14.
    — Agreed to a $100 sponsorship of the Baby Bear Hugs Inaugural Gala.
    — Approved a $474.28 travel request for Terri Biersdorfer to attend the 2019 Code Education Institute in Denver.
    — Approved a liquor license renewal for R&B Applications Inc., dba Happy Jacks Barbeque.
    — Approved a special events permit for Thrashers Softball Club Inc. for the Farm and Home Show at the Phillips County Event Center on Feb. 2.