Akey, Moore sworn in to City office

    Two of the three recently re-elected city council members were sworn in at the April 17 meeting. Brian Akey and Steve Moore were in attendance, while the third, Gene Bittner, will be sworn in at the May 1 meeting.
    Official results of the April 3 municipal election were Bittner with 139 votes, Moore 119, Akey 111 and Lisa Werts 71.
    
Sidewalk bid accepted; meeting to be held with library board
    After tabling the decision at the last meeting, council members accepted a $6,575 bid from Wirges Construction to replace the sidewalk at Heginbotham Library.
    There had been concern that the entire sidewalk didn’t actually need replaced, so there was talk of getting new bids. In the end, it was decided that it does need entirely replaced after all and that it needs to be 6 inches wider. With the sidewalk being 6 inches wider, the Wirges Construction bid remained the same with the stipulation that the City pay for the extra concrete needed.
    Other bids for the project came from Rojo Construction $6,760, and Edwards Concrete Productions $8,000.
    Also pertaining to the library, Mayor Orville Tonsing asked that a joint meeting between the city council and the library board be scheduled. Council member Scott Murray then moved that the council go into executive session for the purpose of determining positions for negotiations.
    Following the 31-minute executive session, Tonsing appointed a committee to set up a joint meeting, as well as gather past memorandums of understanding and agreements between the council and the library board. The committee is made up of Akey, Moore, John Schneider, Kevin Scott and Tonsing.
    
Arrangements made to purchase hangar  
    Returning to an issue brought up at the last meeting, council members decided to purchase Joey Larrabee’s hangar at the airport. Wanting $8,000 for it, Larrabee agreed that the City can have the hangar in exchange for forgoing the remainder of his 10-year lease, which comes out to $8,030.
    Wall will draw up an agreement, and the City will use the hangar to store its fuel truck.
    
Rec director, officials report
    Recreation director Victoria Timm reported that participation in youth soccer is up to 135 kids. As has been the case with everyone in the area this spring, Timm has had to contend with inclement weather, rescheduling many of the practices and games. As of the meeting, 16 kids were signed up for the April 21-22 golf clinic, and about 40 were registered for summer baseball and softball.
    Timm is also in the process of advertising the department’s Dandelion Daze 5K race with Holyoke Chamber of Commerce. Sending information about the race out with car registration packets, she hopes to draw in some out-of-town participants.
    Brown reported that the electric department was busy with numerous calls during the weekend blizzard. They’ve also been working with the County to get power set up for the new Pavilion.
    On April 11, the siren testing revealed one in need of repair. A new board has been ordered from Sentry Siren for $1,830.57. A combustion air fan motor was also purchased to repair a boiler at the swimming pool.
    Brown noted that the water and sewer department continues rodding sewers and still has a long way to go. The street department has finished crack-filling all the streets and is now working on the airport, with the Event Center to come next.
    Citywide cleanup is tentatively scheduled for May 16-18.
    Sgt. Mark Werts reported that Holyoke Police Department handled or generated 231 calls for service from March 29-April 11, including code enforcement. They made three arrests, wrote 17 citations and four reports, and issued 33 warnings. Code enforcement handled nine animal complaints/issues and 13 ordinance violations.
    Werts also noted that during the two-day blizzard, HPD received approximately 34 calls for service. HPD also assisted Phillips County Sheriff’s Office, Colorado State Patrol and Yuma County Sheriff’s Office.
    City Attorney Al Wall informed the council that according to the state, a local ordinance will need to be amended to raise the existing floodplain 1 foot. He will be working with Brown to bring the amendment before the council.
    
Other business
    In other business at last Tuesday’s meeting, city council:
    —Donated $1,500 to Holyoke Volunteer Fire Department for education and training.
    —Renewed the liquor license for KarDale’s.
    —Re-elected Scott as mayor pro tem.
    —Opted to put a letter from SARA Inc. on the agenda for the next meeting.