City prepares for numerous open positions

Along with discussing City Superintendent Mark Brown’s forthcoming retirement, Holyoke City Council accepted two resignations at its April 5 meeting. Lennie Fisbeck, foreman of the water and wastewater department, and Terri Biersdorfer, building permit technician, both submitted their letters of resignation.

With the personnel changes to come, the city council had several decisions to make.  

When Brown retires, there will be two employees taking over his role. Based on an April 4 workshop to discuss those positions, council members voted to set the salaries at $95,000 and $85,000. They also voted to advertise Fisbeck’s position at $25-$30 per hour, depending on licensing.

Sirens will no longer sound at 7 a.m., noon and 6 p.m.

Some residents have commented on the fact that the sirens have not been sounding at 7 a.m., noon and 6 p.m. for some time now. Brown informed the city council that there had been problems with those particular sirens. When crews looked into it, they found that the clock at the communications center was the culprit.

When asked whether the money should be spent to make repairs, council members were quick to decide that it was not worth it. Sirens will still go off for emergencies, but the days of telling the time by the sirens are officially over for Holyoke.

The next test of the tornado sirens has been set for Thursday, April 21, at 10 a.m.  

Visitor comments

Gary Herr was in attendance at the April 5 meeting and had two comments for the city council. First was an update on the computers the city ordered from Printers Paper and More for the office. Because of chip shortages, they are on order but are 11 weeks out. Also, to keep price the same as they were quoted, they had to reduce warranty from three years to one year.

Herr’s second comment was about recycling. Having noticed that the paper portion of the city’s recycling bin is often packed full but the plastic isn’t, he had a suggestion. Since the county accepts plastics, perhaps the two entities could coordinate. The city could collect paper, and the county could collect plastics. This would allow more room for paper recycling.

Officials report

Brown reported one power outage March 17 at 2 a.m. in the 300 block of West Emerson Street. Crews took care of that as a problem with the Christmas-light circuit. Other work was done on the roofs of the pool and city hall.

Brown also noted that Western Area Power Administration has scheduled an outage for Tuesday, April 26. The whole town will go black for an estimated 15-20 minutes. Brown is working with WAPA and Highline to schedule an April 27 outage as well.

A Zoom meeting was held March 25 with the Colorado Water Conservation Board. There is a new floodplain mapping that council members should review.

Council member Cathy Edge asked Brown when work will begin on Sherman Avenue. Brown did not have an exact answer but acknowledged that with summer coming, contractors are hard to come by — as are materials. What council members did agree on was that when the work gets done, it needs to be done right the first time.

Council member Ashley Sullivan inquired about citywide cleanup. Brown said that the county approved it, and now he is just waiting to confirm the dates, which are typically the second week of May.

Police Chief Doug Bergstrom reported that during the period of March 11-30, Holyoke Police Department handled or generated 123 calls for service. Under code enforcement, there were three animal complaints and seven municipal code violations.

Bergstrom also noted that officer Clara Courtright is in the last month of academy. She should be graduating at the end of April and taking her Peace Officer Standards and Training test in the beginning of May.

Edge asked Bergstrom why there aren’t more tickets given. Bergstrom explained that the officers typically give a warning on a driver’s first offense, and that tends to stop the violation. It’s when there is a second offense that a ticket is usually given.

City Clerk/Treasurer Kathy Olofson reported that the city received the first quarter lottery proceeds in the amount of $8,119.13, which goes to the conservation trust fund. The city also received its capital credit refund from PC Telcom in the amount of $2,939.08.

City Attorney Al Wall reported that many small towns are bracing for increased costs with inflation going up.

Recreation Director Victoria Dunker reported that her department is busy with the youth soccer program. There are 150 kids and 12 volunteer coaches involved.

Recently Dunker also met with Great Outdoors Colorado. She said that Holyoke’s GOCO representative will be out next month to see sites and maps to move forward with the GOCO grant writing process.

Edge said that a few community members have asked whether shuffleboard is included in the new plans. Dunker said she would look into it.

Other business

In other business at the April 5 meeting, council members:

— Adopted Resolution No. 6-2022, resolution of governing body adopting and providing for standards for procurement, bidding and contract awards.

— Accepted Nick Ferguson’s bid for hauling rock for seal coating at $11 per yard, rather than CD Trucking’s bid of $60 per ton.

— Donated $1,500 to the Holyoke Volunteer Fire Department for education and training.

— Donated a youth summer swim pass to the Dragon’s Wagon Preschool auction.

— Approved a liquor license renewal for Holyoke Hotel LLC.

— Approved special events permits for the Phillips County Fair Board on April 16, May 29, June 19, July 8, July 9, July 23, Sept. 4 and Sept. 18.

— Approved a travel request for Bergstrom to attend a Glock Armor’s Course in Sterling for recertification at a cost of $250 and use of a patrol vehicle for the trip.

— Approved a travel request for Commander JR Myers to attend tactical medical instructor class in Castle Rock at a cost of $538 plus use of a patrol vehicle and fuel.