City superintendent, assistant superintendent trainees hired

Following a 33-minute executive session to discuss personnel matters at their April 19 meeting, members of the Holyoke City Council hired trainees for the city superintendent and assistant superintendent roles.

Starting April 26, Jeff Deselms will be employed as the city superintendent trainee at a base pay of $95,000 for 2022. Jeremy Thompson will be the assistant city superintendent trainee at a base pay of $85,000 for 2022. This is in preparation for City Superintent Mark Brown’s retirement. Also effective April 26, Brown will receive $13,000 over six months to train Deselms and Thompson.

At the meeting, council members also opted to advertise the full-time position of building permit technician/code enforcement officer starting at $20 per hour.

Bid accepted for fire department interior

Back in June 2021 when bids for the new fire station were opened, council members were not convinced that the city could afford it. As a compromise, they approved a modified project that left the interior space unfinished and saved $150,699 from the original $945,231 bid by Rockwell Construction.

At the April 19 meeting, council members ended up approving a new bid by Rockwell Construction to finish the interior space, which now costs $305,538.

Though the city has to be the one to sign the contract, it will not be responsible for all of the cost. Bob Heldenbrand and Stacy Rueter of Holyoke Volunteer Fire Department brought the specifics to the meeting.

HVFD has raised $40,000 through brick sales and $35,000 from fundraising. A $73,000 donation from the Richard LeBlanc Memorial brings the total funds to $148,000, which will be donated to the city.

Heldenbrand and Rueter pointed out that HVFD anticipates raising even more money for the project, so the city’s responsibility for finishing the interior will, at most, be $157,538.

Street repairs remain a concern

Visitors Cherrie and Steve Brown were in attendance at the April 19 meeting to repeat their concerns about the state of the streets in Holyoke, particularly the far south ends of Sherman and Belford avenues.

Cherrie told council members that the city promised Larry York that it would pave the 1200 block of South Belford Avenue when he moved there several years ago. That has not happened yet, and Cherrie encouraged the council to prioritize doing so.

Steve shared that Haxtun is currently working on a $1.5 million project to fix 42 blocks. He also brought copies of Holyoke’s community profile from the State Demography Office. He pointed out the population forecast and total household projection for 2050, which both show declines over the next few decades.

Council member Kevin Scott reported for the street committee. He went by Sherman Avenue after the last city council meeting, and he thinks that a drain pipe is needed and that a ditch would not solve the problem. He would like to get engineer Lou Harmon involved.

Regarding Belford Avenue, Mark Brown suggested that the city seek bids for both asphalt and concrete to see what options there are.

Council member Gene Bittner recommended the street committee sit down with Harmon and make a plan to move forward.

Council discusses citywide cleanup issues

Mark Brown told council members that, with the number of employees the city has lost or are injured or out on workers’ comp, he does not know how to pull off a citywide cleanup this year.

As council member Brian Akey pointed out, residents now have three years’ worth of stuff they’ve been waiting to get rid of, so it’s important that the cleanup happen. Council members suggested getting volunteer help, waiting until summer help is hired and completing the cleanup across four days instead of the usual two.

Planning something different will, of course, depend on the county’s approval, but Brown will look into some of the options to make citywide cleanup a possibility.

Officials report

Brown reported that the electric department handled one power outage April 5 on West Emerson Street. In the process, employee Gary Huss sustained an injury and will be out on workers’ comp for a while.

The water and sewer department is working on quarterly testing the alfalfa sprinkler system. Department foreman Lennie Fisbeck, who recently submitted his resignation, will be using his vacation days to finish out his employment. “We will miss him greatly,” Brown said. “He was a great asset to the city.”

The street department is currently working on crack fill, and Brown reported that he is advertising for summer help as well. He is looking to hire about four people, and applicants must be at least 18 years old.

Brown also reminded council members of outages scheduled by Western Area Power Administration for April 26 and April 28 at 6 a.m.

Police Chief Doug Bergstrom reported that Holyoke Police Department handled or generated 95 calls for service March 31-April 14. Code enforcement had two animal complaints and three municipal code violations. Bergstrom also noted that cadet Clara Courtright is scheduled to graduate from police academy April 26.

City Clerk/Treasurer Kathy Olofson reported that Scott Szabo sent the draft of the 2021 audit. Once Olofson reviews it, she will do the two required reports and send them back to Szabo. He will probably present the audit to the council in June.

Olofson also reported that the city received $26.15 from CHS for 2007 patronage.

Recreation director Victoria Dunker reported that soccer is in full swing with 150 participants. Baseball registration is also open, and that season will begin May 15. She noted that once work is finished on the little field, T-ball and machine-pitch teams will be able to practice on that field.

Dunker also reported that the Great Outdoors representative will be in Holyoke on May 6 to tour the recreation sites. The recreation advisory committee was scheduled to meet April 26.

Other business

In other business at the April 19 meeting, council members:

– Donated $30,000 to Holyoke Golf Course for repairs and maintenance.

– Approved a $349 ad in the 2022 Explore magazine.

– Tabled discussion of options for the old fire station.