First Dragon is one step closer to receiving liquor license

First Dragon owner Tom Lau attended the Aug. 20 meeting of Holyoke City Council, which included a public hearing for his liquor license application. Since the application was submitted, City Clerk/Treasurer Kathy Olofson did a walk-through of the newly opened Chinese restaurant.

Fingerprints and a background check have also been submitted to Colorado Bureau of Investigation, but the report had not been received at the time of the meeting. City council members approved the license, subject to favorable fingerprint and background check. From there, the application goes on to the State of Colorado.

Effort to change City election date moves forward

Also at last Tuesday’s meeting, Resolution No. 3-2019 was passed to have a question on the ballot in the November coordinated election. The question is to change the City’s regular election dates from April to November of even years.

Council members also approved Mayor Orville Tonsing to sign an intergovernmental agreement with the Phillips County clerk for the November coordinated election.

Officials, recreation director report

City Superintendent Mark Brown reported that the swimming pool will be closed starting Monday, Aug. 26, and possibly up to Sept. 6 for repairs and annual maintenance to the boiler by Tom Hethcote. Fetzer Electric recently completed wiring on the basement boiler at Heginbotham Library as well, so it should be ready for winter.

In regular City work, the electric department handled one power outage since the last council meeting. The department has also responded to trouble calls, replaced a power pole in the alley of the 300 block of East Hale Street, and finished electric service in the 500 blocks of south Walsh and Wynona avenues.

Lead and copper testing for the State of Colorado has been finished by the water and sewer department. Brown noted that all tests came back with lower than detectable limits for lead. The department also did some work at the Lions Club concession stand at the ballpark and has been patching water valve shutoffs and rodding sewers.

The street department has been patching streets and finished painting crosswalk and parking lines. Crew members continue to mow and pick up branches. A pump that failed at the Highway 385 pit has been repaired, but a new one has also been ordered as the old one is expected to fail again.

Chief Doug Bergstrom reported that Holyoke Police Department, including code enforcement, handled or generated 195 calls for service Aug. 1-14. HPD made two arrests, wrote eight citations and four reports, and gave out 15 warnings. Code enforcement handled one animal complaint, seven dogs at large and seven ordinance violations.

He also reported that a patrol car hit a stop sign Aug. 17 due to a mechanical failure. Though the car and stop sign were dinged up, no one was injured.

Recreation director Victoria Dunker reported that her department had a successful kids activity at National Night Out and that Emma Roll’s internship had ended.

Registration recently opened for women’s volleyball, and games will be played Mondays starting Sept. 16. Youth flag football will begin Tuesday, Sept. 3, and the registration deadline is Aug. 30. Council members approved the hiring of head coach Kody Timm at $700 and an assistant coach at $500. At the time of the meeting, Dunker was still looking for an assistant coach.

The next Recreation Advisory Committee meeting will be held Oct. 16.

Other business

In other business at the Aug. 20 meeting, Holyoke City Council:

— Approved a special events permit for the Phillips County Pheasants Forever banquet Nov. 9.

— Held a public hearing for and accepted Ordinance No. 2-2019, adopting the new municipal code, and voted to certify the new code.