Mutual aid agreement with rural fire protection district approved

Holyoke City Council approved a mutual aid agreement between the city and the rural fire protection district at its July 20 meeting. Council members also voted to allow the Holyoke Volunteer Fire Department to take the city’s aerial firetruck out of the city upon requests from surrounding towns for the purposes of mutual aid.

The rural fire protection district already has mutual aid agreements with other cities in the area. These agreements extend to the city of Holyoke due to the mutual aid agreement between the two entities.

Council member Gene Bittner asked why the mutual aid agreement is necessary if the aerial firetruck only leaves the city in emergency cases.

Mayor Orville Tonsing responded that he thinks the reason is to have a formal paper trail. He added, “Basically what they say is, ‘You pay for your stuff and we pay for our stuff.’ That’s what we have with all of the surrounding towns. So that they’re not stuck with our bills, we’re not stuck with theirs.”

The mutual aid agreement passed unanimously, and discussion turned to allowing the aerial firetruck to be taken outside of the city at other towns’ requests.

Council member Kevin Scott pointed out that there can’t be a situation where Holyoke is left without necessary equipment.

“We have to have something here,” he said. “They can’t take it all.”

Tonsing said this is specifically for the aerial truck, ensuring Holyoke will still have protection if it is temporarily taken out of the city.

 Council member Ashley Sullivan asked what constitutes mutual aid.

“They call us, we go,” Tonsing answered. “We help.”

Sullivan referenced HVFD Chief Stacy Rueter’s comments from the July 6 meeting, when he said the director of Haxtun Corn Festival asked if the truck could be used to hold a flag for the national anthem at the event.

She asked if mutual aid is something that can be arranged ahead of time like that.

“I have a little problem with that,” Bittner said.

City Superintendent Mark Brown pointed out that the aerial truck is not in service yet and is being stored north of Holyoke.

The council ultimately approved allowing the truck to be taken out of the city. Bittner cast the sole dissenting vote.

Street maintenance discussion continues

Brown provided council members with updates on street maintenance, which has been a topic of discussion at the past few meetings.

He said a topography map will be made of the property west of Sherman Avenue stretching south from Johnson Street to County Road 20. The map will also include the pit near the intersection of Johnson Street and Walsh Avenue, as well as the ground west of that to a line that would meet Lewis Avenue if it extended farther south.

He added that Josh Skelton of Dickinson Land Surveyors will make the topography map once he is done staking out spaces at Holyoke Cemetery.

Brown also said that he spoke to Jeff Harms of Simon Paving to see if he can get a cost estimate for paving the portion of Sherman Avenue that runs from Johnson Street to Kunkel Street.

During visitors comments, Gary Herr again emphasized the importance of a five-year maintenance plan — not only for streets, but for the other municipal responsibilities.

He said everything the city owns has maintenance requirements, and the fact that something is likely to need maintenance should be planned for accordingly in the city’s budget rather than trying to come up with money to fix something after it’s broken.

He added that he hopes the streets will be evaluated for a pavement condition index score to get a true idea of their conditions.

Noting that he had been reading city ordinances, Herr said the council can create a board or a commission composed of one or two council members as well as other Holyoke residents who are not council members. Herr said he would be willing to be on such a board to help with projects like a five-year plan.

Scott said grinding up the streets and installing new sewer lines and waterlines could potentially mean only completing five blocks in a year.

Herr said this is all the more reason to have a five-year, 10-year or even 15-year plan in order to have some kind of plan to address it. He mentioned having lived in Castle Rock, where he said federal grants were received to replace the city’s sewer lines.

Herr pointed out to council members that the city’s municipal code seems to say that whatever budget the city approves would then impose a mill levy on property owners.

City Attorney Al Wall said taxes can’t be raised without the will of the people, and Scott added that Colorado overruled that with TABOR.

 Herr said that is how it is written, and he feels it should be modified.

Airport fuel farm card reader to be upgraded

Council members approved using $14,245 in COVID-19 relief funds to upgrade the fuel farm card reader at the airport.

The card reader will be purchased from QTPetroleum on Demand, and the council also approved the purchase of WiFi antennas for the project.

Brown said the current card reader is obsolete and can no longer be serviced. He pointed out several advantages of upgrading it, including the fact that it will be cloud-based, can take many more types of payment cards and can be serviced if necessary.

He added that the airport will be shut down for two to three weeks for the lighting project, which will be a perfect time to install the new card reader. Brown said there is not yet a specific date the airport will be closed.

Council hears reports

Brown told council members that the supervisory control and data acquisition computer that controls the city’s water wells and water levels crashed, but it was replaced and is now functioning. He said he did not yet know what the cost will be.

He reported that crews have been trimming trees, patching potholes and assisting with seal coating the streets.

He spoke of an accident that occurred at Denver Street and Campbell Avenue involving the rural fire department’s water truck, which was being operated by city personnel. The truck was on loan for the seal coating project, and at one point when the driver exited the vehicle, it rolled backward and hit a pickup that was stopped at a stop sign.

Brown said he was not comfortable having the rural fire protection district pay for it since city personnel were operating the vehicle. He said when he gets an estimate on the cost, he’ll take it back to the council for consideration.

Wall provided council members with a draft of an ordinance that would add the use of utility terrain vehicles to municipal code. Council members will look it over, and it will be on the agenda for the Aug. 3 meeting.

Police Chief Doug Bergstrom reported that Holyoke Police Department handled or generated 87 calls for service from July 1-19, including seven animal complaints and six municipal code violations under code enforcement.

Recreation director Victoria Dunker reported that 27 kids participated in the youth summer art camp July 19-20.

She told council members that she met with the Recreation Advisory Committee and modified a few items on the park master plan from Ripley Design but had not yet received a response. She added that she hoped to have the new plan options available for viewing at Phillips County Fair.

Other business

In other business at the July 20 meeting, council members:

— Allowed Tonsing to sign the agreement with Pro Electrical Contractors Inc. for the Holyoke Municipal Airport electrical improvements project.

— Approved a travel request for Officer Wyatt Bishop to attend the Greeley SWAT school for a total cost of $1,091.

— Renewed the liquor license for First Dragon Chinese Restaurant.