No motion, no vote on bid for new fire station

Although Holyoke City Council’s special meeting Friday evening, June 4, was held to vote on bids for the new fire station, no motion was made to bring the issue to a vote.

After a 20-minute executive session, Mayor Orville Tonsing twice asked, “Do I hear a motion?” After receiving silence as the answer both times, Tonsing said, “Well, with no motion, I guess this subject dies and we’re back to square one. I don’t know what we’re going to tell some of the people who donated some money.”

Tonsing said the hope is to salvage something out of all the plans they have so they can at least get a place to house equipment, since fire department vehicles are currently stored in four different places.

Four sealed bids for the project were opened at the June 1 meeting, and council members held a workshop Thursday evening, June 3, to get an apples-to-apples comparison of the bids.

At the June 4 meeting, prior to the executive session, the cost of the project was discussed.

City Clerk/Treasurer Kathy Olofson said $800,000 had been budgeted for the project’s expense, which included $475,000 out of the reserve. The amount budgeted for grants and gifts was $350,000, which when added to the $475,000 was enough to cover the amount budgeted.

Holyoke Fire Protection District pledged $100,000 to the project, to be spread over five years at $20,000 per year. The Heginbotham Trust promised $75,000 and the High Plains Land Conservancy $60,000, amounting to $235,000, which is $115,000 less than the $350,000 budgeted for grants and gifts.

Council member Gene Bittner mentioned the unknown cost of potential upcoming projects to repair Holyoke’s streets as a concern.

“We’ve been at this for three years,” Tonsing said. “Had we done this three years ago, we could’ve had this building built and been done with this, and then we could’ve worried about everything else for the same kind of money.”

“We couldn’t afford it then and we can’t afford it now,” council member Kevin Scott said.

At the June 1 meeting, Tonsing said they asked for several different scenarios for heating, flooring, insulation and the roof in the bids.

The four sealed bids were opened that night. Rockwell Construction bid $945,231, Mike Smith Construction $955,524, Amendt Custom Building $1,079,400 and Buildings By Design $1,669,855.

At the June 3 workshop, council members focused on the three least expensive bids and decided on fiberglass insulation and sealed concrete flooring in establishing their comparisons of the base bids.

These bids came to $1,000,062 from Rockwell Construction, $1,053,724 from Mike Smith Construction and $1,116,700 from Amendt Custom Building.

At the June 4 meeting, council member Brian Akey expressed his concern that the volunteer fire department had not come to the council with a dollar amount they were willing to help raise. He added that he understands the need for a new fire station, but he did not want to put the city in a financial situation where it would need to borrow money.

“I hate to be the bad guy but that’s where I’m at,” he said. “We’ve got streets to fix, we’ve got a police department that wants money. That’s where I sit.”

Council member Steve Moore questioned why the fire department would need an extensive kitchen, pointing out that Sunset View and Phillips County Event Center have kitchens and in a small community, people should be able to work together and share if necessary.

Bittner asked if looking into a Department of Local Affairs grant could be a possibility, but Olofson pointed out that with an August or September deadline, they wouldn’t know who was awarded until December. She added that they don’t have another cycle after that until March, and it would take two or three months longer to find out who got awarded.

Council hears reports

At the June 1 meeting, Olofson told council members that Holyoke Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Holly Ferguson asked Olofson to pass on Ferguson’s appreciation for the council’s time and consideration of funding the start-up fees for the Holyoke community foundation 501(c)(3).

Olofson reported that Ferguson is rescinding the request for funding from the council and will look into other options for the money.

Mark Brown reported a May 31 power outage in the 700 blocks of Walsh and Wynona avenues between Kellogg and Johnson streets. It was caused by a burnt connection in a sectionalizing cabinet that serves the underground distribution system. Crews found the problem and fixed it quickly.

Water and sewer crews have been working on wastewater discharge monitoring reporting for the state and consumer confidence reports for drinking water.

Street crews have been picking up branches and cleaning storm drains. City personnel across departments helped with mowing at the cemetery and made sure it was in great shape for Memorial Day ceremonies, and Tonsing and Mark Brown expressed their thanks to them.

Mark Brown reported on a pre-construction meeting held May 19 for the airport lighting project. Regarding the prices of materials and the engineer’s estimate of the cost of the project, it may need to be scaled back to different project schedules.

He informed council members of a leak in the roof of the city offices. He contacted Spelts Roofing to have it patched, but they said a new roof is needed. Mark Brown will speak with the city’s insurance company and report back to the council about the cost.

Police Chief Doug Bergstrom said that Holyoke Police Department handled or generated 65 calls for service from May 13-27, including seven animal complaints and one municipal code violation under code enforcement. He also noted that a dog clinic is scheduled for Saturday, June 12, at Holyoke Veterinary Service.

Recreation director Victoria Dunker introduced HHS student Tayla Martin to the council. She will be the recreation department intern through the Ogallala Commons program.

Dunker said she herself has kept busy with summer baseball and softball and that she’s excited to get feedback from Ripley Design about potential new designs for the park master plan.

She said an art camp is planned for July at City Park, and Jade Goldenstein will be the director.

Pool fees updated

Council members approved proposed fees for Holyoke Swimming Pool. The last time the fees were updated was 2015.

The cost for private parties increased by $20, summer passes and lessons by $5, punch cards by $3 and general admission by 50 cents.

Other business

In other business at the June 1 meeting, council members:

— Donated $2,500 to the Holyoke Volunteer Fire Department for July 4 fireworks.

— Purchased two printers for the city office for $600 apiece from Amazon.

­— Purchased repair materials for Christmas decorations at the cost of $8,786.50 from Display Sales.

— Purchased a belt drive gas engine diesel pressure washer from Jantzen Equipment Co. for $8,092.01.

— Approved wages for head baseball coach Kody Timm at $2,000, assistant baseball Dylan Miles $1,500, softball Kendra Schlachter and Sherman Kage $1,250 each, head T-ball Ashley Clayton $500, assistant Emma Thompson $250, head machine pitch Goldenstein $500, assistants Thompson and Jessie Owens $250 each.

— Approved new hire Jennifer Tuell for the cashier position at $3,120 per month.

— Approved a minor subdivision exemption request from Johnny Walters.

— Set starting wages for summer help at $12.50 per hour.