Pay City bills with credit cards now

    Employees at the City office often hear requests to pay by credit card. Until now, however, the fees associated with accepting credit card payments have stopped the City from doing so.
    At the Jan. 2 Holyoke City Council meeting, council members decided it was time to move forward — and to iron out fee details as they go. That means that such things as utilities, deposits, tickets and permits can now be paid for by credit card.
    City Clerk/Treasurer Kathy Olofson noted that fees amount to about 4 percent of the charge. As they begin using the credit card machine in the office, Olofson said, they will monitor and determine how to account for such fees.
    
Subdivision exemptions requested by O’Neals
    In attendance at Tuesday’s meeting was Russell Sprague, representing Robin Lake Development (Rupert and Claire O’Neal) in a request for two subdivision exemptions. RLD proposed that the land on the south side of East Johnson Street, east of Cobblestone Inn and Suites, be divided into a total of five different lots.
    In July 2014, the City approved a similar subdivision exemption, but the plats were never finalized and recorded. Now, RLD is making the request with an additional residential lot and revisions to the drainage plan.
    The proposed North Side Subdivision would include two commercial lots. The RCO Subdivision, located to the east, is to include three residential lots.
    Though Sprague delivered the request to the City office Dec. 21, the information was not included in the board packets. Council members elected to postpone the request until their Feb. 6 meeting in order to review the materials before making a decision. Council member Gene Bittner, in particular, said he would like more time as he was unfamiliar with the 2014 request.
    
Officials, rec director report
    City Superintendent Mark Brown reported that the electric department, as well as the water and sewer department, responded to several trouble calls resulting from the cold weather. Both departments have also finished year-end inventory.
    The street crew worked on spreading grass at the airport for as long as weather allowed. Once it didn’t, they began working on equipment in the shop.
    Police Chief Doug Bergstrom reported that the police department, including code enforcement, handled or generated 220 calls for service from Dec. 14-27. They made two arrests, wrote three citations and three reports, and gave out 22 warnings. Code enforcement handled five animal complaints, one dog at large and 12 ordinance violations.
    Bergstrom also gave the 2017 activity report, which included 5,120 calls for service, up 1,713 from 2016. Major cases numbered 368, down 130 from 2016. Throughout 2017, HPD made 40 arrests, wrote 218  citations and 108 reports, and gave out 761 warnings. Code enforcement handled 68 animal complaints, one curfew violation, 33 dogs at large, 241 ordinance violations and two weed violations.
    Recreation director Victoria Timm reported that she has been working on youth basketball and the 3-on-3 basketball tournament. The tournament, she explained, can accommodate up to 50 teams of youth in grades 1-8.
    Timm also reported that Nuggets Skills Challenge is scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 28, at 2 p.m. It will be the first time Holyoke has hosted the event.
    
Other business
    In other business at the Jan. 2 meeting, the council:
    —Approved 2018 wages for City employees. Full-time employees saw an approximate 3 percent increase, while part time were raised 90 cents to meet the new $10.20 minimum wage requirement effective Jan. 1.
    —Held a public hearing on the proposed electrical rates and approved them, effective Jan. 19.
    —Increased the stipend for cleaning services for Sandy Saylor to $350 per month for offices and $100 per month for the police department.