Whos, whats and wheres discussed for future rec director

Remarks by Summer Maloney regarding the summer soccer program and office space negotiations made the City Recreation Department a hot topic at the Tuesday, Jan. 17, Holyoke City Council meeting.

Maloney, who has run the local youth soccer program with her husband Shawn for the past two years, visited the council meeting to offer support for the recreation director and the department, open to helping transition the soccer program to city control if desired or continuing to run it herself.

She also informed the council that, should the city decide to incorporate soccer into the recreation department, the cones, goals, balls and other supplies for the program would gladly be donated for the city’s use. The supplies are worth an estimated total of $3,875.

Speaking from a youth athletic perspective, Maloney used the example of the soccer program’s success as personal testimony of local recreation’s benefits.

From about 80-90 students traveling to Sterling or Julesburg for soccer for six straight weekends, having a local program made that number explode to 170-190 participating students whose families then remained in Holyoke on soccer weekends.

“Businesses that were usually at a standstill on Saturdays now had more business because families were staying in town,” said Maloney. “No one was spending half a day in Julesburg or Sterling, eating there for lunch, shopping at Wal-Mart, etc.”

She and her husband offered the city the soccer program as an initial sport program to try out for the department with the Maloneys’ continued assistance along the way.

Later in the meeting, Mayor Orville Tonsing told the council he was not in favor of taking on the program in the first year before having a director established.

“They have a wonderful program,” said Orville. “Why should we step in and mess it up by not being prepared? Maybe down the line, we could take something like that on.”

At the time of the meeting, two application packets had gone out, but none had yet been received at the city office. City Clerk/Treasurer Kathy Olofson planned to post the application online for more potential applicants.

The location of the future recreation director’s office was also in the air at the time of the meeting. The council approved allowing the recreation committee to negotiate the lease amount and utilities for the space, which is likely to be at either the Peerless Center or the Phillips County Resource Center.  

 

City purchases new snowblower

A new RPM 215 snow blower and parts from the Power Equipment Company was approved for purchase at the Jan. 17 meeting. The machine and the accompanying parts total $85,080.

“It is a well-built machine,” said City Superintendent Mark Brown. “I’m impressed with it.”

Admitting that it cost more than was anticipated, Brown said that after checking with four different companies, the RPM 215 was both the cheapest and most logical choice for its size. Other options were far too large.

The new snowblower will replace the city’s current 1977 snowblower for which parts are no longer available. It will be 30-90 days before the new machine arrives.

 

Brown says snow removal a judgment call

Regarding the most recent snowstorm Sunday-Monday, Jan. 15-16, Brown said at the Tuesday meeting that he didn’t think he made the right decision regarding snow removal.

The general rule of thumb is that snow is removed when Holyoke receives 6 inches or more, but factors such as moisture or drifting certainly  make each snowstorm a judgment call. Brown said that because of the forecasted 50-degree weather for Monday, he did not have workers remove snow.

“I really believed it was going to melt a lot more,” he said.

Normally, Brown would start by having snow peeled away from the curbs to allow for adequate drainage as the snow melts from the street.

To do this, snowplows must be out before businesses are open with cars parked along the street.

Another factor that Brown said creates a bit of a catch-22 is that ideally, gutters should be plowed after sidewalks have been scooped. In a heavy snow, gutters are filled back up again by the snow from cleared walkways.

Many businesses were closed Monday due to Martin Luther King Day, with snow still falling at 9 a.m. and many walkways still unscooped, said Brown, quite unlike the 50-degree melting snow scenario he had pictured.

Councilmembers also speculated as to the feasibility of designating emergency snow removal routes along the main streets of Holyoke. These would require all vehicles to be removed from specified routes the night before to allow plows to properly and efficiently clear the streets.

The possibility does not seem likely in the near future, however, as the council agreed it would be difficult to enforce.

“Some cars sit along those streets for days,” said councilmember Kevin Scott. “Snow removal routes might be something we could work toward, but it’s not going to happen overnight.”

Councilmember Steve Moore said that they have emergency snow removal routes in Alliance, Nebraska, that are enforced quite strictly.

“If they declared a snow emergency and you didn’t move your car, you got towed — no ifs, ands or buts about it,” he said.

Holyoke’s nearest towing facility is in Julesburg.

 

42 fire calls in 2016

In the Holyoke Volunteer Fire Department report received at the Jan. 17 meeting, Fire Chief Stacy Rueter reported 42 fire calls answered in 2016, with an average of 10 firemen answering each call.

Of those calls, 16 were motor vehicle accidents, five were grass or stubble fires, four were gas meters, four were mutual aids, three were false alarms, three were downed power lines; and one was a structural fire.

The department also assisted with evacuating the hospital and nursing home during three tornado warnings.

In addition, department members logged a total of 1,606.15 service hours and 1,560 total miles.

Miles driven by unit in 2016 were as follows:
City pumper    83
Rural pumper    301
Water tanker    98
Scat truck    570
Rescue truck    508
Total 2016 mileage    1,560

 

Officials report

Brown and Police Chief Doug Bergstrom issued reports at the Tuesday meeting.

Brown reported that the electric department was putting in new electrical service for St. Patrick’s Catholic Church. The water department was working on its year-end reports, and city workers were removing snow from streets.

In addition, the Holyoke Airport was to receive its final inspection from the Division of Aeronautics and Federal Aviation Administration Tuesday, Jan. 17, but will need to reschedule because of snow cover on the taxiway.

Bergstrom reported 113 calls for service between Dec. 30-Jan. 11, including two arrests and eight citations.

 

Other business

In other business at the Tuesday meeting, the council:

—approved the $11,830 purchase of a Walker mower from Kurtzer’s.

—paid a $2,500 fee to the Phillips County Sheriff’s Office for the 2017 Victim Services program.

—appointed Heather Linne-Speidel to a five-year term on the Library Board.

—approved a $473 travel request for Mike Roll to attend the Rocky Mountain Asphalt Conference in Denver.

—approved a $457 travel request for Officer Joe Marcum to attend a Taser instructor course in Yuma.

—approved a $451.62 travel request for Terri Biersdorfer to attend an International Code Institute class for continuing education as a building inspector.

—approved a travel request for Mike Roll, Arley Krueger, Duane Werner, Sergio Ramirez, Troy Kent and Jason Redman to attend MSHA training in Holyoke.

 

Holyoke Enterprise

970-854-2811 (Phone)

130 N Interocean Ave
PO Box 297
Holyoke CO 80734