Council votes to host PGC spring basketball camp

    Holyoke City Council approved a request at its March 5 meeting to pay for hosting a basketball camp with PGC Basketball — a national organization that coaches players from ninth grade through college.
    The May 31-June 1 camp will be held at Holyoke High School. Holyoke recreation director Victoria Dunker said the camp, called Point Guard College, will be open to Holyoke students from incoming ninth graders up to seniors. It will also be open to incoming freshmen at Northeastern Junior College.
    “It’s a very prestigious camp,” Dunker said. “It should be pretty cool to have.”
    The City agreed to pay $3,000 for the camp, plus travel costs and meals for coach Dustin Aubert. Dunker said the department projects it will at least break even on the camp and that an added benefit will be attracting visitors to Holyoke’s hotels. PGC Basketball currently holds 25 Point Guard College camps across the country.
    Dunker also reported that 41 kids out of a projected 125 had signed up for the department’s youth soccer program, with registration scheduled to close Wednesday, March 13.
    
Bergstrom talks new vehicle, fire investigation training
    After the council approved the purchase of a new 2019 Ford Police Interceptor SUV in January, Holyoke Police Chief Doug Bergstrom said he learned from dealer Bonanza Ford that the company has stopped taking orders for the vehicle.
    Now, Bergstrom is looking into other options for a patrol vehicle. He solicited quotes from a Dodge Durango dealer and said its V6 model would suit the department’s purposes well.
    “Haxtun has the V8 and the V6 models, and they love both of them,” he said.
    Bergstrom also got a quote from Yuma County Sheriff’s Department for a used vehicle and said Ford will begin taking orders for the 2020 model of the original vehicle in early summer.
    Council member Gene Bittner asked Bergstrom to get a quote from Transwest prior to a decision being made on the vehicle.
    The council also discussed Sgt. Mark Werts’ upcoming trip to an advanced three-day fire investigation seminar in Denver in May and questioned whether similar opportunities should be pursued by more of the department’s officers.
    “I think we need to expand our education,” council member Scott Murray said.
    Bergstrom said Werts attended a similar course a few years prior and that the cost has fallen by about half since the previous course.
    He also said that Werts was diligent about passing along his education to other officers and that his training helped them investigate the Jan. 27 garage fire on West Gordon Street.
    The council ultimately approved Werts’ travel request for $697 plus fuel.
    Bergstrom reported that his department, including code enforcement, handled or generated 233 calls for service from Feb. 14-27. The department made one arrest, wrote four citations and three reports, and gave out 13 warnings. Code enforcement handled one animal complaint and two ordinance violations.
    
Officials report
    City Attorney Al Wall reported that Municode, the City’s partner in its ongoing recodification project, will have a proof of its codes ready by early April.
    Accounting for anticipated changes to the proof, Wall said they can expect to have the new codes ready in September.
    City Superintendent Mark Brown said electrical crews resolved one outage at Jack’s Bean caused by ice buildup in the early morning of Feb. 23.
    He also reported that repairs and painting at Holyoke Swimming Pool are complete and that tree trimming was performed at the cemetery.
    City Clerk Kathy Olofson shared that she and the recreation advisory committee have been coordinating with Tanya Read of the Northeast Colorado Health Department to provide free heart health screenings for employees at the municipal building.
    
Other business
    In other business at its March 5 meeting, the council:
    — Approved a bid from Barb Kreider to perform groundskeeping services for the Heginbotham Library. Although library board member Mary Austin said it was not the lowest bid, it was the only bid that included all of the services required by the library.
    — Paid 60 percent of proceeds from the Feb. 18 3-on-3 basketball tournament, totaling $674.40, to the Dragon Booster Club.
    — Donated a youth summer swim pass to the Holyoke Dragon’s Wagon fundraising auction.
    — Renewed the liquor license for Holyoke Golf Club Inc., waiving local fees.