Council approves request for parks master plan proposal

Changes to recreation areas in Holyoke are one step closer to fruition after Holyoke City Council members approved a request to begin the process of creating a parks master plan proposal at their Nov. 17 meeting.

The council approved $8,000 to be spent this year and $10,000 in 2021 to begin consultations with Ripley Design in Fort Collins, with the goal of creating potential upgrade plans for two recreation areas in Holyoke.

One area includes both baseball/softball diamonds, and the other the tennis courts, sand volleyball pit and the adjacent asphalt basketball court.

Recreation director Victoria Dunker said the next steps  are for Ripley Design team members to visit Holyoke, look at the areas and meet with council members and the community.

The Ripley Design team will then create up to three drawings outlining plan options.

The plans will be reviewed with city staff and presented to the public, and a master plan will be created based on staff and community comments. After further potential revisions, the plan will be presented to council members.

Ripley will also assist with the grant writing process and format the drawings for a Great Outdoors Colorado application.

Dunker said that once the planning process gets started, Ripley Design expects it to be completed in three or four months.

“I think without this, it’s hard for us to move forward with any projects like we want to do,” she said. “We need some sort of concrete plan to go out and look for grants and money to try to help upgrade those facilities.”

She added that Ripley Design has done similar work in Yuma, so they’re familiar with the area.

Dunker also pointed out that at the end of the planning phase, Ripley Design will have price estimates of what the final plans will cost to make them a reality.

“These guys will know exactly what we want to spend and what’s reasonable for our area and what kind of design we want that will actually benefit our community,” she said.

Dunker said she will keep the council updated regarding when Ripley Design can visit Holyoke to proceed with the planning.

Pool control system bid accepted

Council members accepted a bid of $58,985 from Engineered Controls of Lincoln, Nebraska, to modernize Holyoke Swimming Pool’s current control system, which dates from 1998.  

City Superintendent Mark Brown said the new system will require Internet service to be installed at the pool, and he will be working with the current pool patrons to see when the best time to move forward with the process is.

Bid accepted to crush concrete and asphalt

Council members accepted a bid of $46,660 from Koellner Enterprises to crush the concrete pile at the sewer lagoons and the asphalt pile at the airport.

The crushed concrete will be used in alleys, and the crushed asphalt will be used as a base material under new pavement and can undergo a remixing process with oil to turn it back into asphalt.

Council hears reports

Brown reported on two power outages that occurred Sunday, Nov. 15, in the 100 blocks of North Interocean and Baxter avenues and the 100-400 blocks of South Interocean and Baxter avenues. The outages were due to breaker operation in the generation shop, but the root cause is still under investigation.

Brown said the high winds Saturday, Nov. 14, snapped an electric pole in the 200 blocks of South Campbell and Phelan avenues.

Crews took a digger truck to the scene, but Brown said the wind speed caused safety concerns about fixing it then. They hooked the digger truck to the pole and held it in place until Monday morning, Nov. 16, when it was replaced.

He said that crews are scheduled to begin putting up Christmas lights Tuesday, Nov. 24.

Brown reported that the water and sewer department has been working with engineers to review what changes need to be made to switch city wells from chlorine gas disinfection to a liquid chlorine disinfectant solution. He said they will be moving forward with the actual changes shortly after the first of the year, and the project is expected to be completed by mid-March.

Street crews have been picking up tree branches and leaves. The city’s leaf machine went down due to an overheating problem caused by the water pump having been installed incorrectly at the factory. The machine, known as Snuffy 2.0, has since been repaired.

Police Chief Doug Bergstrom reported that Holyoke Police Department handled or generated 71 calls for service from Oct. 29-Nov. 11, including four animal complaints and four municipal code violations under code enforcement.

Other business

In other business at the Nov. 17 meeting, council members:

­— Elected Kevin Scott mayor pro tem.

— Presented Scott Murray with a plaque for his 13 years of service on Holyoke City Council.

­— Renewed boiler insurance with CIRSA at $1,394 in annual premium, up $323 from last year.

— Approved a CIRSA volunteer accident medical plan at $2.48 per person and a community service workers accident medical plan at $3.24 per person.

­— Heard from Jeremiah Krieger, who attended last week’s meeting to request the waiving of a late fee on his city bill. The council approved the request due to his good payment history.

­— Approved the liquor license renewal for R&B Application Inc., dba Happy Jacks Barbeque.