Design team visits, views rec areas

Recreation director Victoria Dunker informed Holyoke City Council members at their Feb. 2 meeting that members of the Ripley Design team visited Holyoke on Jan. 20.

Russ Lee, president, and Sam Coutts, vice president of operations, met with Dunker and others to discuss creating upgrade and design plans for Holyoke recreation areas.

Mayor Orville Tonsing and City Superintendent Mark Brown attended the meeting, and other community members also met with the Ripley Design team. These included Holyoke School District Superintendent Kyle Stumpf, Ivan Wiebke, and Recreation Advisory Committee members Tom Bennett and Trisha Herman.

Dunker told council members that they toured the sites they are eyeing for potential upgrades, namely the tennis courts, basketball courts and sand volleyball pit at City Park, and the baseball/softball diamonds.

Dunker noted that Ripley Design team members are expected to return to Holyoke at the end of March, and they will be working on different potential layouts and ideas of what the process will look like moving forward. Dunker said she will try to put together a community meeting with them when they return to Holyoke.

Successful Showdown on the Plains reported

Dunker said the Showdown on the Plains steer and heifer prospect show that was held at the Bank of Colorado Pavilion on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 30-31, drew people to Holyoke from five states with a total of 190 steers and 82 heifers.

She acknowledged the great support the show had in the community, including 50 sponsors.

“Without the sponsors, there’s no way we could’ve done all we did,” she said.

She reported that the show and the people it brought to Holyoke for the weekend allowed for good business at local restaurants and hotels.

“It was just nice to be able to host something for the kids,” she said.

Walsh/Johnson property dedicated as public right of way

Having approved an ordinance annexing the property on the west side of Holyoke at the intersection of Walsh Avenue and Johnson Street at the Jan. 19 meeting, council members authorized Tonsing to sign a deed of dedication for the property, dedicating it as a public right of way to be used for street, public ways and utility purposes within Holyoke.

Rates of avoided costs for renewable energy established

Council members passed a resolution establishing rates of avoided costs for renewable energy pursuant to Nebraska Municipal Power Pool.

Brown told council members this pertains to homes that have solar power systems. If they produce more energy than they use in the year, they can bank the energy in the summer and use it in the winter. If they have an excess bank at the end of the year, they will be paid back at NMPP’s rate, which is currently $0.02504 per kilowatt-hour.

Council hears reports

Brown reported that the street department moved snow after the recent snowstorm and finished spreading grass at the airport to topdress the areas around the runway.

He reported no power outages since last meeting and told the council that the city’s dump truck that was involved in an accident Sept. 2 has been repaired and is back in service. He also noted that the wood chips approved for purchase at the Jan. 19 meeting are now in place at the playground at City Park.

Brown told the council that the water and sewer department personnel continue to work on changing the city wells and waste water plant to a liquid chlorine disinfectant solution. Final approval from the state has been received, parts have been ordered and construction for the change is expected to begin later in February.

Brown said he met with Tom Hethcote to discuss water service for the new fire station, and council member Gene Bittner said he met with an electrician who will be providing him an accurate floor plan.

The goal is to get a full plan for the new fire station, including electricity, water, sewer and gas before building, and there are several different contractors involved.

“We need to get moving on this because these guys are going to be getting their stuff together for the summer’s work,” Tonsing said.

City Clerk/Treasurer Kathy Olofson updated council members on the plans for the city’s 2020 audit, saying that Scott Szabo of Lauer, Szabo & Associates, PC is scheduled to complete the audit March 15-17.

She reported that the 2020 franchise fee from Black Hills Energy was received in the amount of $14,644.34, which is a decrease of $2,033.83 from 2019.

Olofson also provided council members an update on COVID-19 relief funds, saying the city was reimbursed by the county in the amount of $28,093.20. She said this money had been spent on personal protective equipment and supplies, a new transaction drawer with a speaker system at the city office and laptop computers. She added that she has not heard anything about potential approval of the construction of a division wall at the city office.

Police Chief Doug Bergstrom reported that Holyoke Police Department handled or generated 96 calls for service from Jan. 14-27, including eight animal complaints, seven municipal code violations and one dog at large under code enforcement.

Other business

In other business at the Feb. 2 meeting, council members:  

— Approved 2020 year-end account transfers.

— Set the airport hangar annual lease rate at $0.20 per square foot for lease terms that expired Dec. 31, 2020, and made the lease term 20 years.