The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
-City Working To Correct Water Problem
8/10/15-The LaHarpe city council approved accepting the garbage and recycling collection bid from Jackson Disposal, Inc.
The new contract is for five years at a cost of $15.34 per unit. This price stays the same for the entire five years.
The new contract includes all of the features and services the city and residents receive now, including two citywide cleanup days, curbside recycling pickup, and extra dumpsters for Summerfest and the LaHarpe Classic Car Show.
Residents will pay slightly more than the $15.34 price since the city adds about 25 cents onto this cost.
The ordinance for this is expected to be approved at the next council meeting.
Council member Darrell Kraft said a downed tree has been removed from the city cemetery. It damaged seven gravestones. There were three previously damaged gravestones at the cemetery that needed to be repaired. The city is seeking bids for the repair work.
Police officer Dean Spangler showed council members his cell phone screen that is not working correctly.
He also said the phone's cell signal in LaHarpe does not work in at least half the city. The discussion broadened to include the question of whether the city should provide Mayor Ryan Kienast with a cell phone for city business and what features the phone should have.
No action was taken on either issue.
Water Superintendent Tim Graves said letters explaining the water department's failed water sample test should go in the mail on Thursday. The letter explains the failed test was due to slightly elevated levels of haloacetic acids.
The city test's level was .062, with the maximum acceptable level set at .060.
The solution is to lower the chlorine residual leaving the plant to lower the haloacetic acid levels. Graves believes this will allow the city to pass its next sample test in October.
Graves is also looking up the model number of a water department printer, so the city can price a new one and possibly purchase one for the police department.
The council discussed converting the garage area of the first floor of city hall into the new city hall meeting room. This would allow better access to people with difficulty climbing the stairs to the current second floor meeting room.
Treasurer Marcia Neff pointed out that the city has already spent its budgeted amount on city hall repairs for this fiscal year on the tuck pointing project.
"We can still look at it and see if there are things we can do in the meantime," said council member Marcia Stiller.
"I think it's too good of an idea to drop," said council member Darrell Kraft.
The council approved Stiller soliciting bids for new locks at city hall. Locks would be replaced for the front doors and the police station. A new lock would be installed for Neff's office and possibly a storage room.
Spangler told the council that a couch and TV that were dumped near the street at Maple Leaf Court had been there about two weeks. He said the latest he had heard was they were supposed to be picked up when a truck could be located to move them.
Maple Leaf Court is managed by the Hancock County Housing Authority.
Spangler made some personal comments about his disappointment in council member comments from the last meeting about a lack of police response to a report of a small building being demolished. Spangler did not believe the department had been contacted about it before the call went to the Hancock County Sheriff's Office.
Mayor Ryan Kienast said his understanding of the situation was that Police Chief Justin Livingston was contacted but was unavailable to respond. That was why the call was routed to the county police.
Present at the meeting were Mayor Ryan Kienast and City Alderman Darrell Kraft, Josiah Neff, Kenneth Foster, Marcia Stiller, Dave Mershon, and Amy Palmer, along with the Clerk Lucretia McPeak and Treasurer Marcia Neff.
Others present were: City Attorney Kurt Dittmer, Officer Dean Spangler, Water Supt. Tim Graves, Wayne Humphrey, Gary Stiller, and Dan Gillett, Monalissa Graves, David Little, and Doug Endres, and other guests.