Rushford City Council Report: Citizen input sought on library building

By News Team
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Fri, Nov 15th, 2002
Posted in Features

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Revisiting the library board�s presentation and proposal to build a new library from the previous meeting, the Rushford City Council had some questions about at their November 12th council meeting.

Where should the library be? What kind of a library does the community want? Can the city afford a new, stand-alone library?

Librarian Susan Hart pointed out that if the current building were to be remodeled, the library would be closed for a minimum of seventeen weeks, resulting in less county funding in the future. (Funding is based on library usage and checkout numbers.)

Consensus was that the library board needed to decide where a new library might be constructed and what the budget would be for a new or remodeled library before contracting with Crescendo to conduct a feasibility study. Mayor Ted Roberton noted, however, that the library board did not need the council�s permission to spend money on Crescendo�s study, "Once it�s allocated, you can spend the money anyway you want."

In order to get input from Rushford citizens, the library board and council intend to conduct a community meeting and include groups such as the Lions as well as interested citizens. Council members stressed that citizen comments had been strongly in favor of keeping the library at its current location in the Tew Building.

Water

Jeff Copley, public works director, appeared before the council to report on water quality. Copley suggested cleaning and installing a foot valve at a cost of $5,500 versus the estimated $17,000 for a submersible pump on well number four. This would take care of the problem of red water from the well due to iron reactions with oxygen and chlorine. Copley also presented the long-term fix for the water problems in Jerusalem. Both Maple Street and Ferry Street currently have four-inch diameter pipes. Changing to six-inch pipes would be the permanent solution at a total cost of around $750,000. In the meantime, cleaning the line could be done on a yearly basis. Councilman Ron Mierau suggested as a temporary measure the residents could leave a tap running (with a pencil sized stream) to keep better water quality through the winter when hydrant flushing was impossible. The water bills could then be discounted to reflect that.

Airport

The council accepted a grant agreement for the construction of the airport building. City cost of the building is $29,428 out of a total of $73,000. With winter fast approaching, the council entrusted staff with completion of foundation work for the building. A runway paving project was named as a priority for 2003. With funding from the state at 80/20, the cost of runway paving would be around $30,000 for the city.

In other action the council:

� Passed a golf cart ordinance after a public hearing with no one in attendance;

� Granted a 10 foot back yard variance to Lee James to build a deck;

� Granted a 5.5 foot side yard variance to Richard Hanson to build a storage shed.

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