Harmony City Council discusses EDA funds

By Jade Sexton
jade@fillmorecountyjournal.com

Mon, Mar 19th, 2012
Posted in Harmony All

Comments

The Harmony City Council had a short meeting on March 13, 2012. During the meeting they discussed a bill that was recently submitted to them by a resident. This resident had two of her appliances burn out after her electric meter was replaced by the city. She submitted a bill for $835.92 for getting her microwave and stove repaired.

Mayor Steve Donney said insurance would not cover the cost since there was no negligence on the part of the city employees. There was most likely a surge of voltage that caused the damage. He said he believed that is the cause, since it’s too big of a coincidence to have two appliances go out at once.

There have been no other complaints or problems caused by the replacement of the electric meters. After this incident occurred, the city had the employees go inside the home to turn off the power at the main before replacing the meter, then turn it back on when finished.

“I’m afraid it would set a precedence,” said council member Jim Bakken.

City Administrator Jerome Illg agreed.

Donney made a motion to pay for the bill, which did not pass. Council member Dan Tieffenbacher made a motion to pay 50 percent of the bill, since the appliances were used and not brand new. The motion passed, with Bakken voting against.

Building and Maintenance

Maintenance employee Chris Johnson said the jet pump at well number one burned out, and has to be replaced at a cost of $600. The pump injects chlorine into the system.

Johnson also said they are still waiting to get the pump back for the other well, as it has been in New Prague getting repaired for five months. He said if there are heavy rains this spring the one pump won’t be able to keep up, so hopefully it will be back soon.

EDA

Illg said there is about $25,000 left for the year in Commercial Rehab dollars, and there are two or three businesses that have expressed interest. The money has to be spent by the end of the year or it goes back to the state. Harmony would get 70 percent of the money back with no restrictions.

Council member Deb Scrabeck said the Heritage Grove numbers have remained about the same. She stated that Michelle Vrieze from CEDA (Community and Economic Development Association) presented to the Harmony EDA about a small cities block grant.

Other Business

Illg informed the council they are almost completely done changing everyone’s meters and only have a few left.

Tieffenbacher noted the Fillmore Central band will not be able to play at the Customer Appreciation night at the park on August 21. They will need to find another band. He added they will be doing interviews for the summer city employee position after March 28 and come up with a decision by April 2.

Illg is going to look into the price of spraying for mosquitoes again this year. The board approved a not-to-exceed amount of $5,000.

No Comments Yet. Be the first to comment!