The Spring Valley City Council held a public hearing and a regular council meeting on July 9. Members present were Tony Archer, Todd Jones, Mayor Jim Struzyk, Mike Hadland and City Administrator Deb Zimmer. Jessy Betts was absent. The public hearing was regarding the council’s proposal to prohibit dogs in South Park. Citizens spoke up on each side of the issue. The council pointed out that if adopted, the resolution would only pertain to South Park, since they feel the others parks, which include portions of the bike trail, are very popular places for citizens to walk dogs. They felt that if South Park eliminates dogs, at least citizens would have one park without worries about dogs or dog droppings. The council voted to adopt the resolution, including a $15 fee for each incident of violation. The council added that service animals (such as seeing-eye dogs) are exempt from this prohibition. The council also discussed installing larger signs, so that the rule will be obvious to all park users.
In the regular council meeting, Joe O’Connell addressed the council about “mud bogs” and why Spring Valley is no longer hosting these events. He said “Ostrander’s having them,” and Zimmer replied that the city’s insurance would not cover such an event. Todd Jones suggested perhaps finding a place to hold such events outside of city limits in the future.
The council heard from citizens regarding the Hillside Home request for citywide rental no smoking policy. Tenants said the smoking by some other tenants creates a health hazard, and asked the council to make a rule against it. Mayor Struzyk voiced his opinion, stating, “That’s a private building… The city doesn’t belong in private business… That’s up to the people who own the building.” Todd Jones agreed, saying, “It sounds like it’s a civil thing.” Andrew Perry (Nationwide Housing Corporation) spoke on behalf of the property owner, saying they’ve looked into the issue, and “HUD has given no guidance on that.” The council took no formal action at this time.
The council will hold a public hearing just before the regular council meeting on July 23, to hear from citizens about the city’s consideration of banning ATV usage within the city. Council members pointed out that some citizens use ATVs for snow removal, while a small group of others have caused most of the complaints, such as young unlicensed drivers who are speeding and otherwise breaking traffic laws. The city may consider allowing “side-by-side” vehicles such as golf carts to be permitted for use in the city. Anyone with an interest in the issue is encouraged to attend the public hearing.
Jones said he’s aware of funding available through the EDA for new home construction, and he asked if there is any similar funding for “fix-ups.” Hadland voiced a concern that in such cases, some owners would be “flipping” the houses for a profit, so any such funding would likely have stipulations for the homeowner to keep the home for a number of years, in order to qualify for funding assistance. Mayor Struzyk said he’ll bring up this question with the EDA.
The council passed Resolution 2018-19, appointing election judges, and Resolution 2018-20, amending boundaries of the “Bucknell” TIF. The council approved Pay Estimate #2 for the street project, for roughly $480,000, with Zimmer saying the project is, “moving right along.” The meeting adjourned at 6:40 p.m. The next regular meeting of the council will be Monday, July 23 at 6 p.m. As always, the public is welcome.
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