Photo by Wanda Hanson
Paul Reardon visited the Houston City Council regular meeting August 8 to discuss details of this year’s Winston County Gravel Cup. According to Reardon, last year’s event brought in 80 to 90 riders and raised around $2,000 for the community. This year, he anticipates that around 200 people will attend the event tentatively planned for September 24.
The bike “race” will consist of three routes — 100 miles, 60 miles, and 40 miles. It will begin at the Houston Nature Center with staggered start times, which will hopefully lead to the riders in all three routes finishing their rides close to the same time. Reardon noted, “It’s technically a race, but most just come for fun.”
Reardon will be working with property owners to set up rest stops. He also shares local points of interest with the riders. With the race occurring during harvest season, race organizers are stressing to the racers to be careful near the equipment. Reardon assured the council there will be no “shenanigans!” Copies of the race routes will be given to the police and emergency services.
Last year, racers came from Kansas, Chicago, and the Minneapolis area. A person from Portland, Oreg., recently registered for the coming ride.
The riders will hopefully be filling the campground. Last year a meal was served with all the food purchased locally. This year, the group has notified local bars and restaurants that they will be bringing additional visitors to the community. This will be occurring in conjunction with the Houston Block party and Taste of the Trail.
Proceeds from this year’s race will be donated to the Nature Center and the Houston Community Foundation; in the future the group plans to rotate donations to other local groups as well.
Regular business
The council approved Wapasha pay application #16 of $47,019.89 for the nearly completed wastewater treatment plant and got an update on the work to be completed yet. Final sidewalk grading and perimeter fencing will be completed; digester aeration piping, diffuser, and airlift decant pumps will be installed during August.
Emily Krage was approved as an election judge for the November elections. Adding another judge will make the work shifts easier to handle for the other judges.
City Administrator Michelle Quinn shared a document intended to support Governor Walz in calling for an extra session. Work on LGA and a bonding bill needs to be completed. The proposed document would support LMC action items and infrastructure in small cities. Other cities in the area are also planning to submit similar documents. The council decided to act on this immediately since it would help Houston get to work on some projects sooner.
Randy Thesing, Public Works director, reported that his team worked all weekend of the recent storm to clear trees. According to Thesing, the burn site got full and is locked at this time because non-city residents had also been dumping their storm damage there as well. He assured citizens that the site would be opened again soon. Stump removal at the park is also on the agenda.
Concerns about the siren warning system during the recent storm were addressed. The warning system is controlled by Houston County. The weather service activates the storm spotters. If storm spotters see a funnel cloud, they can request the county to activate the sirens. The sirens are only used for tornadic activity and not for straight line winds.
During the public comment period of the meeting, Scott Wallace asked for updates on the property at 409 Cedar Street. There had been nuisance complaints about the property before which had been rectified. According to Quinn, in order for additional action to be taken, a written complaint would once again be needed with pictures of the property and a signature. When asked for details of his concerns, Wallace noted that the roof looks like it “should be condemned.” He shared that he had seen children playing in some of the vehicles. Wallace also was concerned about whether the buried fuel tanks on the property had ever been removed.
The Houston City Council will meet for their next regular meeting September 12 at 6 p.m. in the city hall council chambers. The public is welcome to attend
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