The City of Harmony owns six bikes that can be “checked out” on a “bike share” program for free by residents and visitors to Harmony. The bikes are currently located at the library, but the council requested that the Chamber of Commerce move the bikes to the visitor’s center where they will be more accessible and easy to find.
Six members of the Golden Happenings Senior Group were present at the September 11 Harmony City Council meeting to ask the council to consider allowing them to move to a different space in the Harmony Community Center. Currently, the group meets in a room at the center that can be difficult for members to get to due to a door that is often locked, and having to use a sidewalk that isn’t maintained. They asked to be moved to meeting room #3 across the hall from the library instead. The door by the library is kept unlocked and the sidewalk there is always cleared so the group felt that it would be safer for their members, many of whom use canes, walkers, and other mobility devices. The group is allowed to use their current room for free while the room that they would like to be moved to is rented out for a cost to various groups, events, and organizations.
Golden Happenings Director Betty Dowe pointed out that the senior group has done a lot for the city of Harmony such as donating to the fire department, ambulance, food shelf, delivering welcome bags to new Harmony residents, etc. “Everything we do is to support Harmony through educational and social events for members 50+.” Dowe said in a letter she wrote to the council regarding the request. She and others feel that since their room is in between two storage rooms, they have been relegated to storage like second-class citzens.
Mayor Steve Donney asked how often the group’s meetings are held, and Dowe assured him that they were only about once a week and do not take place on weekends or evenings. Council member Kyle Morem asked if it would be possible to address and remedy the concerns the group has with the current room, such as keeping the sidewalk clear, leaving the door unlocked, putting a large mat inside the door, etc instead of moving rooms completely. “I feel it would be a lot simpler,” he commented. Dowe agreed that that could be a feasible option.
“From everything we’ve heard, I think we can make the best of this situation,” Mayor Donney stated.
Dowe also pointed out that the toilets in the community center are not handicapped accessible because of how low to the ground they are. The building used to be an elementary school and so the bathrooms were originally designed for young children. The council agreed to turn the bathroom issue and the meeting room improvements over to the Building and Maintenance Committee to remedy.
“We’re doing our part for the city,” Dowe said, “Now the city, do your part for us.” She thanked the council for listening to and addressing the requests.
The current policy for the Harmony Fire Department allows for up to 28 firefighters on the crew. There are three applicants who would like to join the department, and it was requested that the council approve a variance to accept all three even though that would bring the total number of firefighters up to 29. It was pointed out that one of the presently-serving crew members will be retiring early next year so the number would drop back down to 28 at that point. The council approved the variance with the mayor abstaining due to conflict of interest.
The council also approved an increase of the fire pension from $900 per year of service to $950.
A public hearing was held to discuss the vacating of the alley between 4th St. NE and 5th St. NE and between 2nd Ave. NE and 4th Ave. NE. Several of the property owners along the alley had requested that the alley be vacated. Letters were sent to all of the property owners affected notifying them of the public hearing. Currently, the city does minimal maintenance on the alley and if the alley is vacated, it will not have to be maintained as a public right-of-way anymore. The motion to vacate the alley was approved.
Council and Park Board member Lynn Mensink informed the council that the board has submitted a grant application to Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation, or SMIF, for up to $10,000 and expect to hear whether they got it or not by mid-October. If they do get the grant, they will combine it with Give to the Max Day. Mensink reported that the Park Board has replaced the trash cans on Main Street with eight new cans. The old ones will be moved to Trailhead Park. They also have plans to replace the basketball court at some point.
The council passed Resolution 18-08 requesting that Fillmore County increase the funding level for library services to 40% by 2024. It was recently discovered by SELCO that a funding difference has been occurring for the last few years between city and county/rural library patrons.
The council reviewed the 2019 budget and set the maximum levy amount at $700,000.
The next Harmony City Council meeting will be held on October 9 at 7 p.m.
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