Joe Hahn was present at the January 9 Harmony City Council meeting. He is thinking about building a home at the end of Sixth Street southeast. Currently, the city street ends before that point so he would have to extend the water and sewer service. As it’s a dead end street, he wanted to know if that would be adequate or if he would need to include curb and gutter.
Hahn had brought the matter to the Streets and Utility Committee prior to the council meeting. Council member Kyle Morem also serves on the Streets and Utility Committee and was able to provide Hahn with information about the committee’s discussion. “If we’re going to have our utilities under there, we would want it to be ours. And if it’s going to be a city street, we would like it to be paved” Morem stated. “What we’re trying to do is plan for the future.”
“This is not really a development. It’s one house,” Hahn responded. Morem suggested that Hahn sit down for a meeting with the committee and the city engineer to discuss his plans so that they could all be on the same page. Hahn agreed to the meeting.
The personnel committee recommended a modification to the non-union VEBA/HSA contribution from $217 to $265. They also recommended increasing the cell phone allowance from $25 to $50 and changing the meal allowance from $10/$10/$20 to $15/$15/$25. The council approved the recommendations.
Cory Whalen and Brian Michel from the Building and Maintenance department were present at the meeting. They would like to purchase some more tools to be kept in a locked toolbox. The tools would allow them to service the city trucks and other equipment rather than paying someone else to do it. The council agreed that that was a good idea. “Just run it by the administrator so he knows what you’re doing,” Mayor Steve Donney noted.
The patron survey for the Harmony Public Library will be going out in February and will also be available online.
The library and the Harmony Arts Board collaborated to host a book signing with author Amy Hahn. A good turnout was reported for the event.
The council discussed the annual COLA adjustment. The union contract required a 1.75% increase. A 2% increase was approved by the council. The city will receive 10% of the Donald Wilken estate. “He was a very generous man,” Mayor Donney expressed.
The next Harmony city council meeting will be held on February 13 at 7 p.m.
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