The clothing donation bin at the edge of the Harmony Community Center parking lot has already been filled and emptied once since being installed recently. The Harmony Public Library will be receiving $0.10 a pound for the donations from the company that owns and sets up the bins. Once full, each bin holds approximately 600 pounds of donations. “It’s not a lot, but every little bit helps,” City Council and Library Board member Lynn Mensink pointed out at the July 10 Harmony City Council meeting. The library applied for a bin many months ago, but due to a shortage of bins was unable to acquire one until now.
Mike Bubany from David Drown Associates was present at the meeting to discuss his findings regarding the early pay-off options for the city’s 2014 and 2017 bonds. While there is a pre-payment penalty of 1% of the principal, the savings on interest would negate that penalty and exceeds it by a significant amount, coming to total of about $5,000. The council approved an early pay-off for both bonds.
A maintenance contract with Fillmore Central was approved for the property at the community center that the school district now owns. A land swap was approved at the June council meeting to allow the school to build a parking lot on the library side of the community center. The parking lot will be used for the football field that the school is installing behind the center. Since the lot will also be used by library patrons and the community center, it was agreed that the school will be responsible for the mowing and upkeep of the west side of the property and maintenance of the blacktop. The City of Harmony will be responsible for the mowing and upkeep on the east side of the property and snow removal.
The forfeiture of a property in Harmony was approved by the council with the agreement that the city will sell the land.
Maintenance Director Chris Johnson reported that it’s “business as usual” in the maintenance department. In the last month, there have only been minor glitches at the wastewater treatment plant, which are to be expected. The well-starter for well #2 needs to be replaced.
The council reviewed the city’s weed ordinance with some modifications. The ordinance currently states that if the city employees have to do work on a property to keep it maintained and in accordance with the ordinance, the property owner will be billed at an hourly rate by the city. It was suggested that the hourly rate be changed to a flat fee. “That’s what I would recommend,” City Administrator Jerome Illg noted. The ordinance was approved with the modifications.
The Park Board is planning to redo the basketball court. They also received a request to re-wire the building in the park, but as the wiring is still good, they will not be doing that. They did install a new refrigerator in the building. The Park Board is working with the Lions Club to purchase new garbage cans for Main Street.
The next Harmony City Council meeting will be held on August 14 at 8 p.m. instead of the usual 7 p.m. meeting time.
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