Harmony resident Samantha Grabau brought her concerns over the proposed location of the splashpad to the Harmony City Council at their December 10 meeting. Grabau’s home borders the trailhead park and, while she supports the idea of building a splashpad in Harmony, she has doubts about the trailhead being the best location. She noted that there is already an increase in traffic in that area during the summer months, including people driving vehicles, golf carts, etc. on the bike trail. With a splashpad installed, that problem will only get worse, especially on 4th Street. She asked if it would be possible to conduct a traffic study on 4th Street for the safety of people walking on that road or pulling into or out of Kwik Trip. Summer traffic was not Grabau’s only concern as in the winter, there are a number of snowmobiles that drive through the trailhead park, and it could be hazard to have the splashpad pieces sticking out of the ground. She also pointed out that a substation is located near the proposed location, which has blown once before and asked whether it would be safe to have a water source next to an electrical conductor source. Grabau suggested that splashpad be built at the old skating rink at the camp ground as there are already bathrooms, a playground, and basketball courts in that area. The council thanked Grabau for her input.
The Truth in Taxation hearing was opened. No members of the community were present to speak at it.
The sewer line from Highway 52 to the edge of Industrial Park was jetted recently to clear a partial clog. A chalky residue was found to be blocking the line. The same substance also created a block in 2008 and is believed to be from a business owner washing prohibited materials down their drain. “My question is why do we keep paying money to clean the sewer when they’re dumping stuff down there?” council member Steve Sagen asked. Letters will be sent to the business owners in the area making them aware of materials that are not allowed to be washed down the drain.
“We want to thank the council and Greg (Schieber) and Jerome (Illg) for their support for the project,” Ralph Beastrom from the Harmony Historical Society said about the Grain Elevator Restoration Project. “I think we’re starting to move along.” Karen Leno drafted a logo and also assisted Vicky Tribon and Carol Rhodes with designing a brochure for fundraising purposes. The Society is currently working to finalize the brochure and find a company that can clean the interior of the elevator.
City Attorney Greg Schieber updated the council on the bike trail extension. The project is in the final stages of wrapping up the title issues and collecting signatures from landowners on the paperwork necessary to move forward. He has just a few more landowners with whom he needs to meet. “We’ve made good progress there,” he noted.
Sagen asked if it would be possible to move the 30 MPH speed signs from in front of Harmony Enterprises to before the Industrial Park on Highway 52 as there have been several accidents in that location and increased traffic due to new and expanding businesses. Deputy Jason Harmening pointed out that doing so would mean changing the speed limit, and the city cannot do that without asking MnDOT to conduct a speed study first. Doing so may backfire as MnDOT could end up increasing the speed limit through town.
A grant opportunity from Brenda Pohlman with Fillmore County Public Health was received, which would allow for cost sharing with the city for a dynamic speed sign. The deadline for the grant is December 27 and as the city is already in the process of obtaining a permit to place two dynamic speed signs on Highway 52 as motorists are entering Harmony from either end, the council approved a motion to move forward with the grant process.
A joint orderly annexation agreement with Harmony Township was approved to move 8.2 acres of their land into municipal limits. The City of Harmony will pay the township a one-time fee of $750 for the land.
$27,000 was raised for the splashpad on Give to the Max Day with another $1,000 coming in since then. Until December 24, Harmony Foods is offering a donation match for up to $1,000. $1,000 has also been promised from the Hoiness family. Sandy Strozyk noted that the splashpad committee has a list of over 20 grants to help with costs that they will begin applying for soon.
The Arts Board is in the process of planning another Poetry Slam. They are donating money to the Fillmore Central High School choir so that they can travel to a Minnesota Gophers game to sing the national anthem.
The Truth in Taxation hearing was closed, and the 2020 budget was approved.
City Maintenance Director Chris Johnson is retiring at the end of 2019. The council will start advertising for that position and will need to find someone with a Class B license to replace Johnson. Maintenance worker Terry Bigalk is still at least a year away from obtaining his Class B. Johnson agreed to work some hours after retirement until a Class B license holder can take over.
City Administrator Jerome Illg will be resigning from his position on February 14. A personnel committee will be put together with several members of the council and from the community to search for a new administrator.
The next Harmony City Council meeting will be held on January 14 at 7 p.m.
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