At the request of the council, Jay Nieson of Waste Management visited the Houston City Council’s regular meeting on June 8 to discuss changing garbage pickup day from Tuesday to Friday. Waste Management proposed the change to provide better service. Currently service for Houston is from the La Crosse office which has a staffing shortage. With the change in pickup days, Houston would be served out of Rochester, which has good staffing.
In addition, the vehicles from Rochester are fueled with natural gas; as a result there would be no fuel surcharges for Houston. This would save the city of Houston $300 to $400 a month. The natural gas trucks are quieter and better for the environment.
Nieson acknowledged the concerns raised about a Friday pickup, but shared that he himself has Friday pickup and it hasn’t been a problem. He assured the council that Waste Management would take care of all notifications for the residents and would handle the garbage pickup for residents in the road work area of the city.
Zeb Baumann commented that it was a relatively small change and people will get used to it. Steve Westby agreed and said the change would provide good input when the contract comes up in the future. The council approved the change of pickup day; Nieson will provide the council with an amendment to the current contract.
Fire Department
Fire Chief Byron Frauenkron appeared before the council to ask that the statuses of Jude Fernando and Austin Fishel be changed from probationary to regular firefighter on the one year anniversary date of their starting on the fire department – Fernando on July 14 and Fishel on October 14. Both men have completed their firefighter training.
Frauenkron also asked that funds from a recent DNR grant for upland firefighting gear be made available to purchase new boots and chainsaw chaps for the department. The Relief Association will provide matching funds.
A FEMA grant opened on May 19 for applications. Frauenkron requested council approval to submit an application for the $117,000 grant. Any funds received would be used to purchase new turnout gear for the department. The council approved all of Frauenkron’s requests.
Other Business
In other business, the council:
•Approved the $4,438 contract for the construction of two ADA ramps at the HAPI (Houston Area Preservation Initiative) House; the sidewalk ramps will be installed by Brueggen’s Services;
•Affirmed the hiring of Henry Bailey, Andrew Erdmann, Mason Krings, Sabrina Lisota and Henry Meyer for the Youth Conservation Corp and the hiring of Emily Baumann, Kate Baumann, Abriella Keller, Alizabeth Larkins, Sabrina Lisota, Winnie Runningen, Aiden Sayles, Natalie Skifton and Aubrie Tostenson for summer recreation student staff; the council also authorized the hiring of additional qualified staff as needed;
•Accepted a gift basket donation from Bolton & Menk and donated it to the Fire Relief Association to use as a fundraiser;
•Accepted the donation of a locally made bench in memory of a community member; the donation will be anonymous until a presentation during Hoedown Days;
•Appointed Trent Edwards to the tree board to replace his father Jim Edwards;
•Appointed Lee Edminston, Anna Frauenkron, Amanda Langheinrich, Sabrina Lisota, Michael Markegard, Suzanne Peterson, Michelle Quinn and Karen Todd as election judges for the upcoming elections; the city pays for the necessary two-hour training for the judges.
In department reports, Ambulance Director Chris Cox submitted a written report. She shared that summer is a tough time to cover ambulance shifts. Some of the crew are teachers who provide day coverage during the school year. Summer vacations and activities also affect staffing.
All five of the students who took the EMT class offered through Houston High School passed their skills exam. One of the students has taken and passed the NREMT exam and intends to join the crew.
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