Superintendent Richard Keith and school board member Craig Britton were present at the Harmony City Council meeting on June 12 to discuss the final stages of the proposed land swap between the City of Harmony and Fillmore Central. The school will be turning the area behind the Harmony Community Center into a new baseball field and would like to build a parking lot to go with it. The parking lot would be built next to the library entrance of the community center and library patrons could also use it. As this would benefit both the city and the school, the school board was interested in coming up with a cost sharing option for paving the parking lot. In exchange for the 1.92 acres that would be used for the parking lot, the school would give the city 1.92 acres of land to the west of the community center next to the community garden. As the school wouldn’t be using the parking lot during the winter months, the city would need to plow and maintain it for library patrons during that time. The council approved the land swap with a $25,000 contribution toward the black topping of the parking lot. Work will begin in the next few weeks.
Lisa Miller from On the Crunchy Side was present at the meeting to ask the council to approve her liquor license application. She had missed the deadline to turn it in and so, city ordinance mandated that she appear before the council before approval. As Miller has turned in all the necessary paperwork and paid for the late fee, the council approved her application.
Maintenance Director Chris Johnson informed the council that the recent storms had caused some issues with the lift station and pumps, but that everything is back in working order.
Board member Debbie Swenson gave the Harmony EDA report. Their plans for the 4th of July celebration are on track. Web traffic to the city website is up 60% compared to the same time last year.
City Attorney Greg Schieber had good news about the bike trail expansion. The bonding for the trail has been approved and funds have been allocated for the project in legislature. “This is the best case scenario,” he said. Letters have been sent to the landowners to inform them of the update. Swenson extended gratitude both personally and on behalf of the council to everyone who has come together to work on the trail expansion project. “They’ve put a lot of work and a lot of time into this,” she said. “A big thank you to everyone who worked really hard getting this through.”
The next Harmony City Council meeting will be held on July 10 at 7 p.m.