Photo by Wanda Hanson
Shelly Jerviss appeared before the Houston City Council at the September 12 meeting to ask permission to explore the possibility of creating a museum in the old community center. Representing Jim Skree and herself, Jerviss explained the museum would be a non-profit run on grants and donations. It would collect the history of the city, accept items for display, and only hold events connected with the museum. When asked if they were thinking of purchasing the building, Jerviss replied, “Yes, if we can afford it.”
Mayor Dave Olson responded, “We’d be willing to sell it at a VERY reasonable price!”
A voice from the audience suggested a dollar, eliciting chuckles from everyone in attendance. City Administrator Michelle Quinn was tasked with working with the city attorney to determine a nominal price for the building. The entire council expressed their interest in the museum possibility. Jerviss will return to next month’s meeting with more details.
Volunteers needed for reactivated tree board
The July 23 storms resulted in many downed trees in Houston.
The tree board has not been active since 2018, and some citizens have asked for a reactivation of the board. Volunteers interested in serving on the board are asked to submit letters of interest to the city. There will be a council member on the board as well as the tree inspector. In order to create a smooth rotation, there will be one single year term, two two-year terms, and two three-year terms.
Houston is eligible to apply for a disaster assistance contingency fund available from the state. This fund would then pay for 75% of the expense of stump removal (average cost is from $200 to $300 per stump) from city property and boulevards and possibly the expense of downed tree removals. The remaining 25% could be assessed to homeowners or the city could choose to either share that expense or cover it. The homeowners of boulevard trees would be responsible for leveling the dirt and seeding it. The council approved applying for the funding and will decide in the future how the remaining 25% should be paid. Homeowners who already paid for tree removal will be reimbursed if they overpaid.
Capital improvement planning
Matt Mohs visited the council meeting to ask approval of pay application #17 for the wastewater treatment plant construction. The council approved the $56,913.45 payment; the balance remaining is $396,481.76 including retainage. The retainage will not be paid until the contractors ask for it.
Mohs reported that he’d been coordinating with Quinn and PWD on capital improvement planning for the city. Projects included in the plan are: Spruce, Jackson, Chase, Grant, and Cedar Streets. Other entities such as the county for Spruce, MPCA for Jackson, and the state for Cedar are involved in the work. Mike Bubany will help determine priorities of the projects and will attend the November council meeting to present his recommendations. Mohs asked for payment of ten hours of engineering for the capital improvement which was approved.
Mohs also reported on the cost of completing a gravel road on Stoddard Street to access eleven city owned lots. It would cost an estimated $400,000.This would be necessary before the city would be able to sell the lots. By adding access, the city projects that six new homes could be built on the lots. (Most people have been purchasing two lots for their new homes.) Sewer is already available; water would need to be added in the future. If a hard surface was done on the road in the future, homeowners would be assessed for the cost.
The trunk highway 16 project is planned for 2030 by the state. If the city wants to push it forward, they will have to advocate to the state. This will be a cost shared project for paving, etc. The city will pay the total cost of utilities. The work will run for two miles through the city at an estimated cost of $5 to $7 million. Mohs asked for payment of 12 hours of engineering; the council approved the request.
Other business
In other business the council:
•Adopted a preliminary budget and levy with a 3% increase;
•Set a truth in taxation meeting for December 12 at 6 p.m. with the regular monthly council meeting to follow;
•Reaffirmed action from October 2021 to become part of Explore Minnesota;
•Issued a gambling permit to DLC, Inc. for a raffle at JT’s October 22, 2022;
•Approved advertising for an assistant for the nature center, a summer rec director position for 2023 ($4,000);
•Decided to present a one time stipend of $2,000 to Emily Krage for her work with the 2022 summer rec;
•Learned a new software, Central Square, for countywide EMS (police, fire, and ambulance) was being used. The software had a one-time set up fee of $7,495.11 and a yearly maintenance fee of $1,500.
The next Houston council meeting will be October 10 at 6 p.m. in the city hall council chambers; the public is welcome to attend.
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