Wykoff wastewater treatment plant supervisor Rick Whitney brought forward the first major subject discussed at Monday night’s city council meeting, requesting funding approval for several items. First, the purchase of two pipe mount mixers was approved, pending review of a second bid, at a cost of $14,548. Secondly, the council approved the purchase of five new fanned roof exhaust drives. Four of the five drives currently owned by city of Wykoff are non-functional.
Next, Wykoff Fire Chief Wade Baker recommended to the council a list of appointments for 2024 fire department officers. The list included the following names and positions: chief, Mike Lund; second assistant chief, Chris Nagel; safety officer, Brennen O’Conner; training officer, Nate Schmidt; secretary, Julie Hanson. Upon hearing the list of recommendations, the council made a motion to approve the list, afterward thanking Mr. Baker for his years of service as fire chief. Mr. Baker will remain with the fire department, allowing a new chief to step into the office in 2024.
The November sheriff’s office report was briefly mentioned. It included calls for service and patrol activity classified as Assist, Welfare Check, Traffic, and Fraud/Scam. There were 60.5 hours of routine patrol logged.
The council also gave a final approval to the 2024 law enforcement services agreement with Fillmore County Sheriff’s Department. 2024 will see steep increases in the prices charged to Fillmore County municipalities for the sheriff’s office’s policing services. City of Wykoff previously paid for two hours of officer time per day, but after the new price hike, the city’s new contract only pays for one hour per day. At a rate of $61 per hour, the new contract will cost the city $22,265 for 2024.
The city is set to purchase a plot of land at Section 22, Township 103 North, Range 1 West for new housing development. If all goes as planned, the development will include single family and duplex-style homes. A roughly 11-acre section in the property’s northwest corner has been farmed in the past by Andrew Baker, and on Monday night the council reviewed and approved a lease agreement to continue renting the land to Mr. Baker. Renting out the land for agricultural use will negate an otherwise tax-exempt status for the property, so the lease price has been increased to compensate for the tax burden. The price of the lease is $125 per acre at 11.157 acres, a total price of $1,395 for the year 2024.
After approving the land lease, the council went on to a review and tentatively approve the purchase of new uniforms for city employees. The purchase will include safety-yellow parka jackets for snow removal workers, as well as sweatshirts for EMS and city employees. A quote from Kelly Printing & Signs of Preston gave a total price of $1,750.34; the city approved the purchase pending review of a second bid.
The council also briefly discussed the failure of Wykoff residents to adhere to sidewalk snow removal ordinances. According to the ordinance, any snow must be removed from sidewalks within 24 hours of the snow event. “It’s not something that we want to go after people in the city with their sidewalks,” commented mayor Ryan Breckenridge, “it’s just something have to pay a little bit more attention to.”
Two resolutions were passed by roll call vote Monday night. Resolution 2023-16 was passed, continuing the use of the Wykoff community center as an election polling place for 2024. A second resolution, 2023-17, was passed to approve the restriction of a total of $168,512.64 of city funds for limited uses including equipment, first responders, economic development, and emergency disaster.
City of Wykoff City Council meetings are held on the second Monday of each month at 7 p.m. The next meeting will be held on Monday January 8, 2024.
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