The Spring Valley City Council held several types of meetings on June 8. First, beginning at 5:35 p.m., the council held a work session regarding the city’s capital planning. The work session was immediately followed by a public hearing about the proposed Tax Incremental Financing (TIF) District No. 1-16. Then, starting at 6:20 p.m., the council held a regular council meeting. All three meetings were held in the community center, to allow for appropriate social distancing for all attendees and participants. All members of the council were present.
During the work session, Mike Bubany gave a presentation to the council in which he showed the financial assumptions built into the city’s plans for capital improvements. He showed a wide variety of options for the council to consider, and walked the council through many of these, following a process of, “let’s plug in the numbers and see” how each option would impact the tax rates for citizens, as well as the impact on the city’s budget.
As the council reviewed the expense of keeping up with street and water/sewer repairs and replacements, Bubany stated, “I do this all the time, all across the state. This is not unique to Spring Valley. Every town is falling behind on their streets and utilities, they just can’t keep up.” He explained that the cost of keeping all of the streets and utilities well-maintained would cause cities like Spring Valley to roughly double the amount they levy taxpayers for. He said the method most cities use instead is to set an acceptable threshold of how much taxpayers can bear, and then each city decides how best to allocate those funds.
Bubany also suggested that the council may wish to plan for small increases to the city’s sewer rates every year. He said that cities that do not implement small annual increases almost invariably have to eventually saddle citizens with a large increase, since costs continue to increase, and since repairs and upgrades will obviously be needed at some point.
During the public hearing on the TIF, no citizens spoke up with questions or concerns. The proposed TIF is located in the northwest corner of Spring Valley, just west of Kasten Drive. The plan is to entice contractors to build homes on the lots in the TIF area, which would then provide the city with additional tax benefits, while also providing affordable new homes. During the regular council meeting, the council voted to approve the proposed TIF District 1-16.
The council considered a request for the ambulance service to purchase two new cardiac monitors, at a total cost of $63,127. Sue Puffer explained that the monitors currently being used will soon become obsolete, and will no longer be supported after February 2021. The council voted to approve the purchase, using $25,000 from the city’s operating funds.
Park & Rec Director John Fenske asked the council to consider allowing the swimming pool to open this summer, and to allow adult sports leagues (softball and volleyball). Fenske stated, “The Governor says we can open the swimming pool starting on June 15.” He added that if the council gives approval, it would probably take Fenske’s crew 10-15 days to get the pool ready to open. He also said the Governor currently has “a lot of stipulations” for pools, which will create additional prep work, additional ordering of supplies, and additional staffing whenever the pool is open. Chris Danielson stated that in her opinion, it’s not worth opening the pool for a significantly shortened season, and she said, “I’d say forget it this year.” After discussion, the remaining council members voted to approve the pool to open. No opening date has yet been announced yet. The council also voted to approve the adult athletic leagues to begin. Fenske said the city will encourage appropriate social distancing practices in these leagues, but it ultimately falls to each league to comply.
Fenske then said the Chamber of Commerce is asking if Ag Days can be given permission to use the city’s facilities for the annual event, if the Chamber decides to move forward with holding Ag Days this summer. He said it’s possible the event may be streamlined somewhat from how it has looked in recent years, due to pandemic mitigation guidelines. The council voted to allow Ag Days to use city facilities, assuming the event will follow whatever state guidelines are in place at that time.
Danielson said the Spring Valley Library is working on getting supplies necessary to start reopening to the public, but is offering “curbside service” at this time. The next regular meeting of the council will be Monday, June 22, at the community center. The public is welcome.
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