The Spring Valley City Council met in regular session on Monday, March 27. Members present included: Tony Archer, Todd Jones, Mayor Jim Struzyk, Jessy Betts, and City Administrator Deb Zimmer. Mike Hadland was absent.
One visitor (Boyd) addressed the council regarding the repairs his TD Fetterly crew had done at the building that partially collapsed downtown. He said after reading coverage of recent council meetings, he wanted to speak to the council about frustrations voiced regarding the work done by his crew. He said they were hired February 20, started on the 21, and finished on the 28th (and were delayed because of two snow days). Mayor Struzyk, Jessy Betts, and Deb Zimmer each spoke up, saying that the frustrations had been related to the timing and safety concerns (wanting the job done quickly to prevent risk to the public), but that they felt the job was done well. Struzyk summarized, “I think you guys did a good job,… the frustration was just that it started slowly.”
Tom Wente, representing the accounting firm of Smith Schafer, gave a summary of the annual financial audit on Spring Valley. His report included an unmodified “clean” opinion and that no compliance exceptions were found for 2016. He noted that Public Work Expenditures were roughly $106,000 lower in 2016 than in 2015, and General Fund Expenditures were under budget by almost $252,000 in 2016. He shared that Spring Valley’s Capital Improvement fund balance increased by over $200,000, and is now at $778,728. In summary, he stated that, “Overall, things are very strong.” The council voted to accept the audit as submitted. The council also voted to approve the annual ambulance subsidy agreement.
In departmental reports, Sue Puffer said that regarding the ambulance crew, “We’re ready to take over April first.” Chad Hindt (Streets department) said, “We’ve been going through some safety training. We’ll be sweeping the streets soon.” Jenny Simon (Library) stated, “I just want to remind everybody about the green donations bins at the library,” and she said if donors have a large amount of material to donate, library staff can arrange for pick-up. She said so far this year, the library has received about $400 from the materials donated.
Zimmer reminded all citizens that the city’s annual “junk tour” (to address violations of the junk ordinance) is going on now. She also shared that City Cleanup Day has been set for May 13, from 9 a.m. to noon. Citizens are encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity to get rid of junk that would otherwise cost to dispose of, at any other time. The next regular meeting of the city council will be Monday, April 10 at 6 p.m., with the annual Board of Review meeting occurring beforehand, at 5:30 p.m. The public is welcome.