The Spring Valley City Council heard from two residents regarding unattended fires in the city at their meeting on Monday, December 12. The council passed a revised ordinance regarding burning at their meeting in November, requiring that for a fire to be considered “attended,” there must be someone within 10 feet at all times, with a water hose or other means of extinguishing the fire ready at hand.
“What are we doing as a city to enforce the ordinances we have to put some teeth into it?” said one resident, addressing the fires and a noise complaint. Mayor Tony Archer replied that more discussions need to happen regarding the city ordinances on these issues, and that residents who are affected should continue to contact law enforcement.
The council unanimously set a tax levy for 2023 at $1,684,456 with little discussion. The levy is up 1.2% from 2022 or about $20,000.
Maintenance Superintendent Chad Hindt said the snowstorm during the morning of December 10 created some issues. “We attempted to move snow. We didn’t make people happy. So we went against city ordinance and plowed during the day…and that still didn’t make people happy.” Council members discussed the untimely nature of the storm during the morning hours with near white-out conditions just before dawn. “I want to thank the employees…they put in a long 20 hours with no breaks and no lunch,” Hindt said.
Council Member Luan Ruesink in her closing remarks encouraged city residents to respect the city’s ordinances regarding no parking on city streets from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. to help with snow removal. “That was a big part of the problem with this last snowfall was vehicles parked on the streets…just a reminder, keep that in mind when we have the next big snowfall.”
Resident Steve Majors made a request to the council as part of the proposed Farmers Street/County 8 construction project slated for this coming summer or the following summer. He requested that the sidewalk on his property located at 517 North Section Ave., where about 60% of his property would have a city sidewalk and 40% would not. His concern had to do with the driveways and garages on his property. The council tabled his request as the project plans are not yet finalized.
Chris Danielson offered some closing remarks on the last meeting of her term in office, noting that being a member of the council is an important job. “It’s been an interesting four years. This is a great job and a privilege to be able to serve our city. I feel in the last four years a lot of good things have happened here… I hope you guys can continue to keep things going and spending the taxpayer’s money the way we should be.” Danielson’s seat will be filled by Justin Mlinar starting next month.
EDA Director Chris Hahn reported that the disk golfcourse at Willow Park is now fully funded. “Between the local business and organizations to help put this in and do the labor, the baskets are here, the disks are here…” An informational meeting was held on December 14 at the community center regarding the project.
Ambulance Director Sue Puffer reported November was a busy month with a total of 56 calls, while the fire department only reported one fire call.
The next meeting of the Spring Valley City Council will be on Monday, January 9 at 6 p.m. The public is welcome to attend.
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