On December 14, the Spring Valley City Council held the annual Truth in Taxation public hearing immediately prior to their regular council meeting. All members were present (Luan Ruesink, Chris Danielson, John Dols, Mike Hadland, and Mayor Tony Archer). Also attending was city clerk/administrator Deb Zimmer. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, masks and social distancing practices were in use by those attending.
During the public hearing, a citizen said her taxes have risen 18%. Zimmer explained that tax increases are impacted not only by what the city does, but also by property values. She stated, “There has been some adjustments in valuation to property. Every four years, the assessor does overall evaluation of the whole city… At this meeting, we can’t do anything about the valuation. That’s the Board of Review which is in April.” After the public hearing closed, the council voted to approve the final levy for 2021, which Zimmer said was identical to the preliminary levy.
Chris Hahn gave a report to the council on his work as the director of the city’s Economic Development Authority (EDA). He shared a “sneak peek” at the EDA’s website, which is still being finalized. He summarized the EDA’s various programs and events in 2020 which were aimed at helping local businesses. Hahn also stated that a new initiative is “co-working,” which he described, saying, “As an EDA, we’re working with some people that have space available here in town… So for example, let’s say you work for Mayo Clinic. Well, working from home sounds great, but if you have a dog and three kids, or whatever… you’re not going to get a lot of work done from home. So we’re looking at working remotely from anywhere, in the form of co-working.”
During the Department Head reports section of the meeting, John Fenske (parks department) reported, “The other directors and myself talked, and as of right now we’re planning for summer activities. So let’s hope the good Lord gives us that opportunity.” He continued, “Also, I’m in the very beginning stages of talking with the group that took over the Wykoff school, to be able to use their facility to hold some of our practices.”
Sue Puffer (ambulance department) gave a report, stating that it’s been “a quiet couple weeks,” but she added that overall for 2020, the crew responded to 464 calls, year-to-date. She also mentioned, “In addition, I’d like to publicly thank Don and Jan Lanning for buying turkeys for the ambulance crew. And I also would like to thank Sally Broadwater and the Bloomfield Cloverleaf 4-H Club that gave us some treats.” Fire Chief Troy Lange also shared appreciation to Broadwater and the 4-H club for treats to the fire crew.
The council approved spending $4,200 to replace downspouts and gutters at city hall, in an area where water currently just runs down the side of the building. Zimmer said other roofing repairs may be needed later, as well.
Luan Ruesink stated, “One of the electric car charging stations has been installed at Sunshine Foods, and they are actively working on getting the other ones completed that are going to go up by the new tourist information area.” The entire council voiced appreciation to Mike Hadland for his service to the city, as this was his final regular meeting as a council member. He shared thanks to the council and Spring Valley citizens for supporting him during his term. The council will hold a very brief meeting on December 29 at noon, to approve accounts payable.
The next regular meeting of the council will be Monday, January 11, 6 p.m., at city hall. The public is welcome.
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