The Spring Valley City Council held a regular council meeting on October 25. Members present included Mayor Tony Archer, Chris Danielson, and Greg Brooks. City Administrator/Clerk Deb Zimmer also participated. John Dols and Luan Ruesink were absent.
The council heard a concern from citizen Lois Suckow, who stated, “Oh man, watching the big semis come barreling down Highway 16 or 63, and other traffic too, just totally ignore the street signs… I was going to pull out of Dollar General… two semis right together came barreling down Highway 16, and I’m not kidding you one bit, they had to be going 60 miles an hour.”
Traffic signs on the highway show that the speed limit drops to 40 about 100 yards before Dollar General, for traffic coming into town. Suckow said she has spoken with one of the deputies about her concerns of the excess speed, and that she especially fears that bicyclists and/or children may be struck by vehicles speeding into town. She asked, “Is there something that could be done?”
Council members said the best way to address the concern is to contact MnDOT (Department of Transportation), the State Patrol, the Sheriff’s Department, and possibly state representatives. Greg Brooks added, “The more people we have call, that help us, the more results we will get.”
Another citizen asked about the street closure on November 20, which the council previously approved at the previous meeting. Zimmer explained, “It’s the one block section of South Broadway… They’re having a grand opening at Hop & Barrel and he wanted to have some activities in the street also.” She added that the street closure will begin at around noon on that day, and will last until the business closes that evening. She also stated that other nearby businesses were aware of the planned temporary street closure, and no complaints had been voiced.
The council returned to another matter that was considered at the previous meeting. The city’s retired ambulance vehicle had been opened up for bids, and the only bid was $100. It was estimated that the city would get around $500 for junking the vehicle. Zimmer showed the invoice from having the bidding notice in the newspaper for three weeks. At the previous meeting, the matter resulted in a 2-2 tie, so it was tabled. Mayor Archer explained that the city has three options: accept the only bid, re-open it for bids again, or junk the vehicle.
Chris Danielson said, “I think we’ve had it out there three times already. I personally would rather prefer to just scrap it.” Greg Brooks made a motion to re-open for bids again, and Mayor Archer seconded. The motion won on a 2-1 vote.
Chad Hindt (Street Department) reported “We’ve started sweeping streets, finished up a few potholes… and doing our last round of mowing for the year.” He estimated street sweeping would take close to a month to complete.
Sue Puffer (Ambulance Service) reported that the department recently switched to “Active 911,” a system in which pages can be received via cell phones. She said the system is working, but will not replace the pagers currently in use.
Chris Hahn reported on EDA happenings, including, “We did some updates to the website… Spring Valley Vet Clinic, as you know, the roof is on the building… Rustic Rose, Mitch is currently putting a 30 by 96 (foot) greenhouse in… he’s going to have that built over the winter… Valley Butchery is going to be moving forward in the coming weeks… Kwik Trip, November 9 is their date.”
Aaron Hamersma reported on status at the wastewater treatment plant, and highlighted a recent tour by a group of Kingsland students. Mayor Archer gave public recognition of Dave Phillips, whjo was recently named as Kiwanis Citizen of the Year. The council’s next regular meeting will be Monday, November 8 at 6 p.m., at city hall. The public is welcome.
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