In a short meeting of the Spring Valley City Council on February 26, winter street plowing was a main topic. Members present were Todd Jones, Mayor Jim Struzyk, Jessy Betts, Mike Hadland and City Administrator Deb Zimmer. Tony Archer was absent. No visitors had signed up to address the council.
Jessy Betts and Todd Jones said they’ve had citizens approach them to ask if the city street crew could clear the streets when warm days cause slushy conditions which later freeze into hard ruts. Streets Department Head Chad Hindt was not in attendance at the meeting, but Mayor Struzyk explained that, “Our policy, in our code, is that we don’t plow snow that’s three inches or less… if we’re going to start plowing less than three inches, we’re going to have to change our code, and we’re going to have to increase the budget for snow plowing.” Jones added, “I know Chad has said in the past, sometimes when you plow that, you’re actually taking product off the road. It doesn’t work then, it doesn’t melt as well.” Zimmer added that plowing the “slushy stuff” also causes slushy piles at the end of driveways, when later freezes into ice, so, “It’s kind of a Catch 22, because you don’t know which way to go with it.”
The council discussed the Ambulance Subsidy Contract, about which Zimmer explained, “We do this every year. It’s been $4,500 for quite some time now.” The council voted to approve the subsidy contract as submitted.
Jenny Simon reported on happenings at the library, including that, “We had a great turnout for our canvas paint night.” She also added that the library’s new door has been installed. Sue Puffer reported on the Ambulance, sharing that, “It’s been a fairly busy month,” and that through January and February the crew is averaging just over one ambulance call per day. She also told of new EMTs being trained in.
Troy Lange informed the council that the fire department’s new truck is now in service, and the old truck was sold via Facebook for $6,500. The meeting adjourned about 6:10 p.m. The next regular meeting of the council will be Monday, March 12 at 6 p.m. The public is welcome.