May 4-10th, 2025 was the 56th Annual Professional Municipal Clerks Week. The week included a number of events designed to raise public awareness of municipal clerks and the essential services they offer to the community and local government.

Watering Schedule Update

Dan, (no last name provided), gave his review for the odd/even watering schedule for irrigation. He said that they hadn’t reached firm capacity yet because of the growth of the city. Firm capacity is the amount of water a treatment plant can produce when the main well is no longer functioning. Dan explained that the first well had been finished a year and a half ago and the secondary one is starting up. The completion of the well will provide about 800 gallons. The council approved of how fast the irrigation was improving. 

2013 Plow Truck

Staff is seeking council consensus to move forward on the purchase of a 2013 Freightliner plow truck for the public works department. May 14 is when the item would be brought for council consideration. The current fleet of plow trucks consists of an 02, 05, two 06’s, an 18, and a 20. They are mostly internationals, which are specialized heavy duty plow trucks. 

The city had budgeted for an additional plow truck in the 2023 CIP plan. Due to demand, expenses, and other factors, they were unable to secure a truck. The original 2023 plan was to replace the 2002 Sterling with a brand new truck, budgeted at about $225,000. The vehicle in question is currently being used for the water wastewater plant to haul sludge to the landfill. An estimated 45-50 weeks a year, 3-5 days per week are its operating hours that current staff are hoping to replace, keeping that particular truck at the water wastewater plant to avoid any scheduling problems with Dan. The new truck has a little over 36,000 miles on it and is projected at a price of about $350,000. Council approved of the vehicle after some discussion over the price.

Park Irrigation

Norman, (no last name provided), stated possible options for park irrigation that the council could deliberate on. There are currently 18 parks, but only 13 are being irrigated. He estimated that only about 50-70% of the acres are being irrigated which is roughly 29 of the 42 acres that is actually grassland. His first option was an additional well that he could not pin a price down on. The second was a plan through Verizon which would allow the watering to be easily controlled. The third was to maintain the current plan, finishing the spring aeration that couldn’t be done last fall. His recommendation was to maintain the status quo while keeping an open mind to option two for some of the larger projects. The council discussed the options and ended up deciding to wait for a couple years to more accurately determine the price of the possible options.

In Other Business The Council:

• Received a permit for a local restaurant to conduct legal gambling;

• Discussed a vandalism problem in the local parks and is currently looking for information on the matter;

• Updated the 2026 budget to align with what is currently being projected for this year.