New London dives into budget season

BY KARYN SPORY

Mt. Pleasant News

NEW LONDON ? It was a busy night for the New London City Council on Tuesday, as the council held a joint meeting with the Utility Trustees before diving into the fiscal year 2017 budget.

Before discussing the electricity rates and income generated from the windmill, the trustees approved hiring Brandon Lincoln as an apprentice lineman and the council authorized the dissolution of the Iowa Cities e-payment aggregation system (iCash). City Clerk Kasi Howard said the iCash, which was organized by the Iowa League of Cities, allows New London to take online and credit card payments without paying a fee, but the system is no longer cost-effective. Dissolving the system would allow cities to negotiate competitive contracts with another company. Howard said the Iowa League of Cities helped negotiate the contract. The council approved dissolving the system at the end of June.

Councilman Greg Malott said he had questions for the trustees as to whether the city is generating any kind of profit from the windmill.

Malott went on to say, looking at documents provided, it looked as if the ?city was ahead of the game.? ?We?ve got a pretty good amount of money in our CD investments in the electrical category,? he said. ?What are we planning to do with that money??

Trustee Jerry Wilhelm said the trustees recently approved using a little over $500,000 to replace the transformer at the substation. ?We?ve been saving for that for nine to 10 years. It?s past its life. It still tests good, but we decided now, with the price of steel and copper being lower? to replace it,? he said.

Wilhelm said the transformer is at the point where it could either last another 10 years or only the next 10 minutes. ?If it does just lay down and die, it only takes nine or 10 months to get another one built,? he explained. ?We would have a lot of expense that nine or 10 months to bring a temporary (transformer) in, so it seemed like it was a good time to spend the money now, rather than wait until it quits or the price (of steel and copper) goes up.?

Malott said a conversation he?s had with many citizens was whether residents would get any kind of break on their electricity bills. ?Some people have a feeling there should be some sort of payback from the investment we made (when the windmill went up). If we gained some money on this, there would be a reduction in rate or a rebate, something like that,? he said.

Wilhelm said, at this point, the windmill is paying its way, but what extra money the machine generates is tucked away for maintenance costs and repairs. Trustee Steve Rotter said that if one blade on the windmill breaks, all three would have to be replaced, and they?re $200,000 per blade.

?I put money aside in my budget for home and car repairs, we are doing the same,? said Wilhelm. ?If one big wind storm came through, it would cost a lot of money to repair.?

On Tuesday, the council also discussed the budget. They went line by line seeing where money could be saved, as their wish list left negative amounts in the general fund, capitol improvements and sewer funds.

Although repairs to the shelter house at the park had been a must-do project for the council, an estimated cost of $60,000 forced the project onto the chopping block. The council discussed setting some money aside for the project so it could become a reality on a different budget. The same was discussed for separating the storm and sanitary sewer. After much discussion, the council agreed that although it?s a project that needs to be done, it?s not something that must be done during the next fiscal year.

The council will present a detailed budget at its next meeting.

In other business, the council:

? Approved the sale of the 2007 black/white Ford Crown Victoria to Samuel Frankowick at $2,900.

? Decided to prolong the bidding for real estate at 315 N. Maple St., as the city did not receive any bids.

? Tabled acquiring the Agri-Way property on N. Cottonwood St.

? Approved a zoning permit for Ken Szewczyk, 103 W. Lincoln St., to build a roof over the deck.

? Approved tax abatement for Rodger and Kim Wagner, 506 W. Madison St., for a garage.

? Approved re-investing funds into a CD.

The next meeting of the New London City Council will be Tuesday, March 1, 2016, at 5:30 p.m., at City Hall.