NL City Council tackles full agenda

The New London City Council met in regular session on June 12, 2023. Mayor Kirk Miller called the meeting to order. Councilman Travis Benz was absent. They approved the agenda, the consent agenda, and no one addressed the Council in open forum.

During reports, the Council discussed the condition of the park playground equipment and if anything could be done to repair it or improve its safety. To replace it has been estimated at almost $200,000.00. The City has applied for grants, but hasn’t yet been awarded any grant funds.

They also discussed the subdivision and the grass reseeding that has been done by Four Seasons. The Council feels that the grass is still not satisfactory. Four Seasons has again requested their retainage be paid or their bond released. They have stated that if it isn’t, they will start charging interest on what is owed.

In old business, they approved Resolution #404 adopting employee hourly wages for FY 2023/2024 and authorizing its implementation. The employee raise was $1.00 per hour increase.

The Council then discussed the New London School District’s pursuit of a School Resource Officer (SRO). The two groups have held discussions about how this might be accomplished. The Council will wait and see what the school decides the duties of an SRO are and what they can afford. The Council can then discuss whether the police department or the Henry County Sheriff’s Office would best fill the position. The Council noted that in the last weeks of the school year, the New London police department has been dropping by the school a couple of times a day to show a presence within the District. This has been going well.

The last item of old business was a discussion of the commercial development of the City-owned land east of the baseball diamonds on 267th Street. They discussed what the developer wants from the City as well as what the City is willing to do for the developer. Wanting to keep the business/developer in New London, they will consult the City Attorney to have him complete negotiations with the developer going forward.

In new business, the Council took the following actions:

• Approved pay estimate #5 for Jones Contracting for the second addition of the Pine Street Subdivision for $56,680.17.

• Approved Resolution #405 to sponsor the 2023 Red Flag Run from New London to Brighton and a $500 donation.

• Approved resolution #406 to employ a police officer for the City of New London. Devin Swanson will start with the Police Department part-time on July 3rd, 2023 and will become full time on August 7th, 2023 at an hourly wage of $22.85.

• Approved up to six chickens (no roosters) as requested by Matt Kimble at 601 South Walnut Street.

• Approved the estimate of $13,262.00 from Alliant Energy for the installation of natural gas service in the Second Addition of the South Pine Street Subdivision.

• Approved the selling the 1992 Spartan/Saulsbury Pumper/Heavy Rescue to the Olds Fire Department for $30,000.00.

• Approved paying out 58.75 hours of Todd Sine‘s vacation totaling $1,692.00 due to the Police Department being short staffed for an extended period of time.

• Approved Ruth Schinstock’s request to continue a nonconforming use of 107 Toothache Drive. It will become a low cost spay/neuter and preventative medicine clinic. The Council specified the clinic will not keep animals overnight nor will any business activities be carried on outside the building. If Ms. Schinstock purchases the property, the City will have their attorney draft an agreement with those restrictions spelled out in order for her to operate her business at this location.

• Approved selling the excess dirt from the subdivision on S. Pine St. to interested parties at $50 per dump truck load with the following stipulations: The buyer will be responsible for loading the dirt; will leave the City property at finished grade; cannot load dirt when wet/muddy; and will take direction from the public works supervisor throughout the loading process. The buyer must pre-pay for their dirt and no refunds will be issued if the buyer takes less than what they paid for.

• Approved the location of the proposed sidewalk in the 300-700 blocks of S. Pine St. to be on the west side of the road and on the far west side of the right of way. The streetlights for this area will be located in between the proposed sidewalk and the street.

They discussed truck parking within the city limits. A semi-truck without a trailer has been parked on East Cleveland. The driver has been spoken to by the police and he has agreed to park elsewhere. The Council will not make any changes the City Code for truck parking as long as there is no longer an issue.

The last item was a discussion among the Council concerning the garbage services for 2024-2025. The City’s options will be discussed further at the next Public Works Committee meeting.

The meeting adjourned at 7:15 p.m. The next regular meeting of the New London City Council will be July 10, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. at the City Office.