Council considers BSV proposals PDF Print E-mail
Thursday, 05 October 2006 04:06
The city council listened to and will make a decision on a number of proposals at the next regular council meeting concerning Blue Sky Villa (BSV).
Troy Shirley, manager of the Horizon Lodge and Blue Sky Villa Apartments informed the council there is now a waiting list of 14 people for BSV.
The property managers would like to set up a committee with the council to work up a plan and put into motion construction of new living quarters at BSV. Using local contractors, “This would be about a 3-4 million dollar project,” Shirley told the council. Mayor Shevlin noted, “It’s a waste of time to be watering and mowing grass.” Any decision will be made at the next council meeting. Some preliminary legwork has been done already concerning adding new units to BSV.
In addition the management would like to take down six foot high wind breaks and not replace them, remove a pole fence along the 300 building that is starting to rot and permanently close a basketball court that is becoming a hazard due to a water line beneath it that has caused a big curvature in the cement.
They would also like to have the city do some curb repair. The windbreak, fence and court closure were approved. The other items will be acted on at the next council meeting.
Shari Richter from the Chamber of Commerce requested that half of Virginia St. between 4th and 5th Avenues be closed to traffic from 2-6 p.m. for Harvest Fest on Oct. 14. There will be live entertainment and little dancers performing in the museum parking lot. The council approved the request.
A Tavern Association representative was on hand to see if it was  alright to have a tasting of homemade beer and wine in several of the taverns during the Christmas Stroll.
Since there is already liquor licenses in place and the “tasting”  of home brew are not for sale, it was fine with the council. In reality, they didn’t need permission from the council, however, the council appreciated them coming in to make the request.
There was no decision made on the city judge position. The judge will hold court on Saturdays for the time being and a letter of interest for the position of city judge will be advertised.
A timeline schedule for the wastewater treatment facility was tabled until the next meeting. Council members wanted more time to review it.
On a related issue, there was some discussion regarding the engineering firm for the wastewater project. Richard Anderson, Public Works Director, recommended staying with the Morrison-Maierle engineering firm who has already done the preliminary report.
The council may consider another firm. I-O editor Buck Traxler asked what the cost of the M&M preliminary report was and was informed it was $30,000.
He went on to note, that in all likelihood, a new engineering firm would want to do their own preliminary report in which it would be fair to expect a cost of another $30,000 or more.
The council acknowledged it probably would, but Judisch commented, “a new firm could possibly save us $500,000, wouldn’t that be worth another $30,000?”
The council took no action on this.
Public Works Department employees were on hand to request that summer hours be kept year-round. A decision was tabled until the next meeting.
Anderson made a request to let bids for a new pickup truck.
After some discussion, he will ask for bids from Courtesy Ford and Van Motors for bids on a new truck and a truck with 10-15,000 miles on it. A bid opening to compare prices will be planned for November.
He also requested permission to purchase an updated water meter reading software system for $7,750.  Council members gave their approval.
It was announced that the fall alley clean up will begin  on Oct. 16. The city has written a letter to the landfill district requesting a lower price because they will haul picked up items from the alleyways directly to the landfill in city trucks instead of taking them to the roll off site.
Cheryl Curry was on hand. She is the new executive director of the Port Authority and former president of the board of directors. She noted that John McFarland is the new president. She will be keeping office hours at the Stockman Bank drive-up building on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.
A budgetary resolution, R-929, to appropriate $18,672, allocated to the Lake Frances Rural Development Loan was passed.
Regular reports from City Attorney Mary Ann Ries, Chief Gary Dent and Anderson were given and accepted by the council.
A building permit to put up a lean-to addition to the back of a garage at 102 S. Montana was approved.
The next regular meeting of the council will be Oct. 16, 7:30 p.m. in city hall.
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