Holly Town Board Meeting Reviews Revenues
Russ Baldwin | Aug 04, 2011 | Comments 0
General utility revenue increased in Holly for the first six months of 2011, compared to the same period in 2010, according to Town Clerk, Mary Rushton. Trustee members met in a brief, regular monthly session this past Wednesday, August 3. Ruston informed board members that purchased power for the six month period was higher this year by $119,000 compared to 2010, but water revenue had increased for the same period by $13,000, refuse collections were up $6,000 and electric was up $57,000. Rushton said the city has sent a $520 bill for repairs to a water meter that had been damaged by a resident when they attempted to repair it themselves.
On a power note, Field Services Manager, Vance Brian, recapped the operation of the ARPA power generator during the outages last month. The town had planned an hour long outage for 3am to test the capabilities of the generator when electric demand was low. However, the outage that lasted for almost four hours was during peak demand in the late afternoon, and Brian said the generator worked without a hitch. “We were running at 1.9 megawatts of power when the outage started, and were down to 1.3 megawatts during the final hour,” he said. The city cancelled the planned outage test.
Vance recapped some other repairs and duties from his department from July, including: replacement of a hydraulic pump on the town’s trash truck, repairing water leaks in the meter pits on East Santa Fe and South 10th Street. He said it took four days, two days less than expected to tear down the old motel in town, bait has been set out at the airport runways to control the prairie dog population, and he’s contacting CDOT representatives regarding the need to dig up the highway where Hwy 89 intersects with Hwy 50 for a sewer tap. Vance said he wants to keep costs to a minimum, and traffic may be detoured to Swafford Street. He added that the contractors for the new school had asked that the hydrants at the site be tested at full strength for their flow rates. Vance said his staff tests the hydrants in rotation through the city on a four week basis.
Prowers County Undersheriff Ron Trowbridge provided a monthly report for the board. Members voiced their concerns about trucks rolling through town at high speeds in the morning hours. The new school year is starting and they were worried about potential accidents with children en route to classes. Trowbridge said he’d look into adjusting some patrol schedules and recommended using the radar billboard that registers a driver’s speed. Late night patrols by local Sheriff Posse members were suggested as a way to control graffiti and vandalism around the Old Gym and some farm equipment. Trowbridge said he would contact them on that point as well.
In other action the Holly Trustees approved the liquor license renewal for D-M Liquor, set a tentative date of August 22 at 7pm for a presentation of the 2010 Audit in conjunction with the school board and approved a measure for town employees to opt for a Roth 457 IRA compensation plan if they choose. The board moved into executive session to discuss personnel issues. The next town board meeting will be Wednesday, September 7.
By Russ Baldwin
Filed Under: Business • City • community • Economy • Featured • Holly • Law Enforcement • Public Safety • School • Transportation • Youth
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