MinonkTalkNews

Tessa Arndt appointed to City Council

Monday, December 04, 2023 Posted by Dave Uphoff

The Minonk City Council approved the appointment of Tessa Arndt to the Minonk City Council in Ward 2 at its monthly meeting Monday night, Dec. 4. She replaces Trent Ruestman who resigned last month.

In other business the council approved a zoning variance request by Brian Greenland to place a mobile home in 2 lots, one 50 feet wide and the other 40 feet wide on 10th street.

The council approved Ordinance 2023-08 which implemented the Paid Leave for All Workers Act into City Code. City Administrator Bill Moline said there will probably be changes made to the code once it becomes law January 1, 2024. He said there is a lot of gray area that leaves room for a lot of interpretation. He said the law is for part-time workers such as the summer help, ambulance workers and library workers.

City Administrator Moline said the Elm Court infrastructure project is on hold until next spring. He said some seeding may be done before winter. The sewer lining project is going to be starting soon, either in late December or early January. He said the Doxo online payment system is now featured on the city's web site. It allows residents to pay their bills to the city online at a cost of $3.95 or 3.5% of the bill, whichever is higher. For more information on the online payment system, click here.

Mr. Moline said 16 new meters have been installed locally. He said no more are going to be installed right now as they want to wait and see how the meter reads come out on December 20th. He said the new meter will read to within 1 cubic foot of usage whereas the current meters round up or round down. He said the new meters will result in more accurate readings and will result in a much more accurate revenue stream for the city.

In public comments, Dave Uphoff said there are several spruce trees in the Westside Park that need to be trimmed up by removing the undergrowth which is overtaking the trees.

Jim Liner said the street lights he reported last month are still out. He said bulk items on 7th Street are still not being picked up by Republic Services, the city's waste hauler.

Administrator Moline said he learned that there is a 50 pound limit on bulk items which is not in the city's contract but the drivers still go by that rule. He said he was told by the waste company that bulk items like mattresses should be folded and taped so they can be put into the hopper. He said if they cannot pick the item up by themselves they are supposed to come back within 48 hours to get the item. He said the city is working on a language with the waste company to resolve these issues.

Councilwoman Julie McNamara was impressed by all the people that the Parade of Lights drew into town. She thanked the Parade of Lights committee for all the hard work they did.

Mayor John Marcoline agreed with Julie that the crowd at the parade was great. He said he saw a lot of out of state license plates. He said people seemed to be really enjoying themselves. The Mayor also thanked the committee and all the workers who were involved not only for the parade but for everything else.

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Tessa Arndt appointed to City Council