Someone new was seated at the City Council table at Monday’s Lennox City Council meeting—Amanda Anglin, who was unanimously approved for hire as the Public Relations Director for the City. Anglin has accepted the position and agreed to the yearly compensation of $46,000 with full benefits and $1,000 for moving expenses.
The council’s agenda was divided into old business to be handled by the sitting council and new business to be handled by the newly elected council. During the first half of the meeting the council heard from visitor Richard Schriever on behalf of the Lennox Historical Society. Schriever told the council of the newly installed handicap accessible ramp at the rear of the museum. He said the Historical Society would like to see a handicap parking space in the front of the museum. The council concurred. Councilmen Mike Gregg said, “We could stripe it for handicap and add an asphalt ramp rather than wait for the construction project.”
Under the Finance Officer’s report, Jerry Jones gave the council a first look at a potential pool financing plan. Jones went over the plan, citing a payment of $208,788 annually for a $3.5 million bond. One comment he made was that he did not want to raise property taxes and suggested alternative means of funding.
Jones also told the council that the water meter software needed to be upgraded due to backup storage issues. He said the cost was around $6,000 for the entire project. One potential drawback was the added user fee. Jones said the software gave the homeowner access to check usage themselves at a price of $1.04 per meter per month. Jones said there are a lot of good things about the system, but with the advancement comes increased costs.
Jones said that the building front of City Hall was budgeted for a face-lift this year. With the heavy rains two weeks ago, there were issues of water coming in the front windows. Jones said they had someone in to look at the brick and were told that it would have to come down because it wasn’t safe. He said figures for the project would be forthcoming.
The City’s ISO (Insurance Service Office) rating dropped from Class 6 to Class 9. Jones said Tim Odland, the City’s building inspector, worked with the Insurance Services representatives and looked at codes and policies. Because of shortages and deficiencies, the City’s rating declined. Jones said that he thought the issues were “fixable.” He told the council that they have to let them know by May 26th if the City plans to address the issues, and have a plan in place by July.
Jones also spoke to the council about a grant from the South Dakota Department of Health that would provide a $10,000 payment to the Ambulance Director, cost to the city was 25% of the grant and Jones felt it was a smart move to apply.
The demolition of 517 East 4th was moving forward, Jones said. Although a request came from the Fire Department for training at the location, the City Attorney said the only action allowed was demolition.
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