At the Clarion City Council Meeting on Tuesday, February 16, various public hearings were held and planned. First, a public hearing on a Community Development and Housing Needs Assessment was held. City Administrator Clint Middleton noted that this allows the city to keep pursuing grant moneys for things like community development and beautification projects. After the hearing, a resolution to approve the assessment was passed.
Another public hearing and resolution were held and passed pertaining to the city’s development agreement with Wright County Family Dental, P.L.L.C. The resolution “authorized annual appropriation tax increment payments and pledged certain tax increment revenues to the payment of the agreement.”
A couple more public hearings were set. The first was for approving the proposed city property tax levy. A hearing is required if the levy goes up more than 2%. The proposed levy is a 2.14% increase from last fiscal year. The explanation for the increases notes that there has been an increase in public safety wages and insurance rates. The hearing will be at the March 3 meeting. Another hearing for the submission of an application for CDBG grant funds for the water plant will also be held next meeting.
In individual reports, Public Works Director Jon DeVries alerted the council to something that will be coming up. He recently received new EPA rules regarding lead and copper pipes. This will require the city to determine how many customers have either lead, partial lead, steel, galvanized steel or copper water services from the main tap to the water meter. The rule states this will require excavation of suspended services and replacement of the lead and steel services at the cost to the city with no funding available. DeVries said this project will need to start this summer and be finalized in three years.
The meeting ended with another closed session to discuss “information contained in records in the custody of a governmental body that are confidential records” and “To discuss the purchase or sale of particular real estate.” The council also held a budget workshop.
