The City of Atalissa may spend all of their Federal COVID-19 relief stimulus funds on new high-tech water meters for residents, it was learned Monday, June 14, at the monthly meeting of the city council held at the Atalissa City Hall.
The city is getting $42,721 as their share of President Joe Biden’s Rescue plan bill and city water supervisor Matt Goodale is suggesting the city invest about $45,000 to provide meters for every household and business in the community, pointing out the new meters would save the city money every month.
Goodale said the new meters would be run off cellular towers, requiring no wiring and would be all-electronic. He said although the meters are about three times the cost of any new meter now being installed, it would eliminate a city employee going from house to house to check meter readings, prevent water revenue loss in invoicing and more. He asked the council to consider the option and said he could have the sales representative for the meter company to make a presentation at a future meeting.
Goodale said the city is loosing as much as $1,200 per month on misconstrued readings of meters, pointing out it wouldn’t take more than “a couple of years” for the city to gain revenue that could be used for other projects. He said there could be a “25 meter trial” to test the new system and said the meters carry a 20-year warranty.
The council voted to table the discussion until a future meeting, councilman Evan Smock pointing out, “It surely can’t hurt to look.”
In other business, the council approved job descriptions for a city clerk and city police chief positions following recent resignations. The new clerk would replace interim clerk Sherry Hoffert after she was appointed to the position in March following the resignation of Samantha Parry earlier this year. The city is also looking to replace police chief Matt Shook after he resigned as of June 1 after several months in the position in replacing Matt Bowers. The city has a July 7 application deadline for both positions and will be advertising for the posts.
Hoffert also said she is available at the city hall on Wednesday evenings from 4:45-8 p.m. to take care of any city business or questions from residents.
Council member Dawn Huggins said she had a complaint from a resident who spotted badgers wandering the community and it was pointed out there have also been raccoons and even foxes spotted.
She warned families of the danger in the animals possibly attacking small children. “I don’t know what we can do about that,” she said, Mayor Bob Schmidt responding by saying he will talk with animal control officers to see if there is anything that can be done.
Resident Amy Windus, who recently was approved to build a clothing storage unit to be housed in the city’s shed in collecting good used clothing items, asked the city if she could host a “back to school night” on a weekend in August for Atalissa families, hosting the event at the Atalissa Fire Department.
She suggested the event would include a barbecue cookout, youth-friendly games, a package of school supplies for those attending and a chance for families to rummage through Amy’s Attic to find nice clothes to attend school. “I wondered if this town would support that kind of event,” said Windus, noting there used to be something similar in the past.
The mayor called it “a great idea,” but the council tabled approval of the event until the July meeting, looking for more details.
The mayor also requested the city use a portion of the funds authorized to buy tools for the city to be used for a commercial-grade weed eater. Schmidt said he used his own weed eater last year on city property and said it got a workout, but said the city needs to buy its own weed eater. The council did authorize a purchase of $500 for the machine.
Councilman Randy Windus said he would volunteer to mow city ditch property, noting he would be using the city mower and didn’t want to be harassed by residents about taking on the voluntary job. “I’ll help clean this town up, but I’m not going to take abuse,” he said, councilman Tim DeVoy chipping in to say, “It’s absolutely okay.”
Fire Chief Mike Smock echoed comments about being a volunteer for the fire department for the past 20 years, but was limited in his comments by the mayor, who followed by saying, “I love you guys that volunteer.”
Goodale also reported on water services for the city, pointing out an inspection by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources on the city sewage plant in April is requiring the city to make repairs on a west aeration basic that keeps getting plugged, a problem he said the city has had for years, planning to address the need with upgrades to the system’s clarifier unit. He said the repairs would take place this year, including temporary repairs by July 1.