Steve Nolte | Writer
The Hartford City Council was called to order Tuesday, September 21, by Acting Mayor Arden Jones, with LaVonne Randall participating via phone, while all other council members were in attendance. It was a fairly routine meeting, with little significant discussion. The 2nd Reading of Ordinance #716 – 2022 Budget Ordinance was unanimously approved with no discussion or changes to the 1st Reading.
The 1st Reading of Ordinance #717 was described by City Administrator Teresa Sidel. With the water meters changing from radio to cellular, a $1/month charge for each meter will be billed to the city by Verizon, estimated to total approximately $13K annually. This ordinance will pass the monthly meter charge to residents in their monthly bill. The ordinance was approved unanimously and the 2nd Reading will be on the October 5 council meeting agenda.
A Public Hearing was held requesting the transfer of the liquor license for the Hartford Steak Company, which has changed ownership from T&D Foods Inc. to HTC LLC. There was no discussion and the council approved it unanimously.
Next, the various reports were given. Matt Horn presented the fire department report, which included 27 calls in August, 10 in the city of Hartford. Fire Prevention Week is October 3-9 and the department will be visiting the elementary school and performing a live burn demonstration at the middle school Wednesday, October 6. September training will include trauma/triage for EMS and pumping, drafting and a live burn of an old house south of the city for fire training.
The City Engineer report was given by Dave Doxtad, ISG Inc, which included updates on various projects and a tour of the Harrisburg wastewater treatment facility. The Public Works and Finance reports were included in the packet and no additional comments or questions were made.
The City Administrator report included a reminder of a Special Council Meeting on Monday, October 4 for discussing the future Wastewater Treatment Plant. A Cannabis license application will be available October 1 and the city is advertising for a Fulltime Building Inspector/Code Enforcer, which will continue for several more weeks.
New Business included council approval for city staff to attend the 2021 South Dakota Municipal League Conference, which will include topics on ARPA funding, DANR programs, Housing & Redevelopment and the legalization of marijuana. After some discussion regarding project oversight, council approved bid letting for fencing and ag-lime for Swanson Sports Complex.
The final topic of the night was the review and discussion regarding the fines and fees of Ordinance #659, which was last updated in 2018. Suggested increases include pool admission and party fees (lower than other cities), liquor license fees, application fees, parking ticket fines, and bulk water fees. Council members proposed a variety of changes to the suggested changes, which will be made to the 1st Reading to be presented to the council at the October 5 meeting.
The Detailed Council packet, including the Agenda and All reports, can be viewed on the city’s website, www.hartfordsd.us, Government > Agendas & Minutes page