I would like to sincerely say “thank you” to all that have made the effort to mow, clean up and improve the appearance of your property and our community in any way. It is good to see we have so many citizens that take pride in their community and your efforts are much appreciated and do not go unnoticed!
What does a city council do? We; along with our city employees see to the day to day operations of all things with regards to finances, infrastructure; water, sewer, gas, streets, trash/garbage, parks, ordinance enforcement, mowing, upkeep and maintenance of all buildings that are owned by the city as well as on equipment. We do customer service, billing, grant administration and see to the overall health and welfare of our community and those that choose to live within our city limits. This is just a portion of what our employees and council do daily. We sometimes take our services for granted and don’t think about what goes into the day to day stuff, especially in the winter if we have a water leak or they are out plowing snow, so we can get to work safely. Please take time to thank our city crew if you see them out and about. We appreciate all they do to keep our community running daily!
The city has different funds we use for all our services, some are capitol funds which means the money in them cannot be transferred out to use for other things. It must stay in that fund and be used for improvements and to pay for equipment and supplies and the service itself. Examples include, gas, water, sewer, streets, etc. We also have a pool fund and a park fund which is used to pay for the operations of the pool and park both which are currently at a negative balance. Some of these are set by law and must be followed. Our general fund is what we use for everyday expenses and paying for items outside the scope of the other funds. We have salaries, insurance, maintenance expenses and other miscellaneous items that come out of these specific funds. We are required by law to perform a financial audit every year and ensure all funds are properly accounted for and spent for the correct reasons.
We are considered a Fourth-Class city for those who might want to investigate a little further and are governed by many rules and regulations regarding the operation of a municipality. We do not have a sales or property tax specifically for the pool or parks that generates revenue or for law enforcement, we do have a street tax that has money going into it specifically for street improvements and repair but it does not generate enough to allow us to do the yearly upkeep on our streets that we would like to do so we have to prioritize where the repairs and maintenance is needed the most.
We have a bidding process and an expenditure process along with policies on utility hookups, bill paying and many other issues along with the ordinances to protect ourselves and our citizens.
We have building permits, zoning ordinances which specify different types of usage for residential, commercial, industrial, agriculture and other areas; along with sub areas that are located within the city limits. All of these are in place for the protection of our citizens. The building of a structure requires a $25 building permit fee; these include new homes, storage buildings, fences, etc. Once a building permit has been submitted, it allows our city employees to inspect the building site to ensure you are not building over a water, sewer or gas line or getting to close to your neighbor’s property line. We do not want to see someone build a structure with a $5,000 concrete floor only to discover they will have to tear it up a year later to fix the sewer line they covered up when they built without getting a permit.
There are many ordinances that have been adopted over the years that govern our community and you are welcome to stop by and review the ordinance book at any time. These ordinances are in place to protect your community! They serve to provide us a way to ensure the continued good health and welfare or our community and its citizens. One example of an ordinance is the air horn or “jake brake” ordinance. Agriculture is the main source of income in our county and the jobs and services that goes along with ag which include trucking. We also have those in our community that work nights and sleep during the day. We are also a senior community where the population is mainly those 55 and over and they are sometimes frightened or startled by the noise created from the sound of jake braking. We need to be considerate of others and slow down before entering the city limits. We would also ask that everyone observe the “No Parking Signs”, they are there for a reason! One example is the “No Parking” in front of Casey’s on Highway 46, if there is a truck parked there, it is hard to see if anyone is coming from the west, so it is very dangerous to pull out on Highway 46. Please be considerate of others and observe the “No Parking” signs!
Unfortunately, we do not have a city police officer that can enforce the ordinances like some larger communities do and we rely on our citizens to be considerate of others and obey the laws without having to pay a penalty or fine. We are currently looking to resolve the issue of no city law enforcement, but it will take time to find the best solution for all to ensure we can provide the right thing for our community.
A few more examples of our ordinances are concerning junk vehicles or junk yards, dogs and other animals within the city limits, derelict houses or buildings, which brings up another issue; being a responsible property owner. We have several houses and businesses that are owned by out of town or out of state owners and it sometimes seems like it is out of sight, out of mind. With the help of many concerned citizens the Revitalization Board has been able to tear down and get rid of quite a few vacant houses over the past couple of years. A commercial building is another problem altogether. There are several risks to owning a derelict or unsafe property, the most important to me is the risk to the safety of children or other individuals that may be curious and try to explore the building or area. Do you have insurance if you are the owner? You are liable for any events that may occur because of not being a responsible property owner. What happens if your building falls in and damages or destroys the building next to it or worse results in the death or serious injury of someone? I wish we could find a viable solution to this issue and we are willing to work together to find one if the property owner is interested, give us a call. It is much less expensive for a private individual or property owner to demolish a structure than it is for a municipality. If the city has to be the one to take care of the issue you are talking tens of thousands of dollars which we simply do not have. Please, be a responsible property owner and get in touch with us to see if we can find a solution.
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