Thursday’s Committee and Council meetings were shorter than a few of our others in the past months, however we were able to move forward with several capital equipment purchases. The first was the replacement of a leaf machine for our service department. Just this past week we had a leaf machine that was totaled after an accident. The machine that was totaled was several years old (a 2009), and does not have many of the features included on the new machine purchased. Due to the fiscal conservative nature of our Council and Administration this past year we were able to approve funds to purchase this new machine so it will be available to finish out the remainder of our leaf season. Council also approved the purchase of a new snow plow truck that is also available and in stock for delivery, this means we will have a new snow plow truck rotating into our fleet this winter. This new truck replaces a 2002 vehicle that has seen much better days and I am happy we were able to make this upgrade this quickly.
There was also discussion of the replacement of the SKiP Playground on Thursday and an update on the status of the prior committee created by the Mayor related to it. Mr. Hailer had requested an update on what the plans are and what we can do to move forward with putting forth a new playground by next year. Mr. Hailer and the Public Improvements committee also asked that the administration work through the Parks and Rec Board to come up with a final plan to present to Council so we can get a playground back at City Center.
Council also approved the hire of a new Tax Auditor 2 in the tax department to replace an employee who will be retiring this year. This was an outside applicant who has previous experience at a CPA firm working on taxes. Council also approved the renewal of the contract for the Assistant Superintendent at Fox Den who will continue to work with our new Superintendent hired last year.
Council does not have another meeting in November due to Thanksgiving, our next meeting will be December 17, 2020, Committee meetings and start time will be announced closer to that date.