The Hillsboro City Council meeting opened up on Tuesday, March 5 with a report from several members of the Hillsboro Fire Department about a recent training they attended. The members thanked the council for supporting them and allowing them to attend. Mayor Lou Thurston thanked them for their hard work and commitment to the community.
The council approved several ordinances and policies in the meeting including Ordinance 1384 and Municipal Policy 93.
City Administrator Matt Stiles explained that Ordinance 1384 divides the current $50 utility reconnection fee evenly between the disconnection letter delivery and reconnection charge. Ordinance 1384 would take effect on April 1 with the first disconnection letter delivery scheduled for April 29. “There will be ample opportunity to make people aware of the change. We would plan on putting a statement on the disconnection letters for March as well as putting the information on the city’s website and social media,” said Stiles.
Municipal Policy 93 reflects the process used for disconnections and states that there is a letter delivery fee.
“Reallocating the $50 fee to include the letter delivery fee provides a financial incentive to avoid using the disconnection letter as a reminder to pay the bill,” said Stiles. “The hope for charging to deliver the disconnection letter is that it reduces the number of letters to deliver. The amount of time and effort to deliver 30+ disconnection letters each month adds up and reducing that time would be long-term savings. In the short term, there will likely be a small spike in revenue as customers adjust to the new fee. It often takes more than one incident to change people’s behavior, but this fee structure provides financial incentive to adjust.”
The council passed both Ordinance 1384 and Municipal Policy 93.
The council also approved Municipal Policy 70 which provides a 50% discount on annual pool pass prices for full-time employees, regular part-time employees and volunteer firefighters. The discount would include the employee or members of their immediate family living in their household and would allow for the employee or firefighter to purchase a pass for a child or spouse living in the home.
In other business, the council:
*approved vouchers totaling $262,830.16
*heard a Fleet Replacement Program Proposal from Kenneth Olsen of Enterprise Fleet Management.
*listened to an annual department head report from Street Superintendent Dale Dalke.
*approved Ford invoices for $4,284.23
*learned that the H4C project had bid openings on Feb. 29. There was only one bidder and there were some issues with the bid. The architect is reviewing the bid, and the board will be evaluating its options.
*heard that Doug Dick has bowed out of the code enforcement position effective March 1. HFD Chief Steketee and HPD Chief Hiebert have worked out an arrangement for Officer Duane McCarty to take on a portion of the code enforcement duties while he is on shift for the PD. McCarty did code enforcement as an officer in Marion and is very familiar with the processes. Steketee will take back some of the code enforcement duties previously done by Dick and supervise McCarty for that work. “Code enforcement is a thankless job. I would like to thank Doug for his 2 years of service in the position. Doug will continue to work as part-time PD officer,” said Stiles.
*learned that the city leases a garage space to Gorges Dairy in the AMPI east building.
“It appears that they are no longer using the building for its purpose and have instead been letting Aah Spas use the space. Subleasing is expressly prohibited in the lease and will need to be addressed. We have considered using the space to house the trash trucks and some of the sanitation operations. Given that the trucks sit out in the elements now, that would be a solution and reduce wear and tear on the trucks,” said Stiles.
*heard that sales tax receipts continue to maintain a historically high level.
“The first two months of 2023 were better than 2024 but included an unusually strong January. Comparatively the first two months of 2024 are better than the record setting year of 2022. We continue to monitor those collections, but it appears sales remain consistent and historically strong,” said Stiles.
