Last week, the Silver Bay City Council held a public hearing to review the franchise code amendment and ordinance 13-10U, which cover the city’s arrangement with Minnesota Power. This issue has been talked about extensively in previous City Council meetings and the City Attorney, Tim Costley, has written the amendments to make sure that the working agreement with MN Power benefits the City and residents of Silver Bay. There will be a fee increase for $3 per household a month, to $5 a month. The contract can stand for 20 years, but the city has the right to alter it as Administrators see fit. Readers are reminded that the fees go back to the City to help maintain Silver Bay streets.
There has been considerable concern over the city’s perimeter ditching system and the Council has been working to address the issue. Unfortunately, this has been a complicated problem and is a hold over from when Reserve Mining closed down in 1986. All residents who have property adjacent to the ditching system have apparently agreed to drainage easements and will be receiving the agreements for their review. Correcting the drainage problem is not as simple as removing debris from the ditches. In order to make sure the repairs are done in a correct and cost effective manner, there will need to be engineering work done to determine the hydrology of the area. If engineering is not done, there is no guarantee that the water that runs through the system will not continue to cause flooding of properties in the city. Bolton and Menk have drafted a proposal for surveying the drainage system. Property owners can look at the proposal by visiting the City website and looking at the Council agenda for February 18th.
In other business, the Council awarded Holden Electric a contract for $69,000 for electrical services related to the Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition System (SCADA) and the Motor Control Center for the Wastewater Treatment facility. The Council looked at a draft policy pertaining to a special assessment covering maintenance and upgrades to city streets and utilities. A public hearing has been set for March 17th at 7:00 PM to present this information for public consideration and comment.
Erica Jensen was appointed to the Public Works Commission and announcement was made of a City Wide Cleanup Day which will be held on Saturday, May 3rd at the Silver Bay Airport. Final details for the event are still being worked out, but there is a need for volunteers to help staff the collection site at the airport and to help assist senior citizens with items they want to get rid of. Residents will be able to discard e-waste, mattresses, white goods and tires at the event on May 3rd. Contact City Hall to volunteer for more information.
The next Silver Bay Council meeting will be held on March 3rd at 7:00 PM.
