By Mari Radtke
Neighborly acts by the City of Paullina are being returned. With the resignation of Chris Erdmann, the City of Paullina is without a general laborer and without a licensed wastewater operator. As neighboring Primghar relied on Paullina’s lineman staff for assistance with their electric utility during significant employee shortages, Paullina is receiving assistance from Primghar staff with its wastewater utility. Discussion of a 28E with Primghar for an exchange of these services or joint employment was approved and can begin. DNR requirements for the wastewater treatment will be handled with support for Mike Warnke of Primghar and office staff to provide proper testing, evaluation and submission of paperwork.
A long discussion of staff cell phones was had. Additional pricing will be collected for consideration. Putting security cameras in city hall was also a topic of discussion. Two bids have been submitted, one from TCA and one from CompuWiz. The TCA bid included some of the costs being collected from the city’s retained earnings of the telecom utility. Police Chief Nate Bremer noted that the city’s telecom hardware is stored in an unsecure closet and suggested that some locking capability, particularly any kind of video equipment be locked, which council agreed.
A complaint received from a property owner about mailboxes placed on their property was received. The boxes were put up according to local postal rules and city ordinances. The complaint did result in inspection of mailboxes on Maple Street revealing at least one box mounted to a utility pole. Council approved sending a letter for the removal of that box and after a lengthy discussion about the concerns brought to the council tabled the issue until many questions were answered.
Sidewalk merchandise during winter months, particularly during snow events was discussed. Included in the discussion was the workload of the downtown sidewalk snow removal with minimal staff. Beyond the time and staffing issue was the 3-foot limitation of sidewalk merchandise established by code. The discussion led to a longer and more involved discussion of if the city would remove snow from the downtown sidewalks. One concern was that if merchandise or furniture or other was hit by city equipment the city could be held liable. There was also a mention of a permit to do sidewalk sales in Paullina.