Severe cold weather in January created conditions allowing pipes in the Archer Community Center to burst flooding the space. The event was discussed at the February meeting with both Amy Mueller and Jeremy Engel working the morning of the discovery to stop the water and remove some of the water.
At present it is unknown how many gallons of water are involved. At the March meeting it was reported that “ServPro” is working to clean up the area. The damage part of the building has been stripped. Water to the building is shut off.
City Clerk Sandy Fritz reported that the city may incur some costs from the building damage. The city’s insurance only covers contents. The incident has made the building, including the library area off limits, although that space did not sustain any direct, physical damage from the incident. The situation required creativity on the part of the library board to continue services. As a result, the library director Annee Carlson takes calls and delivers and picks up books and other media to and from patrons.
Discussion for new community space continued. Library Board President Katie Morgan and Fire Chief Don DeBoer attended the meeting to listen to ideas and share their thoughts about how to raise funds and which components would be involved. Council decided to start with all city services under one roof and see how the community responds. DeBoer indicated the fire department would benefit from joining the effort. DeBoer, asked by Councilman Stephen Meyer to find out from the overall fire department what their needs would be overall and the interest in joining the effort. That part of the conversation brought up the idea of also housing the Archer’s snowplow.
Morgan expressed interest in hiring an individual or organization to lead the fundraising effort saying that the town is small, there are very few people to do the work.
A first draft of an introductory letter was presented to the council to consider over the next month for changes before being sent to residents.
A public hearing about the Archer’s proposed budget received no personal or written comments. The council approved the resolution to adopt the 2022-23 fiscal year budget beginning July 1, 2022.
Fritz reported to the council that Archer’s garbage collection loses $2019.16 per year. She will send the profit/loss statement to residents in the next water bill. To stop the financial loss she proposed increasing 49 customers to a quarterly rate of $45, up from $34.50. Archer has 3 customers currently paying $69 per quarter and 1 customer paying $103.50 per quarter. She proposed increasing those customers to $90 and $135 respectively. The move will put the city service into the black. The ordinance must be changed before the price change can take affect.
Truck route signage in Archer was brought up. A conflict between the posted truck route and the weight limits was noticed on Fletcher Avenue. Council will also address the ordinance for truck routes by removing Fletcher Avenue from the ordinance as an acceptable truck route. The fire trucks on Main Street may be over the weight limit. More investigation will take place on the matter. The ordinance book update is moving along well, Meyer reported.