The need for improvements to E. Lincoln Way was a point of contention at the Feb. 13 Jefferson city council meeting during a public hearing on selling $1.7 million in general obligation bonds to finance the purchase of a pair of sanitation trucks and finish the project started years ago on E. Lincoln Way.
The need for the sanitation trucks was not disputed at the hearing. It was the $759,000 for the Lincoln Way project that council member Chad Sloan and resident Sue Bose objected to.
Bose spoke first, saying the city has the money on hand and shouldn’t go into debt for the project. By her calculations, interest on a $1.7 million bond, calculated at 3.75 percent over 10 years, would amount to $661,000.
City administrator Scott Peterson replied the city doesn’t have funds available for the entire cost, particularly for the street project. Bose then suggested delaying on the Lincoln Way project. “My idea is that we buy the garbage trucks, and if we wait a few years to do the paving project without borrowing money, same as we do in our own personal finances. Sometimes you have to delay things in order to pay for it without borrowing,” Bose said.
Peterson then shared that the proposed FY25 budget calls for a slight decrease in the property tax levy, even including payments on the $1.7 million bond issue.
“I think the project is a total waste of money,” Sloan said. “We’ve got other projects down the road we could spend that on, with a huge expense being the water tower in a few years. I don’t think anybody wants to spend this money on E. Lincoln Way…. The farmers are going to tear it up every year running their trucks down it…. I think it’s a huge expense.”
At the end of the public hearing Sloan voted against the motion to close the hearing, but he and the other four council members all voted in favor of the motion to proceed with the general obligation bond issue.
City engineer Jim Leiding explained the need for a public hearing at the Feb. 27 meeting to discuss plans for the project and set the bid date. Sloan instead made a motion to table the Lincoln Way project. His motion was not seconded.
Ahrenholtz made and Wetrich seconded a motion to set the public hearing. The vote was 4-1, with Sloan casting the dissenting vote.
Denny Lautner addressed the east entryway project during the open forum, also encouraging the council to hold off on the project. He suggested the city fix the potholes and standing water first, and that removing diseased elm trees would be a better use of money. He also expects the EPA to require removal of lead service pipes to houses, requiring digging up the roadway.
In other business, the council approved amendments to federal funding grant agreements for the airport hangar project. The changes have no effect on paying for the project.
The council approved hiring Jacob Kopaska as city golf course superintendent effective Feb. 1. He will be classified as a regular part-time employee with annual earnings of $54,000 ($32.53/hourly).
