Also hears GCDC update and of possible new ordinance and new fee
Jefferson residents will be able to pay their water bills using a debit or credit card by the end of the year. The Jefferson city council at its regular meeting Oct. 28 approve spending up to $20,000 for computer hardware and software updates. Although debit/credit card capability is not a prime reason for the upgrades, it will be a benefit.
Included will be the replacement of a 12-year-old HP server and a printer clerk Diane Kennedy said is more than 15 years old. “The time has come. I’ve stretched it out as long as I can stretch it,” Kennedy said. She said she has had no problems with the server, but its capacity is full and the city needs to upgrade past the Windows XP staff currently uses. The printer is a commercial grade printer that can easily print on the card stock used for water bills.
Also included is three new work stations for the office staff, although existing monitors will be integrated rather than buying new ones.
The purchases will be made from CompuSense in Jefferson and Tyler Technologies’ Ames location. According to Kennedy, neither company is able to provide every component needed.
Greene County Development Corp update: In his quarterly report to the council, Greene County Development Corp executive director Ken Paxton mentioned two projects he is already planning for next April. He has set April 1 as the date for another town hall meeting similar to the one held in August at the Greene County Community Center.
GCDC and Jefferson Matters: Main Street will host a tour of empty buildings in Jefferson’s downtown district in mid-April. All buildings that are empty and available will be open, with information gathered not only about rental/purchase costs, but also estimates for rehabilitation, insurance and utility costs, available historic tax credits and tax increment financing, and the history of the building. Realtors and rehabilitation specialists will be available during the tour. “We’ll be prepared to answer any question anyone has about a building,” Paxton said.
Main Street will be involved because of that group’s focus on coupling economic growth with historic preservation, and because that opens another avenue for promoting the event regionally and state wide.
The tour is patterned after a tour held in Webster City. Of the vacant buildings shown on that tour, half were no longer vacant six months after the tour. Council member Lisa Jaskey has spearheaded the effort toward a tour in Jefferson.
Sump pump ordinance and yard waste fee: Council member Gary Von Ahsen reported that the water/sewer/street/sanitation committee is discussing an ordinance specifying how residential sump pumps can be discharged. Department heads are working on a proposal.
He also reported that the fees of grinding at the city yard waste site at Daubendiek Park have prompted the committee to consider initiating a grinding fee that would be added to city residents’ water bills. He said this summer’s bill from Bill Thorp for grinding services was $28,000. That bill included downed limbs after the Labor Day weekend wind storm. Bills average $10,000 per season. That doesn’t include the cost to the city of hauling the resulting wood chips to the compost site west of town or of cleanup to the Daubendiek site.
Von Ahsen named $1 a month as a possible fee to be added to the water bill of all city residents. (The monthly “water bill” includes charges for garbage and recycling service as well as water.)
