| Door
to door salesman ordinance discussed
Discussion of a solicitor/peddler ordinance was the dominant topic at the August meeting of the Cottonwood City Council Monday, August 12. Mayor Denis Duman did the first reading of the proposed ordinance and then the discussion started. Councilor Shelly Schumacher stated she did not like and felt it was unnecessary. She felt it was adding an unnecessary burden on the city clerk who would have to maintain the “do not solicit” list and take the time to register any out of town solicitors who come in to register, as required by the ordinance. Police Chief Terry Cochran stated it would give him the tools to deal with aggressive solicitors. Most times now citizens will complain but don’t want to be bothered with having to fill out a complaint. City attorney Joe Wright said the feeling at the last meeting seemed to favor the “do not solicit” list but to have that you have to have some kind of enforcement, hence the registration process. Councilor Ron Grant, who recently had to deal with an overaggressive solicitor, was in favor. After a good amount of back and forth on the topic, Jack Duman made a motion to table the matter and seek out public input. The motion carried. Anyone who wants to weigh in on the matter is asked to contact the council members or mayor or city clerk. You can get a copy of the proposed ordinance from the city clerk’s office. Another topic of discussion that came up during the police report was Doreen Ash of Doreen’s Saloon contending that her business is being harassed by the police with a loss of business resulting. Cochran said that is not the case. Yes the police vehicle is often on Main Street in the evenings but that is also where most of the city’s traffic violations occur. One incident that concerned her was apparently a County Sheriff’s vehicle rather than the city. In the other reports Pat Holthaus reported they pumped 4.7 million gallons of water and sold 4.2 million for a 10% loss. However the water used for the street project was not accounted for so the actual loss is less than that. In the sewer report city maintenance supervisor Roy Uhlenkott reported that they will not have to do a lagoon seepage test for another 5 years, which is good news as the city will not have to incur that expense for awhile. Jack Duman reported the street project was to get underway on Tuesday morning after a couple of delays. They should have the chip seal down within a couple of days. He is anxious to see how this project goes. He is also working on a sidewalk grant application. The project he is putting together deals with safety issues with the younger children now attending the former middle school. They are looking at redoing the sidewalk on East Street from the BLM down to Foster and from Butler to Peasley on Lewiston Street. This would be about a $200,000 project. There is about a 1 in 5 chance of being awarded a grant. By scaling down from $500,000 and showing a shovel ready project that doesn’t have any right of way issues he feels they have a better chance of getting approved. He is also looking for letters of support for this project. The application deadline is Sept. 8. In the land and buildings report Schumacher said there is a PHS senior who would like to fix up the dog pound as their senior project. The fire department had only 1 call in the past month, a rural department field fire that was nearly out by the time they got there. In unfinished business the Ironwood LLC water and sewer service resolution is still being worked on. Mayor Duman said the intent is to eventually annex but they will not do that if it means right away having to do a water and sewer line project at taxpayer expense. Under new business the council approved a contract with J.U.B. Engineering to work on the new water application permit as the current one runs out this year. They would charge just time and materials. Before adjourning Schumacher asked how the new storm drains held up to Sunday night’s storm. Uhlenkott said it was a definite improvement but there’s still some things that need to be tweaked. The council adjourned at 8:45 p.m. They will next meet on August 26 for a budget meeting with the next regular meeting set for Monday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. |
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