A major topic of discussion at Ferron City Council was the presence of truck traffic on city streets. Nielson Construction has purchased two more gravel pits that will allow them to haul for about five more years. The trucks have been using Canyon Road, and that road has been damaged from the trucks. They would like to now begin traveling 800 West.
The mayor would like Nielsons to send letters to the citizens to update and inform them of what has been happening. There were residents at the meeting that had some concerns about 800 West. The road isn’t built to handle that kind of wear and tear. There is a crosswalk that would need to be repainted, and rules pertaining to cross walks enforced there. There is also some concern with the speed of the trucks.
The special service district is looking at constructing a new road that would travel around Ferron rather than through it. There are some obstacles however. Eric Luke is working with Nielsons and there will be a meeting with Rep. Brad Johnson, the commissioners and Nielsons to work out the details.
Citizens would also like the walking path on Canyon Road continued all the way up. The road is too narrow for pedestrians, coal trucks and other automobiles to be on the road safely at the same time.
With the recent rotomill and pavement of Main Street, the city has kept the tailings and has them available for residents to use. The city will also haul the tailings.
Stacey Jewkes has been renting the fairgrounds building fromthe city for her dance classes. She has hired someone to go in and clean the building once a month, but the city also requires a cleaning deposit from all renters. She has been in there a couple of times when the building has been left very dirty and she has had to clean up the mess herself. She contacted those in charge of maintaining the building and let them know of the problems. She would like to have her cleaning deposit refunded to her for those days that she had to clean up messes made by other people. The council discussed restructuring the cleaning fees, to raise them to an amount that would be incentive to clean the building after using it. They also discussed having variable fees for different uses of the building. For instance, having a higher fee for rentals having food, versus a dance class. The council also discussed hiring a full time permanent caretaker or janitor.
Jewkes also informed the council that her dance studio will be performing “The Nutcracker” for Christmas at the high school. She would like to have the city sponsor the performance. The council will discuss it and get back to her.
The mayor has found that the golf course requires 150 acre feet, 300 shares, per year of water to keep it in good shape. He stressed the importance of keeping the golf course green, to produce revenue for the city. He suggested that the city allot 300 shares every year to the golf course. The council members discussed the issue, and decided against it, in behalf of residents yards suffering in years of drought.
Max Ralphs, former mayor of Ferron, would like to build a memorial for veterans in the mayor’s park, and call it “Veteran’s Memorial Park.” The council suggested that Ralphs find out if this could be turned into eagle scout projects, and look into any possible grants.
Bryan Erickson informed the council that the Ferron Creek Subdivision zoning map needed to be corrected. The side setback measurements for the homes are wrong. The small lots require more distance from property line to home than the larger lots. He went out and measured each home, and found that they were all in accordance with the measurements required of the larger lots. He suggested that the council revise the ordinance to make the requirements of the two lot sizes the same.
The council has found from the audit of the fiscal year budget that they need to monitor their budget throughout the year, so that if any department is overspending, they have time to correct the problem before the next budget is opened. If the budget is overspent, that department must raise the money somehow, rather than borrow the money from another department who has under spent.
In council reports, Erickson reported on the stock show. Joe Jensen will be over the stock show for 2004. The bathroom and shower facilities are a problem during the stock show and need to be looked at. He would like more dumpsters and garbage cans around the area. He would also like the beef scales locked up. There has been a problem with people storing things on the scale, so that they have to be recalibrated every time they are needed. He also suggested budgeting more money for the stock show, charging entry fees, parking fees and stall fees. He noted that the building is well used and the council needs to use the citizens money to maintain it for them. He also noted an animal ordinance problem and will be looking into changing or enforcing the current ordinance that doesn’t allow animals within the city limits.
Jo Sansevero would like to apply for the CDBG money to recover some money for the firehouse.
Gordon Bennett suggested having a secondary water meter agreement. This would allow residents with more shares to use all of their shares, and water when they choose, rather than watering when the city allots. However, once the metered shares were used up, there would be no more water available for those residents. Ferron has the cheapest water in the state. He will get with Darrel Leamaster and discuss the matter.
The mayor thanked the 4H Club for cleaning up the arena after Peach Days. He also reviewed the special service district meeting with the council.
In other business, Jessica Malone reported on her trip to Girl’s State. She was a Federalist Delegate for the State. She learned a lot about the flag and the country and has a greater respect for it. The council would like to get going on next year’s Peach Days celebration now. There was also a request for a home business license for KBK Superliner, which would provide bed liners for trucks. It was approved pending the approval of the Board of Adjustments.
The next Ferron City Council meeting will be held on Oct. 23 at 7 p.m.
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