By Jean Doran Matua, Editor
At its Jan. 4 regular meeting, the Kimball city council approved a revised policy on preventing and unfreezing water and sewer lines. Because the new water meters now at each property in town can measure and report the temperature of water in the line, the city can notify property owners when they need to run water in order to prevent freezing of water and sewer lines. The policy revision shifts responsibility for connected water and sewer lines that are outdoors to the city rather than property owners; property owners will be responsible for water and sewer lines within their buildings.
Whenever the water temperature reads 40° or lower, the city will contact property owners to have them begin running water to prevent a freeze. For this notification system to work, of course, the city must have current contact information for property owners; the city will work on a way to gather and update this information regularly.
Steven Dahlager was appointed interim council member until a special election can be held.
The council agreed to replace the door at the former police building, with an electronic lock, for a total bid of $6,450.
Waste Management has informed the city that it cannot pick up garbage in winter at three residences (near the back of the ballfield) because of snow and ice, and problems getting garbage trucks in and out safely in winter. WM has proposed that those property owners bring their garbage cans up to Linden Avenue each week. The council prefers a designated dumpster for them to use during winter.
Fire chief Dave Traurig reported. There were a total of 42 fire calls and 177 medical calls during 2021. Of those medical calls, 52% were in Kimball, 29% in Maine Prairie, 14% in St. Augusta, and 3.8% in Fair Haven Township.
The council moved to require pre-approval of any future signs posted on any city welcome sign, and that any such sign will be subject to removal by the city as needed.
The council discussed clean-up day, and will see if this can happen on Saturday, Sept. 24, instead of in May this year.
The next regular meeting of the Kimball city council will be at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 1, at City Hall. Meetings are live-streamed on Facebook, and recorded meetings are available on the city’s Facebook page.