Ellsworth- During a meeting on Tuesday evening of this week, the Ellsworth City Council discussed rate changes for water usage by residents and businesses. An email was read and sent by Randy Olson, the owner of Ellsworth Truckwash, requesting that the council consider incentivizing larger water users by adopting a lower rate increase. Ashley Platte asked for a clarification on how much a residential bill would be affected by the rate increase. The first reading on the water rate ordinance for Ellsworth was read at the meeting. The date of June 8th at 6:00 p.m. was set for a public hearing on a proposal to enter into a general obligation water improvement loan and disbursement agreement and to borrow money theeunder in a principal amount not to exceed $1,000,000. The mutual aid program agreement with IAMU, the Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities was approved by the Ellsworth City Council.
Ellsworth City Council members Tuesday evening tabled action on the quote from Brown Bids LLC for the city shed interior work for $46,725. The reason was that the council requested two more local company bids for the same scope of work by the next council meeting on June 8th. The council went on to approve a 28E agreement with the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department for a payment of$7,112 at $14 per capita rate for their services to Ellsworth. There was no objection during a public hearing on the environmental document concerning the elevated water storage tank project.
In another matter, the Ellsworth City Council accepted a bid of $1500 for the 1952 Ford fire truck. A bid of $200 for a 1969 Chevrolet fire truck was accepted. The council met with Katie Sterk of Bolton and Menk on the recent testing and systems analysis for the Ellsworth water treatment facility. The council approved the hiring of Danny Anderson as a part time city employee on a month-by-month basis at $1500 per month to act as the Ellsworth City Water Affidavit Operator.