City Council Meets Monday To Discuss Holt/Boyd E-911 Bill

  The O'Neill City Council met on Monday evening with absent councilmen Tim Schneider and Paul Asche.

The council considered the paving assessments on Mayo Street between the Ninth and 10th Streets. Residents of the area were on hand to ask questions about the project's billing.

The council discussed the termination of the contract with the Holt County Humane Society regarding the boarding of stray dogs impounded by the police department.

The council's contract had run out with the Humane Society at the beginning of the month, and the city has considered taking the strays to the Holt County 4 Paws facility. The mayor commented that the Holt County 4 Paws facility would hold spots for stray dogs for $100 a month and then hold them for five days before the facility would try to adopt them out to families. Considering the cost for keeping the dogs at the Humane Society was $160 per impound, it would be more cost-effective for the city to move over to the Holt County 4 Paws at $100 per impound, according to the mayor.

Street Superintendent Greg Walters asked the city to amend the snow emergency policy regarding moving vehicles that are not moved when there is an impending snowstorm. "I would like to see the policy have some strength to it because we have had a lot of trouble this season with vehicles not being moved off the street when we need to move snow." Another item discussed was the city's policy on damages when plowing. "Sometimes when we plow next to mailboxes, the weight of the snow alone will knock them over, and it's because many of those boxes are setting on rotten posts, and then we end up replacing them when we shouldn't. I don't have a problem replacing the items we accidentally destroy, but we shouldn't have to because of the natural wear and tear and weather deterioration. As far as sprinkler heads, we have replaced many of them, and technically, they are in the city's right of way," said Walters.

The next item on the agenda was the status of the Holt/Boyd E-911 Bill.

The bill has remained unpaid due to unanswered questions about the bill that still need to be answered. O'Neill, Atkinson, and Stuart's more prominent stakeholders have yet to pay their bills due to alarming increases and the 911 Boards' inability to answer why the bills have increased so dramatically. The larger towns served by the 911 Board asked the 911 Board to deliver information on their fiscal status and were asked to provide the requested information to the municipalities being billed. City Clerk Sarah Sidak stated that just that day, Monday, Feb. 5, the city received information from the 911 Board, but due to the timing, she could not go through the items. Councilwoman Kayla Burdick proposed that we should pay the bill due to a concern that it was a financial burden to the 911 Board and that either way, we still have to pay it. Council member Quana Wheeler stated that due to their inability to deliver the requested information, we should still withhold the payment until the questions were answered. Councilwoman Buffy Walsh voiced similar concerns as to information needing to be delivered. Because some documentation had been provided, the council decided that a payment of half the bill would be warranted.

The council approved the bills and adjourned for the evening.

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