Abbotsford city council talk repairs for city hall
By Brian Wilson The Star News
The fire suppression system in the Abbotsford City Hall may need to be upgraded.
At the Feb 16 Abbotsford city council meeting, city administrator Josh Soyk reported that there has been a persistent air leak in the system for a while and that it recently got worse. The city called in Integrity Fire Protection of Schofield to repair the system.
“This was the second air leak in the past six months,” Soyk said, warning council members that the city may need to look at replacing the piping in the attic of the city hall building.
“There is a lot of corrosion in the fittings,” he said, noting that newer systems use a different process to keep it pressurized that could be less corrosion in the future.
No formal action was taken at this point and the system will continue to be monitored.
Soyk also alerted board members about the need to make technology investments in the water plants. He noted that at two of the water plants, they are currently not making replacements for
See COUNCIL/ Page 7 the technological equipment and replacement parts are getting harder to find.
“At some point we will have to get updates,” he said, noting the rough estimate for the work is about $50,000. This will be worked into future budgets.
Library transfer
Surplus funds from the library’s budget will be put into the library’s saving account.
The library ended 2021 with a $1,631.34 surplus in its budget. According to Soyk, the city had the option of having the money got back into the city’s general fund or transfer it into the library’s savings account to be used for future needs.
Alderman Lori Huther said the library was fine with doing it either way, noting that putting it in the library’s savings could give the library additional flexibility when they need something extra rather than needing to come back and ask the city council for additional money.
“I think it is the library’s money and we should put it in the library’s saving account,” said Mayor Jim Weix.
Alderman Roger Weideman asked if that was OK with the city’s auditors and was assured it was acceptable. Council members approved transferring the funds into the library savings account.
Other business
_ The council approved an operator’s license for Olivia Snider to work at Express Lane. The date of the licenses was questioned. Soyk clarified that the licenses run from June 30 in one year to June 30 the following year. Snider’s license will need to be renewed this June.
_ The council reviewed the financial reports along with the year to day financials. “I went through this line by line myself,” Weix said, noting nothing stood out to him on it.
Soyk said the amount of bills was higher this time of year due to the tax settlement between the city, school and county.
He also noted that the city’s account balances presented at the meeting still show the money being in the city due to checks not having cleared the bank.
_ The council heard a question from Weideman concering several larger, older trees in the cemetery that will need to potentially have limbs removed or will need to be cut down this summer.
Weix said they would having a meeting coming up this spring and will work with Rob Beran to get the trees removed.
