Colby Council approves go-ahead for tree ordinance
The Colby City Council reviewed a proposal that would allow residents of the city to plant approved trees in the city’s boulevard.
The agenda item came after the City elected to go ahead with a Second Street road construction project that required the removal of, in most cases, very large and mature trees. Citizens of Colby and Second Street homeowners voiced their displeasure with the decision but it was deemed necessary to remove the trees for the project to continue.
During a parks and recreation meeting in May, the committee decided to recommend to the council that they should look into helping citizens replace the trees.
The result has been a concerted effort to get an ordinance in place that would allow homeowners to plant their own trees in the city’s right of way, or 30 feet on each side of the center of the roadway.
The council discussed the parameters of the ordinance and said Stanley and Edgar had similar ordinances that the City of Colby could adopt. That way, the city already has an ordinance that had already been partially completed by other municipalities.
Alderman Todd Schmidt said he would like to see an all-encompassing ordinance put in place that requires citizens to consult with the city when planting a tree on their own property and when wanting to plant on the cityowned boulevards. “If we’re going to regulate it, let’s regulate it,” Schmidt said.
Schmidt said it would be nice if the city could regulate which trees can be planted in the city and where they are planted to avoid utility lines and other issues associated with tree growth over time.
The council discussed the time line in which an ordinance could be created and decided that City Clerk Connie Gurtner would draft a sample ordinance that the planning commission would amend and recommend to the council during July’s meetings.
Ultimately, the council made a motion to allow trees in the boulevard and to pursue drafting an ordinance to provide some structure to the sentiment.
The ordinance will likely include what types of trees are allowed, where they can be placed, who is responsible for the cost, upkeep and trimming of the trees, what kind of permit system might be required and other information.
Other business
_ The council approved the plans for a fourth tax increment financing (TIF) district within the city. The parcel will be located at the east industrial park area of Colby in Marathon County. It runs along State Hwy. 13 and runs into Clark County. The district includes 47 parcels of land. The district will encompass a total of 228.76 acres.
With the new district approved, five percent of the city’s land is considered TIF district which is below the limit of 12 percent allowed by the state.
A Clark County representative will be taking action on the district because most of the value of the land being converted to the TIF district is in Clark County.
Now that the council has passed the resolution to create the district, the motion will go to a second joint review board meeting on June 22, which will serve as the final approving authority for the district.
Residential parcels that can be used as a subdivision equate to 24.79 acres of the nearly 230 acres in the district. The city has to keep the number of residential parcels in that district under 35 percent to keep the district labeled as a “mixed-use TIF district.” Dave Rasmussen said if the city were to take on all of the improvements in the district that are listed in the project plan, there would be about $4.5 million of new development in the TIF district.
“The city could undertake any of those projects at any time up to 2037,” Rasmussen said. “As development occurs, then you’re going to be able to estimate what kind of value increment, what kind of tax increment and what the investment might be into the TIF district.”
_ The council approved a motion to go ahead with a third volleyball court in the city’s South Sixth Street park. The cost of the construction of the court could not exceed $3,500 according to the motion.
Director of Public Works Harland Higley said it would be close to that number but he was confident he could make it work. Citizen Wade Oehmichen said he had already raised $1,400 for the court and assured they could raise a good portion of the remaining money.
_ The council unanimously voted to approve an intergovernmental cooperation agreement that allowed the Central Fire and EMS District to increase its spending power to $100,000 from $50,000.
_ City Clerk Connie Gurtner said she sent out a notice which explained that the city would raise the monthly rate by 4.5 percent. If the average residential home uses 4,000 gallons of water in a month, the home’s water bill would raise from $31.73 to $33.16. Gurtner recalled a time when the city raised its bill significantly and said with there being no hike in rates last year, you could look at the increase as a 2.25 percent increase last year and a 2.25 percent increase for this year. She said the gradual increases avoid having to pass substantial increases down the road.
