(Spirit Lake)– The business portion of Tuesday’s Spirit Lake city council meeting lasted only about 15 minutes. But the public comment portion went on for nearly an hour as the council heard concerns from residents who sustained property damage as a result of the 11 inches of rain that fell earlier this month. Mayor Eric Nielsen said the city empathizes for those who sustained damage. Nielsen added the city is still looking into the matter. City Attorney Earl Maahs said those with damage should file a claim with the city, which will be forwarded to its insurance carrier.
During the business portion of the meeting, the council awarded the sale of 2.2 million dollars in general obligation bonds to Harris Trust and Savings Bank at an interest rate of 4.16 percent. The bonds will be used to pay off the city’s share of the Drainage District 22 project.
The council also approved an engineering proposal to revamp the existing parking lot in the southeast corner of 19th Street and Ithaca Avenue west of the State Bank. Public Works Director Todd Dolphin says the project will consist in part of some new landscaping and plantings. He says it will be carried out in conjunction with the revamping of 19th Street next year, and will be done in the same motife as Hill Avenue and Lake Street. Dolphin says work on the parking lot will probably be delayed until after the street project is done so as to have as little impact as possible on parking near the courthouse.
