WELCOME — The Welcome City Council met on Tuesday evening. The Water Rates were discussed for some time by the council.

The water plant will need some repair in the coming years, and the auditor recommended raising water rates instead of taking money from the general fund to bolster the water fund. The council approved a water rate increase and will implement it in small steps to avoid overwhelming taxpayers. Welcome has significantly lower water rates than some of the nearby towns. The rate will begin in July. $8.50/1000 gallons and a maintenance fee, $20 for sewer and $3 for storm sewer. This will not be a large sum for most who use less water.

The EDA property for sale sign was changed as it is a residential property, not industrial. If anyone buys a lot, they must build a home, not an apartment or house trailer, within one year. Travis Winter sent a proposed Task Order (Agreement for professional services), and the council approved it. Mayor Schmidtke reported he had met with the school board and superintendent representatives and was sure that the Welcome School purchase should be ready for closing soon, perhaps in June.

Two public comments were made at the meeting. One was about the dust control flags where the construction is supposed to be done. The second question was about the variance planned for a storage shed. The shed may infringe on the resident’s property. A map of the lots was shown and the council asked the residents to settle the line of property privately and added the stipulation about the property line to the variance approval later in the meeting. The variance for the storage shed was approved 4-1 with the stipulation that it be anchored, painted and not on the neighbor’s property.

The council approved a variance to park a semi tractor (not a trailer with it) on the resident’s driveway and yard after the resident promised that no late night noise would happen (after 10 or 11 p.m.) and the tractor only would be parked on the resident’s land, not the street. The resident needed the truck for a living. It was approved 3-2.

Shannon Sweeney from David Drown Associates proposed the issuing, sale and delivery of a $3,760,000 plus general obligation improvement and utility revenue Bond series with quotes from three companies.

The council discussed the quotes with Sweeney and then approved the quote from the Robert Baird Company for the $3 million-plus at an interest rate of 4.0434 percent. The bond should be closed by June 17, and Sweeney will communicate with the City Clerk about the bond and procedures. He mentioned that the S&P rating was good for the city, and that helped to get good quotes and interest rate. The council discussed Legion Park, which is across the City Hall. There is some money in the park fund to help with the purchase of equipment and the maintenance needs of the parks.

In other business:

— The Park Committee will meet on June 10.

— The council approved paying part-time clerk assistants to help answer the phone and email, and help keep the city hall open when the clerk is on a day off or vacation on a per diem basis. There are two people available. The council asked if they should try to find a per diem worker for the public works team. The Public Works employee will look for someone.

— The council’s touring of the dilapidated homes in Welcome was tabled for now.

— The Council went into closed session.

The next meeting of the Welcome City Council will be at 6 p.m. on June 17 at City Hall.