WELCOME — During the Welcome City Council meeting on Tuesday, Scott Morrow spoke as a former council member about the practice of charging for water availability to property that did not have a building on it when it was sold, and then charging again when the building was made. After the street project, the assessment added a water connection from the street to the curb and the property owners paid from the curb to the house, too. The owners had already paid the water availability fee when they bought the property. He asked that the council look into changing the ordinance so that this double-charging would be eliminated in the future. Water availability is mandatory, but it should be assessed only when the property is originally sold. The council will look into making changes to the ordinance and doing the due diligence of two readings.

Penny Evelbak represented the trailer park and asked that new lights be put up by the mailboxes and at the end by the alley and in the middle of that road. The council discussed the lights and agreed to put lights in by the mailboxes and the end by the alley since it could be a safety issue. The lights will have meters. The trailer park agreed to pay $7 a month. The road past the trailer park by the mailboxes is in need of fill and grading. The council requested that the public works take care of that road’s needs.

Engineer Travis Winter said that Holtmeier Construction was asked to do the grading, manholes and odds and ends brought up at the previous council meeting. That project is ending well.

He also discussed the abatement for the Welcome TV building and the Peterson building, which was discussed at a previous council meeting. He said that when the street project digging nicked a line, it was repaired. A third claim of water backup was also added to the discussion. The sewer was not replaced with just water, so not sure why it’s backed up two years later. A camera may be used to see what the problem is.

In other news:

— The Hopp Street ditch cleanup is underway.

— The sewer issue at NuWay was discussed and the engineer was asked to look into the reason for the water backup there.

— A resident asked if the hydrant could be used to water the meshed grass seed at the southeast corner of Mill and Cleveland Street intersection. The rain lately has helped, but it may need more water later. The council will look into that possibility.

— A building permit from DJ Brey was discussed and the setback would need to be added to the map he gave. The ordinances need to be followed. The council tabled the permit until the county rules were checked.

— The council thanked Public Works for the hanging baskets of flowers and the flagpole that help the city look nice.

— Sherburn/Welcome Police Department Chief of Police Trevor Yochim said by phone that the tags for grass and junk are underway. He talked about the Law Enforcement Day at Sherburn Elementary School and some other ordinance violations that are being cleared.

— Clerk Jodi Hemann requested reimbursement since she has to use her personal phone for several things pertaining to work, such as talking to the city attorney and public works. The council approved a stipend for her use of her phone.

The Welcome City Council will meet at 6 p.m. on June 2 at Welcome City Hall.