Swisher Appointed to Holly Trustee Board

Rod Swisher was appointed to fill the vacancy on the Holly Trustee’s Board during their monthly meeting, September 4^th.  He is replacing Aaron Leiker who submitted his resignation at last month’s meeting.  Swisher will fill that seat until April 2020 at which time, he and four other Trustee’s will be up for re-election according to Town Clerk, Megan Jara.  He will officially begin his term following his oath of office next month.

Steve Rabe, Holly’s interim administrator was in attendance, and presented a dozen areas of concern for the Trustees to review including setting no later than October 15^th as a date for a review of the 2020 budget.   Rabe said applications for a permanent administrator are due on September 8^th and he will have compiled a list of applicants for discussion at the October 2^nd meeting.  He’s been moving forward on the town’s water system project and has submitted an outline to the CDPHE and DoLA for grant funding for a study for an improvement project, roughly estimated at $1.75M.  “I’ve set a pre-qualification meeting for October 24^th with the state department of health and environment and a DoLA representative with myself and Mayor Melcher,” he told the board.  He said part of the process will be a search for an engineering firm to put a plan together for the complete grant application.  Other items on the list included a replacement garbage truck, re-establishment of the town’s municipal court, a sewer lift station project and utility master plan.  Each of these comes with an estimated completion date.

The board approved the sale of property at 825 West Cheyenne Street in Town for the agreed upon price of $1,500 and approved the appointment of Aaron Crum to the Housing Authority, replacing Kurtis Klinghammer who resigned earlier this summer. A demolition request for a building was tabled at this time as the board wants more information regarding costs and the limits to their authority to determine which properties can be condemned given questions regarding asbestos content in aging buildings.

Town Clerk Jara will begin advertising for bids for a pool gazebo and roof repairs for the Holly Historical Museum. Town Librarian, Elaine Anderson, said the library’s new deck is greatly appreciated and looks great.  Friends of the Library will sell pastries during Holly’s participation in the Pedal the Plains bicycle event to help raise funds.  Jara said she will begin to take action this month on delinquent utility payments.  Normally, three announcements are given to a customer before the disconnect and she said September 20^th will be the point at which the cut-offs will occur.

She provided a list of needed improvements for the municipal pool, some of which included railing and steps for the pool to assist an older population, updated showers and bathroom facilities, replace cracking cement, a new vacuum and pump, better ventilation and lighting in the pool office, a new tarp and more lights facing the parking lot for night swims.

Mayor Melcher informed the Trustees they could expect a future request from a prospective hemp farmer for electrical assistance to power two center pivots for their operation which lies outside the city limits. He had no specific timeline for the request at this point.

The next regular Trustees meeting will begin at 7pm on Wednesday, October 2^nd.

By Russ Baldwin