By Julie Johansen
Although adjustments have been made to the traditional plans for Horse and Buggy Days, Elmo Town will continue the annual celebration pending health department permission. Chairwoman Cari O’Neil presented plans to the council to continue with specifications for social distancing during a meeting last week.
This year, the celebration will only be held on Aug. 6-8. The glow run will continue as well as bingo where families can be separated and use the same cards. The bike ride will also be held.
The Thursday night dinner is also being planned with additional tables as well as masks and gloves for all the servers. Additionally, no food will be provided by local citizens. The scout breakfast has been cancelled.
Elmo residents will receive a full schedule of the festivities in the mail in the coming weeks.
Continuing the meeting, maintenance foreman Alan Pentico reported that he is working on the city lawn sprinklers to ensure maximum coverage. The mayor also reported that the Castle Valley Special Service District will be moving the connection by the fire house when construction begins on the two new fire bays.
The town’s playground was the next item up for discussion. Concern was expressed about how hard the sand in the playground is but the mayor said this would be covered by sod. Also, hornets have been present in the playground area and Delena Fish, the city’s clerk, will contact a pest control company to resolve the issue.
It was then discussed that citizens have expressed concerns about the corner of Main and Center Street because of recent accidents there. The council asked that Pentico make sure that the trees over the sidewalk are trimmed so that vision is not hampered and the stop sign can be seen. A councilman will contact the sheriff’s office to see if patrol in that area can be increased.
Councilwoman Lori Brady reported that the beautification committee is working on securing a chain link fence around the dumpster area. She received only one bid from Kash Winn for the 300′ x 8′ fence. She was asked to try and obtain some more bids. It was also reported that the town’s sidewalk project has been postponed until March of 2021 as B. Hansen Construction Company is backlogged and can’t get to it before then.
Mayor James Winn would like the pavilion ceiling covering to be finished before Horse and Buggy Days. It was decided the city would purchase the plywood and ask for community assistance on the evening of July 15. Fish will publish a notice asking for community help for this project. A notice will also be posted that the old playground equipment is available for purchase and bids to the city will be accepted. If rewarded the bid, the equipment must also be removed when purchased.
The council considered the charge for paying utility bills online and how to charge users. Fish said she had talked to Chad Bishoff and that it was $.36 for each charge. The question was asked if this is automatically charged to the user and no one was sure. A motion was made that if it is not, then a general $.50 fee should be charged. The motion passed unanimously.
A $42 dumpster fee will be added to the monthly bill. Many citizens have said they really want the dumpster service continued. The city will now try to collect overdue water bills as they have been on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic.