City plans for one logo on north water tower

     After receiving seven bids for the city’s north water tower project, with the lowest stemming from Utility Service Co., Inc. out of Georgia, during the Feb. 20 Monticello City Council meeting, the council approved moving forward with one logo painted on the tower. This will come at a cost of $395,400.

     The council also previously approved a logo design. The city’s name, “Monticello,” will be painted in full across the tower, with the “M” larger in size. The image of the clock tower will also appear within the “M.”

     The early start date for the water tower project is May 1, 2017, with a tentative completion date of Oct. 13, 2017. It is anticipated to take anywhere from six to 12 weeks to complete.

     City Administrator Doug Herman surveyed multiple cities regarding their water towers to find out whether they contained the city’s name and/or a logo of some sort. All but a few contained the city’s name or a logo, or a combination for both.

     “It’s more about community branding and community pride,” said Herman.

     Council member Dave Goedken voted against the concept of a logo on the tower.

     The airport and city will soon see a stream of income from a new ten-T hangar at the Monticello airport.

     The council approved an engineering services agreement between the city and Snyder & Associates, Inc. in regarding to engineering, designing, and observing the construction of the new hangar.

     Casey Zwolinski with Snyder & Associates informed the council of the timeline for the project. The hangar will sit adjacent to the apron on the grounds that was extended last year.

     Zwolinski said the Airport Board would like to see construction start this year to meet their goals of expansion. There is a letting date in April. Zwolinski said now that Snyder was approved for the engineering, plans would start tomorrow.

     Herman said each end of the hangar would include additional space for storage. The Airport Board plans to rent the spaces for $120 a month.

     “Through the course of a year,” said Herman, “that’s nice additional income.”

     Herman said the goal is to have the hangar up by this fall.

     “People are already inquiring about it,” he said of the interest.

     City Engineer Patrick Schwickerath said the space would also accommodate larger planes if needed.

In other city business:

     • The council approved the appointments of Nick Miller and Sophie Schemmel to the Parks and Recreation Board.

     • The council approved an agreement for dispatch services between the city and the Jones County Sheriff.

     The fee requested for FY 2018 is $20,188.61, a 3 percent ($588.02) increase over FY 2017.

     • The council approved an investment of $1,500 in the Jones County JETS service for FY 2018.

     The amount requested has been consistent since FY 2010.

     • No action was taken to approve a request from Dave Schoon to parcel off a house and an additional building on his property at 1008 W. First St. Herman said if approved, Schoon’s new parcels would not be in compliance with the city’s setback ordinance. He also informed the council that the city’s Planning and Zoning board “were not of a mind to recommend approval.”

     • The council heard from Annie Locher with the Animal Welfare Foundation shelter regarding lifting or modifying the Pitbull ordinance.

     Locher said there are good and bad stories out there about all breeds of dogs. She asked the council to consider those who are responsible dog owners wanting to raise and own a family-friendly Pitbull.

     She said if the council wanted to place certain restrictions on the ordinance, making sure owners have their Pitbull on a leash, requiring that the dog be micro chipped, spayed and neutered, to enforce responsible ownership, those requirements, Locher said, would not be out of the question.

     However, several members of the council still felt that no matter the stipulations, there will still be irresponsible dog owners within the city causing problems, giving a bad name to Pitbulls.

     “The big concern,” said Goedken, “is that a handful of people use their dog to intimidate people on the street.”

     Council member Johnny Russ said it would be nearly impossible for the city to police the bad instances in town involving Pitbull owners.

     “If not one wanted to license their dog,” said Goedken, “how can we control this?”

     • The council discussed a cost estimate from 151 Landscape and Construction in the amount of $50,000 to renovate the fountain near at Aquatic Center.

     The current state of the fountain requires a constant stream of water to keep it full.

     Total removal and the addition of a feature such as splash pad in its place could cost close to $250,000. While this concept has come up in the past, no fundraising or further planning followed by interested parties.

     Several council members also had an issue with a splash pad right next to the pool, not wanting to take away income from the pool versus a free splash pad.

     Goedken said he would like to see something done sooner rather than later. Herman said if the council was of the mind to go with the renovations, there could be some work that the Public Works Department could take on to bring the cost down from $50,000.

     More information will be explored on the fountain project before the next council meeting.