City Council appoints new clerk, approves permits
HARTINGTON — The Hartington City Council dealt with a full agenda Monday, including approving a new city clerk and treasurer, and granting several permits.
The Council unanimously approved hiring Brittini Benscoter as the new city clerktreasurer. She replaces Danni De Wahl, who announced her intent to leave the position earlier this year.
Benscoter has been working in the city office since May 30 training under De Wahl. The former city clerk has agreed to continue to help as needed with Benscoter’s training.
The Council also passed a resolution for the abatement of a public nuisance at the Sherrie Bear residence at 401 S. Aberly.
The abatement process gives the city the legal authority to go onto her property to clean up the property and bring it into city code. The Council has gone through this process to clean up Bear’s property several times in the past.
The Council also approved building permits for:
• Regg Gadeken, storage shed
• Grant Howell, deck
• Tim Loberg, garage with living quarters
• Brittni and Louis Benscoter, Jr., house A new sign for Grossenburg Implement was also approved.
Prior to granting the building permit to the Benscoters, the Council agreed to allow a septic tank to be used on the property instead of mandating they connect to the city sewer system.
Councilman Chris Bartling said this was necessary since the house was located more than 300 feet away from the current city sewer system.
The Council also officially granted Security Bank naming rights for the new Russ Hochstein Field scoreboard and approved a sponsorship agreement of the scoreboard with the local bank. When the Hartington Community Complex was first built in 2004, Security Bank was granted the right to sponsor it. The Daktronics scoreboard has since become outdated and needed to be updated or replaced. The bank agreed to replace it earlier this year at a cost of over $20,000.
This agreement gives the bank the option to renew its sponsorship when the scoreboard needs to be replaced or updated in the future.
The Council also accepted the resignation Monday of Tamara Pedersen from the Hartington EMT squad. She had been a member of the local ambulance crew for 24 years.
An interlocal agreement concerning outdoor warning sirens was also approved. The agreement is between the city, the county and all incorporated towns, villages and political subdivisions in Cedar County.
The Council also approved two bills totalling $2,393 for engineering work done by JEO at the new industrial park site and for the expense of removing a fence at the site.
JEO consultant Baylor Bestgen was on hand to explain the process for complying with the state’s one-and-six-year street improvement process. The state asks governmental entities that receive state highway funds to submit its annual plan for street improvements.
The required one-and-six year report is not binding, however, Bestgen said.
“The city can make changes to the plan with a resolution,” he said.
The Council also agreed Monday to allow Mike and Karil Adams to block Oak Avenue from the intersection of Main Street to the alley on July 1 for a party.
Bartling said a problem with a grate at the swimming pool has been fixed. The fiberglass grate was leading to cuts on some of the people going over it.
Councilman Colin Kathol gave an update on the city parks. He and Park Board members did a walk-through at the parks recently and determined more wood chips needed to be added underneath some of the playground equipment to make for a safer landing area. It was noted the work on that has already begun.
Monday’s meeting marked De Wahl’s last meeting as city clerk. Mayor Mark Becker acknowledged all of her hard work for the city and said her efforts have been greatly appreciated.
The next City Council meeting will be held at 5 p.m. Monday June 26 at the Hartington City offices.