Harris receives improved audit

By Barbara Brown
Harris residents at last weekís council meeting were pleasantly surprised to hear the town may be slowly coming out of the seeming black hole created when a former town clerk stole thousands of dollars and messed up the towns financial records two years ago.
In an audit report for 2002 submitted to the council from Oberloh & Assoc., Dennis Oberloh said the cityís financial health had improved from last yearís audit report in which 11 citable offenses for lax internal controls were identified.
This yearís audit report showed only 3 citable offenses, Oberloh said, and those are still being addressed.
The cityís 2002 accounting system showed all funds combined into one, the monthly financial reports were not presented to the council on a regular basis and no historical cost fixed asset records.
Oberloh told the council ìnone of those was considered a material weaknessî in Harrisí system and that city staff had been updating the accounting system.
He said he expected everything to be reorganized in time for the cityís next audit if staff continues on its current schedule.
ìIíve rarely seen where you go from 11 findings in one year to 3 in the next year,î Oberloh told the council. ìThe staff should be commended.î
Also at the Aug. 7 meeting, the council heard from landowner Joe Carchedi.
Carchedi asked the council for permission to divide his 21-acre lot into four lots and have a gravel hammerhead dead end installed as a road.
The council previously had said the division could take place, but that Carchedi would have to pave the road and install a cul-de-sac before the final plat would be approved.
Thursday night, Carchedi came to the council with the final plat for approval, but it still contained plans for a hammerhead and a gravel road.
City engineer Chuck Schwartz told the council he would not budge on his position that the road needs to be paved and end in a cul-de-sac for engineering and safety reasons.
The Harris Fire Department was consulted on the design, Schwartz said, and representatives agreed a cul-de-sac turnaround is easier to navigate for large fire apparatus than a hammerhead road.
After nearly an hour of discussion, the council voted unanimously to deny Carchediís final plat request.
Carchedi said he is not sure if he will refile the plat request.
He said paving the road is expensive and does not make sense since the only traffic on the road would be his own vehicles.
Carchedi said paving the road now and then tearing it out later to install utilities would not make sense.
He said he and his wife, realtor Cathy Carchedi, do not have plans to sell the lots or to build other houses there right now.
Mayor Richard Hanson said the city had no plans to install utilities in that area and that the city did not have the Public Works employees or money to add another gravel road to their maintenance schedule.

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