By Clark Natalie

When you canít hang your clothes out to dry because of the dust, or entertain company outside because of the noise, you have to head to the city council meeting for some help.

At the July 10 Harris City Council Sue Shappell brought pictures, along with neighbors to complain about the dirt track in their neighborhood.

Shappell said the dust and noise is bad. The noise goes most nights until 10 p.m. and weekends.

Shappell felt with the amount of dust that reaches her residence, the track must not be watered. She said she has heard reports that the noise can be heard at the cemetery.

Ed Marko said he lives farther from the track than Shappell and he gets dirt on his grill when cooking outside. His son was riding at the track and broke a collar bone. Marko rides himself, but goes to a different track where there are emergency personnel present.

In his report at the end of the meeting, Mayor Rick Smisson said that when this issue had been brought up before, he had promised to visit the track unannounced.

Smisson felt it was time to set a meeting with the owners of the track to work out an arrangement, in writing, with guidelines that will be acceptable to both the owners and the neighbors. He said it will be done before the July 24 council meeting.

Smisson also responded to a question from the last council meeting asked by Lisa Jorgenson. Jorgenson had asked if the mayor was riding along on fire calls.

Smisson read that over the past year he has gone to many wastewater treatment facilities to see how they are run. He also visited the ball field.

Smisson went on to explain that it is the job of the city council to properly inform themselves about issues. This involves visiting different areas, including riding along on fire calls. This allows him to better assess the readiness of the department and the equipment needed. Smisson said it is not a secret and has been talked about at numerous council meetings.

Resident Larry Nelson asked again about the cost for the water and sewer upgrades to the taxpayers per household. Nelson said he would continue to ask until an answer is provided.

Lisa Jorgenson asked about the city audit scheduled for the end of June. She wanted to know the status of the audit.

During the regular agenda items, a motion was passed for the issuance and sale of General Obligation taxable certificates to be issued to refinance the loan obtained at S&C Bank to fund the maintenance truck and fire department equipment van.

This does not change the obligation or rate but changes the loan to a financial instrument used by city governments.

The amount being refinanced is $43,851.

City Engineer Charles Schwartz updated the council on the wastewater treatment facility (WWTF). The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) signed off on the design which allowed the city to meet the June 30 deadline required for the funding.

Because this deadline has been met and funding is in place, it has been decided to push ahead the project 30 days.

This will allow the city to search for additional funding and grants such as the application that was authorized at the last meeting for an application for phosphorous reduction grant through the Public Facilities Authority (PFA).

City staff and engineer will also meet with the Dept. of Employment and Economic Development to see what grants are available.

The council also authorized the city engineer to apply for a federal grant through the Army Corp of Engineers.

Schwartz also noted that Chisago County is going to have an aerial survey of the whole county. The county is offering to sell the information to each community for cost, but the community must buy a complete set. These photos will be available later on a piecemeal basis, but at a higher cost.

Maintenance Supervisor Mike Kriz reported that lime had been purchased for the ball field at $3,150 instead of the estimated and approved amount of $5,000. It was thought that the difference could go to replacing lights at the ball field.

Kriz noted that when he inspected the lights, only two were out. It was decided to wait until more are not working, since the major cost of light replacement is the hourly charge for the truck required to reach the lights.

Kriz also reported that he had obtained bids to replace the tractor which is in bad repair and would require at least $9,000 to fix. In addition to three bids from suppliers, Kriz obtained a state bid through Isanti County Equipment. Because the tractor is for a municipality, and through a state bid process, Harris could save about $10,000. The bid to replace the tractor was $27,652, with the trade in of the old tractor.

Smisson asked Kriz if there were any other major pieces of equipment that may be needed to be replaced before the end of the year. Kriz noted that the grader has been welded back together and needs to be replaced.

Should that breakdown the city has no backup to continue with whatever job it was doing. The city dump truck is also old, but work was recently done to make sure the box did not fall off.

The council approved the purchase of the new tractor.