Gibbon Council hears library report

by Doug Hanson
Councilman Roger Tabbert updated the Gibbon City Council last Tuesday on the public library as it continues its shift to be a city-run operation. The Library Committee met again recently as it tries to fine-tune the operation after leaving the county run operation.
Tabbert reported that the library has a new automated system, recently filled out a grant application and has a mission statement. He added that Librarian Kim Holmquist asked about some possible upgrades, sort of a facelift in some areas of the library. A collection policy still needs to drawn to handle overdue material.
The City’s portion in the library budget was $16,529, when it left the country operation. These funds will go into the City’s General Fund and can be use however the Council wishes.
The committee has been meeting more often during this transition, but will eventually only meet quarterly.
With a new payloader arriving in the near future, the City had been discussing advertising the current payloader to see if it could get more than the $24,500 trade-in value. Public Work Supervisor Jason Rettig report that RDO recently told him that they had a buyer and would increase their offer to $30,000. After some discussion the Council decided to take the new trade-in value.
On a related issue, Rettig stated that he had an offer for the City’s old snowblower. The 1991 Lofthus has not been used for two years and Rettig said he has had a hard time getting parts. The City agreed to sell the snowblower for $1,500.
Rettig also stated that he was looking for options for a snow pusher for the new payloader.
Xin Dahl at 130 East 12th Street complained about all the snow pushed up to the front of her home. She asked what could be done about it. Rettig stated that the house is so close to the street that when he is plowing, snow could get up to the front door. He does try to limit that amount as much as possible, but there is a lot of snow.
A request was made from a Fairfax resident for the City to have the post office stay open more hours. It was stated that the hours of operation for the post office was not something the City controls.
A resolution to show support for the school referendum was discussed. It was stated that the City has said that its infrastructure can handle the new facility. The City has not made any commitments for the new school. It has been stated that there are three locations in Gibbon that could be used, but no location has been finalized. The resolution passed 3-1.