The Jefferson Public Works Department met in regular session this past Tuesday.

There was a discussion regarding the recycling program. It was mentioned that the Greene County Board of Supervisors sent a certified notice of termination of the agreement with the city to provide recycling. City Administrator Scott Peterson said the notice did not specifically give a reason as to why the termination happened, but in the meeting, it was stated that the County was looking to reduce its overall cost. 

The County are being charged $53,440 for the current fiscal year. Peterson said they are continuing negotiations with the County and if a new agreement can’t be reached by February 13th, the city will stop providing recycling for the rural residents.

The Westwood Drive new sidewalk project was also discussed about snow removal. It was stated that the landowners along the route would have the city handle snow removal. Public Works Director Dave Morlan said that they would get to that area during a snow event, but that it would not be a high priority item. Peterson also mentioned the possibility of the city doing snow removal for a certain number of years and then having the landowners take care of that afterwards. 

The committee also approved a $49,900 purchase for a new aerial lift. Streets Superintendent Dave Teeples noted that the current lift has issues with speed control and the machine has over 8,000 hours of use on it. The lift that was looked at is used for only 1,600 hours. The purchase was part of a regular budget item. Another item that the committee approved was for $19,500 for a forestry attachment from Bobcat. Morlan said they would use the rest of the line item in the budget from the Street Department and the rest of the funds would come from the Sanitation Department, which would also utilize the new equipment. Both of those purchases will move onto the next City Council meeting for final approval. 

Finally, the committee agreed to place a proposal from Bolton and Menk at the next City Council meeting to inspect the water tower. It was mentioned in the meeting that the last time the tower was inspected was 2023 and the engineering firm stated two proposals, one that was a visual inspection and the other would use a remote robot. This was not a regular budgeted item.