Assistant Editor Jerry Lindsey wrote this report.
If a citizen has never attended a City Council meeting but wondered what they discussed during their sessions, Tuesday evening, October 12, 2021, at the Morrison City Council meeting would not have been the ideal first exposure. The agenda included “how to surface the poor-conditioned roads in Grove Hill Cemetery” and “whether chickens should be allowed to be raised within the City limits.” Not your everyday conversations that are held over coffee around town, but very serious issues for community development.
Citizen comments from Anne Mills opened the evening; she supported a positive opinion of housing chickens and the effect their presence has on the neighborhood. She noted that chickens are just an “extension of [her] garden” and a perfect way to educate her children on food origination. Mills owned no concern that the practice of raising chickens would become a major nuisance within the City, using the example that the Illinois Cities Silvis and Lanark allow the practice with “no problems.” Comments were offered by a neighbor of Mills, who totally supported the Mills venture. He remarked that he has not sighted any raccoons or foxes and complimented the fully-enclosed enterprise.
The Council was offered an example Ordinance currently in force in Naperville, IL. The discussion ended with the Council agreeing to allow the City’s Attorney to write an Ordinance for presentation to the Council at the next meeting, carrying the words of approval for chicken raising within the City limits.
Attention shifted to Grove Hill Cemetery and available funding for repairing the surface of some of the paths. Engineer Dave Weber defined the process of applying approximately 3.5 inches of asphalt on the existing roadways. He requested road priorities, so he could best estimate the surfacing needs. Dykhuizen noted funds of $115,000 will become available in September 2022, to pay for the job. He added the City might need to provide additional funding. The Engineer stated approximately $125,000 is estimated to the project. Surveying needs to be done before winter to obtain measurements. Options will be reviewed during the winter with hopes of construction beginning in Spring 2022.
Recent City vehicle purchases were offered, to be financed by an interdepartmental fund transfer of approximately $128,000 at 2.5% interest for five years. Alderman Harvey Zuidema noted the excess reserve in the General Fund. He proposed that it be used to fund the vehicles, thus eliminating the five-year payment plan. Council members agreed with Zuidema and failed to vote on the financing. That ended the option and allowed the General Funds to become the cash to complete the purchases.