By Shaun Szkolnik for the Tribune
ARGO – The Argo City Council met on Monday. After preliminary business was attended to the council considered several matters.
The council had a lengthy discussion on the proposed ordinance to establish a system for the city to issue building permits. Considerations included how to determine the value of each building, so that a permit amount could be calculated, and which sorts of building projects would qualify for the new system.
The council also considered new specifications for the cities ordinance on permits for signs including a schedule of fees for sign permits; excluding temporary signs for personal use on private property.
Further discussion was held on the issue of approving a 30-year franchise with Moody GUS to provide sewer services for the city. As per the recommendation of a recent rate study, GUS would like its customers to adopt “a consistent invoicing method”. As it is now some service areas pay a metered rate while others pay a flat fee. GUS would like every service area to be on a pay-per-quantity basis and explained that such a method is the best way to ensure that low need users do not end up subsidizing the costs of high need users. They would also like rates to be uniform across the areas they serve.
The council approved the budget for the fiscal year of 2018/2019. The budget is $1,250,104.23. That amount represents a reduction of over $250,000 from the 2017/2018 fiscal year.
City Hall will be closed on November 12 in honor of Veteran’s Day. The city council meeting, that would normally be scheduled on that date, has been moved to November 7.