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City: “Accounting done outside the city limits should pay their bills on-time just like the rest of
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By Daniel McGonigle
Argus Managing Editor
A request was made to the council from a “non-community payer” for special consideration and the waiver of late payment fees for the city utilities.
“They claim our bill reaches them about the 5th or 6th of each month, making it impossible for them to return payment on or before the 10th of the month,” said Robert Nelson, Caledonia City Administrator.
Nelson pointed out to the council at the June 9 meeting that some businesses within Caledonia do their billing in another town, for example a corporate office in Chicago or Los Angeles, and because of that fact, the turnaround on billing takes more time and therefore companies are having to pay late fees.
“One company only issues checks on Tuesdays and Thursdays,” reported Nelson. “We cut checks every day here.”
Because a company could look at its own internal processes, the council wasn’t too keen on waiving the charges.
“I pay my bills ahead of time when I know I’ll be out of town,” noted council woman Peggy Perry. “You don’t always know exact amounts but you get in the ballpark and it comes out in the wash.”
Council member Gary Klug noted that the suggestion could be made that the businesses pay the bills on-line as is an option to all customers.
“That would be easiest,” he noted.
The council unanimously rejected waiving any charges and making any exemptions to the payment schedule.
“Some of these companies could look at doing some things different on their end as well,” said Nelson.
Labor agreement negotiations
The Caledonia Police Association Labor Agreement expired on December 31, 2007. Nelson informed the council that the police officers shall continue to operate under the old agreement until it is replaced with a new contract.
“The new committee has been given the initial list of demands and the list of counter demands from the previous council committee to review and will then schedule a date to meet with the association representatives to conduct negotiations,” said Nelson. “The association has been contacted and is aware that negotiations are about to restart.”
Some discussion among council members took place as to if the council should meet with the association as a whole and behind closed doors for a labor negotiation. It was decided that council members Klug and Randi Vick will continue to meet with the group and report back to the whole council.
Storm water pond
“I misjudged the engineering cost of calculating the capacity of the storm water pond north of Main street,” said Nelson. “At the past council meeting, held May 27, I asked the Council to approve an engineering project on the pond, asking Davy Engineering to perform this service, estimating that it could be done for $800.”
When Nelson contacted Davy Engineering, they came back with an estimate of $2,500.
“Unfortunately, the work still needs to be done in the event a question about the pond’s capacity comes up in the future,” said Nelson.
That being said, the council voted unanimously to approve the new estimate despite the additional cost.
In brief
•The council approved the request for a permit for display of fireworks contracted by the Houston County Agricultural Society on August 13 at 10:00 p.m.
•The council will pay $12.60 for 14 jackets intended for the lifeguards at the city pool. The guards themselves will have to pay an additional $29 for each jacket.
•The police department computer system, on a night when there was severe lightning strikes, lost its “back up capability.”
To install a new back-up system, a quote for $932.48 was approved. The system will be installed by Affordable Technology Solutions.
You can contact Daniel McGonigle at
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