Motley City Council approves energy and environment plan

The Motley City Council adopted a resolution, Monday, Feb. 13, approving the energy and environment plan as established in a an agreement between the city and the Region Five Development Commission.

The city partnered with the Region Five Development Commission to complete an energy and environment plan and environment-related projects. The energy and environment plan offers baseline data and five-year suggested projects, based on commnuity input.

According to the adopted resolution, to implement the projects, $5,000 from the United States Department of Agriculture is available to match $10,000 from Sourcewell. The city will implement the prioritized projects that fit within the available budget.

The agreement between the city of Motley and the Region Five Development Commission outlnes the disbursement of the $5,000. The city plans to use those funds to complete as many projects as the funding will allow as follows:

• Invite Morrison County Environmental Services, Morrison County Soil and Water Conservation District, utilities, Mahube-OTWA Community Action, Clean Energy Resourse Teams, to citywide cleanup days, fair, June Fest, community dinner and more;

• Offer an annual community-wide fall cleanup day, including hazardous waste disposal and other energy and environment opportunities, ensuring residents are aware of the many local opportunities available to reduce energy costs and more;

• Complete energy efficiency retrofits at city-owned property, including lighting retrofit in the fire hall to LED, reducing energy costs;

• Install drinking fountain/water bottle refill at two of the parks to increase outdoor recreation opportunities, facilitate the use of reusable water bottles and reduce solid waste;

• Work with Minnesota Energy Resources to conduct natural gas energy audits on city buildings and install rapid return on investment measures, reducing energy costs;

• Plant flowers and other greenery, promoting city beautification;

• Plant larger trees in parks and other areas, with associated benefits;

• Begin to collaborate with Morrison County Emergency Management, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and others to install an approved, accessible storm shelter next to City Hall; and

• Collaborate with Clean Energy Resource Teams to select best city-owned properties where solar energy systems can be installed.

Motley City Council Briefs

In other business Monday, Feb. 13, the Motley City Council:

• Approved Police Officer Cody Holtz to attend drug evaluation and classification training through the Minnesota State Patrol. Police Chief Jason Borash said there is no cost for the class and the cost of travel and hotel room while attending the training is covered through a state grant. The only cost for the city will be paying his wage, like with any other training and for meals;

• Approved a $1,109.86 grant from Morrison County for cleanup day, which is set for May 13, from 7:45 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.;

• Was reminded the citywide garage sale will be held, May 6;

• Approved the purchase of a new Public Works truck. An approval for the purchase was given last year. However, with the chip shortage, no trucks were available. Since then, the price of trucks has increased. As a result, the Council approved the purchase with no cap of cost or other details, such as make, model and color, to allow Public Works to get one in a timely fashion without being restricted. The cost is anticipated to be about $50,000. Public Works Director Bruce Brotherton said the cost of purchasing a new truck is something the department has budgeted $15,000 a year for several years; and

• Heard a compliment from Mayor Mike Schmidt. “The city of Motley had some tough and tragic things happen in the last month and I just really want to compliment our Public Works, law enforcement, fire department and the city office in any way that they helped or assisted with that.” Schmidt was referring to the search and finding of Jorge Sandoval Jr.

The Motley City Council’s next regular meeting will be Monday, March 13, at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall.