In a 3-2 decision, Harvard Council members voted in Zhon Gering for the vacant Ward 2 seat.
Two applications for the position were sent in, including Gering and Jeff Hester, both of which Mayor Keith Ljunggren said were good options.
Gering was sworn in after the vote, and immediately took over as Ward 2’s representative.
Kenny Reutzel outlined this year’s parade route for the Harvard Veteran Memorial Car Show and other activities on July 27.
The parade will start at 10 a.m. (weather permitting), at the school parking lot, then travel south down Airport Road, before turning onto Walnut Street.
From there, the parade will go to Kearney Avenue, then turn north and go until 7th Street, before turning east past the Harvard Rest Haven and ending back at the school.
Attendees and citizens are reminded to remove their vehicles from the parade route before it starts.
Reutzel also shared his frustrations about Windstream’s lack of completing fiber optic installation.
He explained that some streets in Harvard have fiber internet installed already, while other areas do not, giving the example of how fiber is available a block east and west of him, but not on his street.
Some council members also mentioned they don’t have access to fiber, while people right down the street from them do.
He talked to Windstream about when all of Harvard would have access, but was unable to get a straight answer. After talking with a representative at the Public Service Commission, Reutzel learned that Windstream had Harvard down to possibly be finished next year.
He asked the council to contact Windstream about finishing what they started in Harvard.
Council members agreed to start with sending a letter signed by all of them, and then following up if nothing comes from that.
Police Chief Wayne Alley reported he hand delivered two letters about tall grass. From delivery, that tenant has five days to take care of the grass or request a hearing.
Alley said if these two properties were not taken care of that the city council needed to follow through with taking action according to city ordinance.
The ordinance states, “the owner or occupant of any lot or piece of ground within the city shall keep the lot or piece of ground and the adjoining streets and alleys free of any growth of six inches or more in height of weeds, grasses or worthless vegetation.”
Anything over six inches will be considered a nuisance.
After the five days, if the property owner does not request a hearing with the city, or fails to comply with the delivered notice, the city may step in and take care of the nuisance.
In the past for properties not taken care of, the city has hired someone to mow it and then the tenant is responsible for paying the city back.
As stated in the ordinance, any costs and expenses from this mowing work would be paid for by the property owner, and if, after two months, this is not done then the city has the right to:
• Levy and assess the costs and expenses of the work done; or
• Do a civil action for the costs and expenses for the work done.
City Maintenance Superintendent Ben Mattley said they’ve considered city employees mowing the lawns, but they were concerned about their safety, any possible garbage or items buried in the grass they cannot see and could possibly damage, and also wanted to avoid the city getting into the mowing business.
Mattley said he worried that if others saw the city came in and mowed a property that wasn’t getting taken care of by the owner, they might taken advantage of the city and not care for their lawns either, ultimately resulting in the city stepping in to mow it themselves.
The council talked about options for people who refused to take care of the overgrown grass issue on their properties. Options included putting a levy on the person’s house and taking them to court, as stated in the ordinance, as well as spraying those properties with something to sterilize the grass and weeds.
In his report, Mattley said that recently with all the storms and heavy loss of tree branches, the city has been picking trees up all over town.
He suggested the city send a notice out about a certain time frame city crew will pick up trees, but after that time frame then it’s the resident’s responsibility to clean up their fallen trees. He also asks residents to bring the branches to the curb.
For those who are physically unable to pickup fallen branches or trees, or have a large tree in their yard but do not have the means to cut it up themselves, call the city at 402-772-7101 and arrange for help.
