Monticello Council Discusses Street Department

The Monticello City Council met and discussed the future of the street department during a called meeting Friday afternoon, deciding to table the issue until October.

The reason for postponing the decision was so that council members could become more informed by looking up actual numbers pertaining to cost, repairs, and employees, along with meeting with the street superintendent to gain further insight and information.

The topic was brought up after an agenda item from the previous month from Advanced Disposal regarding leaf and limb pick-up and another from Ben’s Tree Service for maintaining “sidewalks, curbs, and gutters.” Other maintenance issues discussed was maintaining potholes, lawns, shrubs, and edging in and around public buildings in the city and the Square.

There was much discussion as to everything the street department does and maintains with the main focus on money. The city just voted to draw down $250,000 this month to pay overdue debts, and so much of the discussion was on funding.

Several council members said that the equipment, such as the leaf sucking machine and the chipper, were in constant need of repair, and along with gas and personnel, there needed to be actual figures looked at to see if money could be saved.

Advanced Disposal proposed that they could provide leaf and limb pick-up for $2 per household in the city. There would be stipulations as to how citizens could leave such items, such as leaves bagged and limbs tied and not too large at the curb.

The proposal from Ben’s Tree Service, which currently trims trees for the electric department, came in at $208,000 per year.