FEMA grant to fund generator at community center

The Haxtun Town Council gave the go-ahead for a special event liquor permit for the annual Corn Festival event slated for later this month during a Tuesday evening, Sept. 6 meeting at the Town Hall. In addition, council members approved a generator project at the community center and gave nod to the purchase of a new tractor for the maintenance department.

The September meeting opened with a public hearing for a request for a special event liquor permit as requested by the Haxtun Chamber of Commerce for a beer garden at Corn Festival on Saturday, Sept. 28. The map of the area, as noted in the application, marks the same beer garden and concert area as years past including portions of Fletcher Street and Colorado Avenue.

Police Chief Tom Bullard said he had no concerns about the application and map, but noted he did plan to have extra law enforcement help during the event later this month. He also noted he would contact event organizers to ensure the placement of an emergency exit gate. Following the short public hearing, council members voted, by roll call, to unanimously approve the liquor permit.

The Council later reviewed detailed information for a generator project at the Haxtun Community Center. Vickie Freemyer, Administrative Clerk with the Haxtun Police Department, recently wrote, submitted and received a FEMA grant that will include the purchase and installation of a generator to power the Haxtun Community Center in the event of an outage or disaster. The grant is a 75 percent match by FEMA and a 25 percent match by the Town of Haxtun.

The Town of Haxtun recently solicited bids for a generator and its installation at the community center and according to Clerk Kelsie Harms, the Town received one bid from Fetzer Electric for $65,000. The bid includes a Generac 80kW 3-phase generator and its install including materials, labor and inspection.

Superintendent Ron Carpenter said the generator will power the entire community center should it need to and is similar to what is also at the new town shop. The project, he said, was not included in the current year's budget only because the grant had not yet been awarded. The Town did anticipate getting the grant and Auditor's advised to follow the steps of the grant and should it be awarded, to complete a supplemental budget at the end of the year. Funds are available, he said.

As the last item of business under action items, the Council voted to purchase a new tractor from Wickham Tractor Company per the request of Carpenter. He said the Town's current tractor is 44 years old. Carpenter would like to donate the old tractor to the club who uses the arena and purchase a new Kubota tractor.

Carpenter said the down payment for the tractor was included in the 2024 budget and additional lease payments would be included in future budgets until paid in full. The tractor would be purchased from salesman Rick Lockwood with WTC, in Holyoke, who is a former council member and who the Town has also purchased an ATV from in the past. The Town received a 2.35 percent interest rate with four lease payments of $19,811.45 for a total purchase cost of $79,245.80.

In other business the Council:

• Approved health, workers comp and property/casualty insurance quotes for 2025;

• Updated the economic incentive policy to add a two year limit to apply for the incentive once the project is complete;

• Carpenter said FEMA has begun work on a study to identify a flood zone through the Town of Haxtun. Once complete, it could mandate that 67 structures, if backed by a federal mortgage, obtain flood insurance. He said this study is in the initial stages and would need much more in-depth research;

• Chief Bullard said his department recently searched for an individual overnight with the assistance from the Holyoke Police Department due to a complaint of property damage, therefore citizens probably saw a heavy law enforcement presence. He said his department has seen a spike in calls of service. Council member Ryan Horton asked what could be done to help get a third officer hired and Bullard said he thought it was time for the Council to look at salaries.