By Chad Koenen

Publisher

The Henning City Council is hoping a grant could provide improvements to several roads that are beginning to show their age near the Industrial Park.

During its regularly scheduled meeting last Monday night, the Henning City Council approved moving forward with a Local Road Improvement Program Funding application for portions of Balmoral Avenue, Marshall Avenue, Railway Avenue, Frederick Lane, Industrial Drive and Willow Creek Drive. The goal would be to repair the roads leading into and including the Industrial Park to assist with an increase of traffic in the area. 

As part of the LRIP program, grant funding up to $1.5 million can be obtained for road projects. In advance of last Monday’s meeting, Bob Schliemann of Apex Engineering put together a road project that would cost in excess of $2.5 million for all of the roads covered in the grant application. However, several city council members expressed a concern over the overall cost of the project and need for the city to come up with just over $1 million to complete the entire project. Instead, the city council expressed support for a project closer to $1.6 million that may not include Industrial Avenue and get the cost of the project closer to the $1.5 million cap in grant funding.

Schliemann will work with the city staff and potentially the finance committee to keep the grant application moving forward with the new parameters set forth by the city council. The deadline to apply for the grant is in December, but completing the application will take some time to get finished.

In other news

• Heard a request from the Haunted House committee to close a portion of 2nd St. and Fergus Ave. during the haunted house from October 17-18, October 24-25 and October 31. 

• Heard the city has received a quote for a pair of Taser 10 for a cost of $10,742.20. If the city were to move forward with a Taser 10 and an Axon Body 4 starter bundle (body camera) would be $21,889.40. Henning Police Chief Mike Helle said he would prefer to go with the basic taser, as opposed to getting the body camera feature that could be added at a later time. 

• Heard the Henning Ambulance Service responded to 33 calls for service over the past month, which brings the total for the year to 308 calls. The ambulance service will also host a meeting for township representatives that are covered by the Henning Ambulance Service on October 20 at 7 p.m. at the Henning Community Center. The meeting will be an opportunity to answer questions and share information about upcoming needs for the local ambulance service.

• Heard that no asbestos was found in a dilapidated house at 405 Front St. The city owns the property located near the city shop and will seek bids to remove the house and trees on the property. 

• Discussed a memorandum from the city attorney that stated the city council can set a schedule and/or timekeeping expectations for its exempt employees, including the police department. During the discussion part of a set schedule for a police chief, councilman Scott Hart said he spoke with other small town police departments that shared the job varies dramatically from one week to the next and trust that the officers are working the best hours possible for the city each week is important. The other cities said the police chief largely sets their own schedule, but turn in clocked hours at the end of the week or month. Council members expressed a desire to have Henning Police Chief Mike Helle work closer to 40 hours per week and if he meets that amount of hours then residents will need to call 911 for emergencies. 

• Heard the personnel committee has narrowed the search for a new deputy/billing clerk to a pair of applicants. The plan was to discuss the position further with both of the finalists last Wednesday. The council granted the personnel committee the authority to extend an offer to its top choice following the second round of interviews.

• Heard the Henning Area Community Association is planning to make improvements to the demo derby area, which would extend the area of the demo derby pit. In order to make the pit bigger the plan would be to remove the cement blocks and replace them in a different location and potentially cut into the berm as well. 

• Heard the new playground equipment at Amundson Park is expected to arrive in Henning on October 31 and could be installed as soon as the first week of November. 

• Approved an application for a turf management grant (local share of $1,000) and a zoning grant (local share of $5,700) for the Henning airport. The city was required to complete a zoning project at the airport.