Opinion 

Reflections for the Week of October 30-November 3

Posted By: Seth Sorensen, Alliance City Manager 245 Views

Chamber:

  • Wonderful Trunk or Treat event on Tuesday for Halloween. Thanks for everyone participating and thank you to all the families that came down to enjoy!

  • BID committee continues to work to prepare for the impending snow season.

  • The Chamber is gearing up for the “Home for the Holidays” Christmas parade, set to take place on Tuesday November the 28th. Float entries are available now!

  • Multiple events taking place throughout November. Please check social media, the City Kiosk and community boards for more info.

  • We are currently looking for Santa(s) to help with the mini-park Santa House for later this month! The Reindeer will be coming back, thanks to Viaero Wireless.

  • Some buildings have vacancies downtown and are being listed. Tell your entrepreneur friends.

Fire:

  • Staff participated in a PFAS (Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances) webinar hosted by the IAFC-VCOS Division.

  • Attended the Pine Ridge Mutual Aid Association Meeting in Ardmore, South Dakota.

Finance:

  • Attended Strategic Planning workshop. Attended Tax Webinar. Attended CRA committee meeting. Attended Annual PSN review.

  • Completed payroll; submitted claims and items for November 7th Council meeting.

  • Completed Annual Occupation Tax report.

  • Completed two service tickets for Paylocity.

  • Completed month-end tasks for October

  • Completed Purchase Card review

Utility Billing:

  • Set up 9 new accounts

  • Posted all payments received via PSN, Mail, and drop off

  • Posted News release in Lobby regarding LIHWAP program fund expended

  • Managed LIHEAP inquiries from DHHS

  • Managed usage history requests

Electric:

  • Changed out 5 “reject” poles

  • Trenched in primary lines for new service at Westco fertilizer plant

  • Assisted street department by digging holes for cross walk lights

  • Assisted Golf Course with trouble shooting irrigation system

  • Assisted NPPD with installation of new meters in two substations

  • Opened and evaluated sealed bids for solar field transformer purchase

  • Repaired or replaced several streetlights

Airport:

  • Work on MALSR continues. FAA is working on getting an inspector assigned who can then work with a contracted company to do inspections until a more permanent solution can be found.

  • Interviews for vacancy were conducted on Wednesday morning.

  • Airport staff welcome Bob Neville to the airport for temporary help during the winter. The extra set of hands during snow events is needed and greatly appreciated. Training was conducted with more to follow next week.

  • Working on a presentation and tour for FBLA club next week

  • New fuel hoses installed on airport fuel tanks

  • Snow removal and equipment cleaning after storm event on Saturday

  • Maintenance participated in monthly ARFF training

  • Tumbleweed removal from airfield fence

Landfill:

  • 150 Customers this week

  • 268 tons of refuse this week

Transit:

  • 711 riders this week

Streets:

  • Wheel loader training with new employees

  • Sweeper training

  • Street sweeping, Drain cleaning

  • CDL testing

  • Placed barricades for trunk or treat

  • Continued work on crosswalk light installation

  • Installed new handicap parking sign 12th and Toluca

  • Placed and picked up barricades for police closure on Kansas St.

Water/Sewer:

  • Pumping out hydrants in preparation for cold weather

  • Shut off water for boring company multiple times for leaks and damage.

  • Completed 20 locates; 30 utility office work orders Installed new heaters at Burnham well

  • Filling Elkhorn water tower in preparation for compliance testing

  • Tower company almost complete with Elkhorn tower painting and mixer installation

  • Took broken 6” plumbing apart at Elkhorn well and replaced

  • Installed new check valve and backflow device on bulk water station.

  • Located curb stop for North park Estates

  • Washed Vactor Truck

  • Located curb stop and inspected new sewer service at 1229 Yellowstone

RSVP & Senior Center:

  • The Center served 1,331 meals this week.

  • The Senior Center participated in the Trunk or Treat event

  • Hosted a bingo event for seniors in the community. Prizes for the event were donated by the Midwest Deadhead Guardian Belles.

  • Fifteen volunteers assisted with activities in the community during this week.

  • Started the “Feed a Hungry Senior” raffle event.

Museum:

  • The facility was rented for a birthday party and a baby shower this last weekend.

  • The final sign from Cover-Jones went up and is a great addition to our collection. It joins “Redman’s”, Wade Ellis Law Office, J R Perrin Architect, The Drake “Café”, Alliance Animal Clinic and the Potato Association signs that were hung last week. Come and check them out. Pat McCawley, Jake McCaffery, Jace Bauer and Josh Merrill did a fantastic job with this project. Good job guys!

  • Christmas Festival prep is in full swing with patrons stopping in to pick up items to work on. Our Christmas workshop is set up in the basement and you can pick out great stuff. This is our only fundraiser and we always appreciate any help that we can get. Call 762-2384 with any questions.  The Memorial trees will be placed next week so you may bring ornaments in for loved ones at any time.

  • The November Scrapbook group meets this coming weekend and then will not meet again until January. If you would like to learn to preserve your treasured memories, come and check the group out.

  • The Knight Museum & Sandhills Center is the featured home in the KCOW podcast “The Case of the Knight Museum Ghost”. Thanks to Jason Wentworth for making us famous in podcast land! With a cast of 13, sound effects and music this is definitely one for the books. Are there Oscars for podcasts? Asking for a friend… Listen on KCOW for a real Halloween treat.

Golf:

  • Golf course staff worked diligently to complete repairs on the irrigation pump house in an effort to winterize irrigation for the season. Thank you to the Electric Department for their assistance with this project!

  • Not much golf this week due to the extremely cold temperatures.

  • Staff is getting items in the shop ready for Christmas shopping.

Parks:

  • Completed some maintenance on the trails and Laing Lake and spread gravel new gravel to improve the surfacing.

  • Assisted with hanging signs and hauling Christmas decorations into the museum.

  • Removed and replaced a broken component on the playground equipment at Laing Lake.

  • Assisted the golf course with irrigation blowout.

  • Started harassing geese in an effort to keep the winter population low.

  • Continued picking up leaves in various areas.

  • Winterized and stored the spray equipment.

  • Worked on irrigation at the tennis courts to facilitate construction of the sidewalks and drainage.

  • Finished painting the dugout shelters at the softball complex.

Library:

  • Halloween is over and it is now time to move on to the holiday season! The basket auction is right around the corner beginning November 13! The trees will be going up soon, and it will begin to look a lot like Christmas at the library!

  • Technical Services Librarian Emily Nelson helped prepare the monthly statistics for the October Director’s Report. She assisted patrons, processed Inter-library loans, made the weekly Bookmobile deliveries, and assisted with preparing bidding sheets for the upcoming Basket Auction.

  • Adult Services Librarian Nalani Stewart planned future programming and hosted the Fiber Arts club. She also held book club at Highland Park Care Center, and prepared the stats for the monthly Director’s report. She pulled the older books from the new fiction and non-fiction shelves, and created a new display in honor of Veteran’s Day.

  • Children’s Librarian Cynthia Horn held a Spooktacular Story Time with guest readers Alex Benzegala of Eagle Radio and Granny B featuring a Halloween Safety and Costume Parade! The search for Gertie the Ghost wrapped up with Halloween and now it’s Butterball Turkey’s turn. For National Computer Month, we hosted Robot Basics with Melissa Mracek, 4-H Extension Educator, which featured an excellent interactive STEAM event. Cynthia also organized the book mobile, compiled October stats, and updated the social media pages with a new Wiggleworm on the website featuring Gobble Up Books of 2023.

  • Library Page Pam Becker is busy helping with items for the bookstore, processing new materials, and assisting with the Native American Heritage month display.

BBDC:

  • Continue to prep for BBDC Annual Meeting November 17th @9am – BBDC Office.

  • We still have clients looking for office space, please call the office if you have any leads, 308.762.1800.