Call system will alert customers of water-related issues

Royal residents will soon be informed about emergencies affecting their water service through an alert system operated by the community’s water provider.

City council members learned on March 10 that Iowa Lakes Regional Water has an automated calling system that alerts customers in situations such as service interruptions or boil advisories. Mayor Josh Toft said the call alerts would eliminate the need for the city to physically place notices of water-related service issues on the doors of all 209 residences.

According to discussion, the city’s role would be to compile a list of telephone numbers of residents having water meters. The numbers would be provided to ILRW for entry into their data base. Then whenever a water emergency occurs, ILRW’s system will contact all the numbers to alert residents of the situation.

The city would still have to notify those residents who do not respond, but the number could be significantly reduced.

“If we get 50 percent participation, that would be great,” said Maintenance Superintendent Sherman Nielsen.

The city will include information about the call alert program in the next newsletter. Residents will be asked to provide a telephone number that can be contacted by the ILRW system when necessary. The council hopes for a good response.

“I think you might get more cooperation in this town than you think,” said Council Member Arlene Wimmer.

Council members stressed that water emergency-related telephone contacts would come from Iowa Lakes Regional Water and not the city.

• Doubts about Iowa’s Ride

Attempts to confirm that Iowa’s Ride will pass through Royal this summer have been unsuccessful.

“We’ve had no answer from the organizers, no responses of any kind,” Toft said.

The inaugural bicycle trek across Iowa was scheduled for 2020 but was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Information on the Iowa’s Ride website indicates the 2021 event is scheduled for July 18-24, with Royal being a pass-through community on the July 23 route from Emmetsburg to Sheldon. However, Sheldon recently withdrew as a host community, and Iowa’s Ride acknowledges that communities have expressed concerns about having riders staying overnight due to the ongoing pandemic.

“I don’t know how that’s going to affect us,” Toft said. “If it does happen more power to those who want to make a dollar, but I don’t think as a city we should do much about it.”

Council Member Jeff Van Westen said that if the ride does pass through Royal, the city should participate in some way in order to raise funds for the 125th celebration in 2025.

“We really need to get something going for our 125th,” he said.

Toft suggested the city start earmarking funds in future budgets to help prepare for that celebration.

• Insurance update

An inventory of city-owned property and equipment was completed. Some previously listed items were removed while current values, especially for the shop and its contents, are being increased.

City Clerk Barb Fletcher said she has been reporting all equipment purchases to David Jacobsen, of Spencer Insurance Services.

According to discussion, the city will not insure concession buildings at the football field, and the Clay County Fair intends to take the bleachers and ticket booth.

• Fire station expansion, truck parking

Possible expansion of the emergency services building is being discussed by the fire board. A possibility under consideration is adding one or two stalls onto the west side of the facility.

“Fire trucks have gotten extremely large. Finding a new replacement truck is difficult,” said Council Member Matt Goyette, who is also fire chief. “An addition would be designed to hold two large trucks someday.”

Expansion to the west would impact access to the brush dump. Council members were receptive to the idea of relocating the dump or changing access to it should that be necessary.

“It’s all for the benefit of everybody sitting here. Why would we object?” Wimmer said.

Truck parking was also discussed. The city’s ordinance allows semi tractors to be parked on streets, but trailers cannot be attached. Several locations were mentioned as possible parking areas, but no decision was reached other than to possibly pass on names of owners for operators to contact.

“I don’t know what areas we have to let them park on. I don’t have a solution,” Toft said.

“We tell them they can’t park here, but we don’t tell them where to park,” Goyette responded. “This is something that won’t go away.”

In other business, the council authorized Nielsen to check on prices of water meters and order enough to complete the replacement program. He is also to look into the cost of installing a shutoff valve on a water main that broke last month. A valve would reduce the number of residences and businesses that would be without water in the event of a future break.

The clerk reported that Royal’s application for FEMA funding for a generator at the lift station will be reviewed this summer, and Northwest Iowa Planning and Development will begin updating the city’s code of ordinances next month.