Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
Contractors chosen, but timing depends on insurance settlement
The low bidders for reroofing buildings owned by the City of Royal will be awarded the projects, but timing of the work depends upon when an insurance settlement is received.
Council members reaffirmed an earlier decision to accept bids from Four B Construction to reroof the community building, and Austin Brown and FoamWorx Insulation to reroof and insulate the maintenance shop. As of Jan. 8, the city has not received the insurance settlement for damage that resulted from a hail and wind storm last May.
Mayor Josh Toft said the contractors should be notified when the insurance settlement is received. According to discussion, council members are hesitant to have the work done, should conditions permit, unless the city has received the settlement funds.
“With city money we need to be more cautious,” Council Member Sara Ricke acknowledged. “It would be nice to at least be on their radar, but I don’t know if we can just pay them out of random accounts and reimburse it later.”
• Grant applications, street projects
The city will be the fiscal sponsor for a grant application to be submitted to Clay County Community Foundation by the Royal Historical Society. The society intends to use the funds to produce a historical project for Royal’s 125th celebration.
The council also discussed the possibility of applying for state transportation funding that would be used for street improvements.
“There are a lot of bad streets in town that need repairs. I think we’ve ignored them long enough,” Toft said.
Options include patching bad spots on several streets or repaving a specific street in the same way that Main Street was repaved last year.
“There will be a humongous difference in cost between them,” Toft noted. “The bad spots need to be identified and marked on a map.”
• Annual appointments, updates
Annual appointments for 2025 are: Jill Hickey, city clerk; Sherman Nielsen, sewer, street and maintenance superintendent; Home State Bank, city depository; Sentinel-News, official newspaper; and Montgomery, Barry, Bovee & Davis, city attorney.
Jeff Van Westen will continue as mayor pro tem and other council members’ areas of responsibility will remain the same.
In response to concerns aired last month, the city is sending a letter to the owner of a residence concerning issues with noise and burning at the property. The Clay County Sheriff’s Office will serve the notice.
Premier Communications indicated it would donate to the city a parcel of land adjoining the historical museum. The council agreed it would be a good idea to obtain the property and will complete the transfer when legal documents are prepared.
Six more ash trees were removed at Memorial Park, leaving 10 still to be removed.
“It’s really going to bare things up around the shelter house,” Nielsen said.
Council members discussed what options were available for replacing trees in town and if the city should suggest what types of trees can be planted. Nielsen will contact Trees Forever for guidance on the matter.
