The City of Henderson’s March City Council Meeting
The City of Henderson held its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, March 12, at the City Hall and was called to order by Mayor Corbin Tessman at 7 p.m. There were twelve items on the agenda, but item number six, concerning the discussion of feral cats and solutions, took up most of the meeting.
Council members present were Kevin J. Friesen, Brian Hiebner, Mitch Huxoll, and Teri Pollet. Mayor Corbin Tessman and City Clerk Connie Brown were also in attendance.
Shannon Goltz from Aurora presented information to the council about the TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return) program she operates in Aurora. She presented a detailed packet explaining how the program works and explaining the importance of trapping and neutering or spaying feral cats rather than euthanizing them.
She stressed the humane and effective way to control free-roaming feral cats (untouched by humans or wild) or community cats (tame ones that are lost or abandoned) by first trapping them, then transferring them to a carrier and transporting them to a vet for treatment. After being neutered and vaccinated, the cat is marked with a clipped ear tip. If it’s not a feral cat, it may be placed in an adoptive home or pet shelter; otherwise, it may be released.
According to Goltz, just removing or killing cats is ineffective because it’s proven that a vacuum effect is created in which another colony of cats will move into areas where the eliminated colony of cats had occupied as their territory.
She presented a chart showing that a cat could have as many as 180 kittens in a lifetime and how, when breeding is left unchecked, it can cause environmental and property damage. “In Aurora, the city has an ordinance limiting the number of cats an owner has to six and the number of dogs to four,” she said.
Goltz’s recommendations to the council were first to pass an ordinance limiting the number of cats and then communicate and educate those harboring and feeding excessive numbers of cats. She would be willing to help train and assist someone in Henderson who wants to implement her program, but she can’t do it herself.
“You would need money for the neutering, traps, pet carriers, and vet costs. I’m willing to share my expertise and can direct you to grants to help with the cost,” said Goltz.
According to Brown, Henderson does not currently have an ordinance limiting the number of cats an individual can have but has been working with their attorney to create one. The council asked about the possibility of other wildlife, like possums and raccoons, entering the traps.
“I usually do my trapping from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. and never leave a trap unattended. If other animals enter the trap, I have ways of getting them out, but I do quite a bit of investigating before placing a trap and pretty much know where the cats I’m trapping will most likely be,” said Goltz.
The council thanked Goltz for her presentation, but no action was taken. Two building permits were presented: LaRoy Hiebner for fencing at the duplex on Cedar Street and Burton Peters for an egress window.
Brown presented two estimates for overlay and milling Oak Street from 10th to North Main, including two intersections. One was for $358,000, and the other was for $294,000. The City had only budgeted $135,000 for this project. “I have a problem spending this amount of money if our long-range goals are to redo it completely, so I’d rather wait and do it right later,” said Brian Hiebner. After discussion, it was decided they would only look at doing necessary repairs utilizing Patchmaster and Friesen Construction, and Brown was instructed to get estimates.
The council discussed the language in a snow emergency route notice being created and will continue to review the notice before a public hearing is held.
Clerk Brown presented Jane Jost’s request that the City provide traffic signs for horse crossings between the two facilities used by Grace Children’s Home for its equine therapy program on Walnut Street. “I’m not sure we need to provide permanent signage for something on private property,” said Mayor Tessman.
“Signage for school crossings is something different, but we could open up a can of worms if we start putting up traffic signs for other reasons. I believe what they are doing is valuable, but I think there is ample room on their properties for them to put visible signs up themselves at their cost,” he said.
The council agreed not to provide them with permanent signage and instructed Brown to relay this message to Jost and contact Perennial about permission needed to post on an electric pole.
Chief of Police John Prusia reported to the council that he had contacted about ten households with copies of the ordinance for removing unlicensed and inoperable vehicles on the street.
Councilman Kevin Friesen reported on the breakdown of the City’s tar machine and what should be done since it keeps breaking down. Mayor Tessman suggested putting it on the agenda for next month and having Clerk Brown look into getting a demo machine to try out.
Teri Pollett reported on the progress of the recreation department’s summer ball program and its shortage of coaches for the 9 & under girls team. “I’d like to propose requiring a background check for coaches. We had a convicted felon apply to be a coach, and we turned him down,” she said. She also reported on the plans for the upcoming annual Easter Egg Hunt, scheduled for Saturday, March 30, at Lakeview Park.
Mayor Tessman reported on the issues with the City’s well #2, which is pumping sand and not currently operating. “We will have it pulled at a cost of about $5,000. We had trouble with this one in 2016, so we need to do some investigating about what’s going on,” he said.
He also reported that well #3 has been shutting off due to cattle nearby rubbing on the panels. Perennial was contacted, and the panel was raised, so it is out of the way, solving the problem. Also, he said new manholes will need to be installed at the lagoon since they are rotting and disintegrating.
Clerk Brown provided an update on the spec house the City is building. “The basement and garage floors were poured this week, and the plumbing is roughed in, so framing should begin soon,” she said.
She also reported on the recent Planning Commission workshop on the new subdivision. “It went really well, with discussions about various housing options, traffic flow, and roads. Their next meeting is April 11,” said Brown.
Ramifications of the proposed EPIC tax proposal were brought up by Mayor Tessman, who recently attended a conference where they were educated about how this may affect city revenues. He said the Henderson Chamber of Commerce will hold an informational meeting about this topic at their noon meeting on Monday, March 25.
He also shared with the council what he learned about the benefits for the City of registering its domain name under .gov, which will prevent cyber security issues and spam.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:06 p.m.
