By Rich Palzewic
Staff Writer
SEYMOUR – The City of Seymour received some good news at its Monday, Nov. 9, city council meeting.
Because of favorable interest rates, the city will save about $30,000 in interest from original projections on a 20-year loan.
The $1.24 million loan, to be used for several projects within the city, will see a 2.23 percent interest rate.
“This is great news for the city,” said Mayor Ryan Kraft. “From our estimated 2.35 percent interest rate at the October council meeting, this is very favorable.”
The city will receive the funds Dec. 2.
Of the total, $1,035,000 will be used for street improvement projects, while $205,000 will be set aside for parks and public grounds projects.
Election update
Kraft said the Nov. 3 election in the city went off without a hitch.
“I commend the clerk (Lori Thiel) and alderpersons (Ryan) Kinney and (Roger) Behnke for their help on Election Day,” he said. “Things went very well. It was nice out, so people could stand outside and wait. There were 1,937 ballots cast in this polling center for the city. Of those, 1,254 were absentee ballots for individuals voting early or who dropped them off. The ballots cast represented about 76 percent of our eligible voters – that’s phenomenal. Everyone seemed comfortable with the safety precautions implemented. This was a stressful election.”
Salaries approved
Several salaries were approved for 2021.
A $10,000 salary was approved for Kraft.
The six alderpersons – Kinney, Behnke, Cody VanderHeiden, Steve Hurkman, Alex Tetzlaff and Pat Krull – will receive $2,800 per year.
A salary of $60,243 was approved for the city clerk-treasurer.
In addition to the regular salaries, the mayor, council members and city clerk-treasurer will receive $30 for each special meeting attended beyond regular meetings of the council.
Other notable salaries include $71,400 for the police chief and $95,977 for the director of public works/wastewater.