Apartments soon will be condos

By Brenda WinterSouthern Hills Apartments will soon be known as Southern Hills Condominium, according to the city's plan for the four city-owned rental units.Attorney Damon Eisma told Hills EDA members at their Tuesday meeting the first step in selling Southern Hills Apartments is to turn the property into a condominium. Because condominiums are made of private property as well as common property among neighbors, they have unique legal requirements. Eisma said, "There are a lot of hoops to jump through," but the preliminary legal work is intended to clear the way for the sale of the apartments.Current tenants will have the first opportunity to purchase the unit in which they live. Councilman and realtor Keith Elbers is handling the sale of the units for the city. He said one tenant is interested in purchasing a unit and he's had inquiries about some of the other units.In other business the City Council:
Voted to rent the American Legion maintenance room to Bud Hoogeveen for $60 a month for his barbershop. Hoogeveen was displaced when the city sold the depot building that housed his business. Pending Hoogeveen's approval of the deal, the city will install appropriate plumbing and a hot water heater.
Heard a report from surveyor Steve Kor regarding property lines near the city's ball diamonds. Kor said because there are so few markers in the city, it is difficult to locate property lines. "It was surveyed in the 1800s or not at all," Kor said. He said it appears the city "bought about 30 feet of land, twice," but because of the survey it gained about 30 feet of land on the other side of the parcel. Because the oversight constitutes no financial gain or loss to the city or anyone else, no action will be taken.
Set the following appointments for 2004. Mayor pro tem, Arlen Leenderts; Official Newspaper, Hills Crescent; Civil Defense Director, Doug Chapman; Weed Inspector, Dave Leenderts; Official Bank, Hills State Bank; Health Officer, Dr. Diane Kennedy; City Attorney, Doug Eisma; EDA president, Dana Dahlquist; EDA vice-president, Arlen Leenderts; EDA treasurer, Joanne Goehle; and EDA secretary, Connie Wiertzema.
Established the 2004 city equipment rental policy. Rent for city equipment is $40 per hour, with the minimum rental charge being one hour.Equipment rentals must be run by a city employee, charged at one and one-half times the employee's hourly wage. All requests for equipment rentals are to be determined by the city employee, who has the right to reject and refuse any and all rentals.
Set the 2004 mileage reimbursement rate at 37.5 cents per mile, following the IRS guidelines.
Directed City maintenance man Wayne Ward to take no immediate action regarding a dog-at-large concern between two neighbors. Mayor Jim Jellema said, "It's a whole lot easier for neighbors to talk to each other before they go to the next step (of involving the City). By calling in someone else, you just make the issue a lot bigger."
Directed City clerk Connie Wiertzema to send a letter to an individual requesting that two deer carcasses be removed from the individual's front porch.