Cresco utility bills now in envelope not postcard

CRESCO - For many years, residents and businesses received their utility bills by postcard. Although it is a little more expensive for postage and supplies, the City of Cresco has decided to mail statements in envelopes. 

This helps keep the bills private. It will also cut down on the number of statements that get lost in the mail.

City Clerk Michelle Girolamo also reported to Council at the Feb. 1 regular meeting that representatives of the City will be attending an open house in Oelwein for a home, which Iowa Prison Industries built.

• Public Works Director Nate Widell noted there were two water main breaks on consecutive Fridays in January, one at 8th Ave. W and Division St. and the other at 3rd St. SW and 6th Ave. W.

In addition, the tree dump was burned and would probably smolder for a few weeks.

Windstream was boring fiber optics in town.

• The police department got a new truck and were driving it around. It arrived the end of January.

• Jan Carman reported the Chamber’s Jingle in Your Pocket campaign was very successful with 5,000 of the 7,000 tickets turned in. The auction in November raised $8,285 for the Borlaug Heritage Foundation.

• Amy Bouska gave a report on a Regional (Allamakee, Clayton, Fayette, Howard and Winneshiek) Housing Authority (RHA) Board meeting. The group discussed the RHA’s port-out status.

Later, she explained, “This is perfectly legal, I just want to make that clear. It is part of the federal Section 8 rental assistance program.”

The program gives vouchers to individuals who need help with rent. What sometimes happens is someone will come from another city with higher Section 8 rent, such as Minneapolis or Chicago, which is likely to be much higher than regional costs.

The way the program works is the local RHA will approve a voucher. The renters stay for the required time period, at which time they may stay, or they may move back to the bigger city. The local RHA will then have to cover the cost of the voucher in the other city. That same cost would help more than one family in the local RHA.

As of Jan. 26, the number of port-outs was 15. The number of port-outs was in the single digits for a while, but has grown lately, and Bouska has seen it go over 15. 

Vounchers and port-outs are just two of the things the RHA board keeps track of throughout the year.

• Council authorized Solutions, Inc., which provides computer support and network security for the City of Cresco, to set up the Administrative Assistant/Theatre Manager and Public Works Director to have remote access to the computer system.

• Cresco Mart was approved for a Class E Liquor License.

• Council approved Ordinance 488, which changed the regular meeting times from 7 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., on the first and third Mondays of the month.

• Bouska requested individuals to spread the word that if you signed up to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, the hospital will be calling. It is not a scam.

Two police officers and three fire officers had received the vaccine.

The next council meeting was Feb. 15.