Lisbon City Council approved scheduling for a public hearing on March 9 discussing a proposed plan of the city’s EMS District.
Prepared by engineering firm Snyder & Associates, the report outlines details of a preliminary plat, or a potential subdivision, dedicated to emergency medical services.
“This is part of keeping that process moving forward for a vote for the EMS district,” said city administrator Brandon Siggins.
An EMS District is a specific localized taxing district created to better fund emergency medical services. This is in response to a growing need of strengthening Mount Vernon-Lisbon’s EMS, a department made up of mainly volunteers tasked with serving the residential and rural areas.
As the weather continues to warm up, the public works crew plans to begin filling potholes downtown. Council member Rawley Alger expressed concern for a segment of sidewalk on Market St. in Lisbon that needed attention, stating that it is a “six-to-seven-inch drop and then it’s rocks.”
The missing segment of the sidewalk is a result of a utility project done by Alliant, so public works director Travis Bagby reached out to Alliant to make sure that the hazard gets taken care of in a timely manner.
In other safety concern news, city fire officials are cautioning residents that grass fire season is underway due to dry conditions. They urged residents to contact the fire department for assistance with controlled burns.
Lisbon residents should expect an upcoming increase in fees for online utility payment. Council members asserted that they don’t receive nor create the charge, but the change from $1.50 to $2.50 is a transaction fee controlled by a third-party vendor.
“What I would suggest is come down and fill out the paperwork for auto pay,” said Siggins. “Then we pull the funds automatically, so you don’t have to worry about that fee.”
Siggins shared several updates, the first one regarding “some sort of power surge or glitch” that occurred on Saturday, Feb. 7. Although the surge was both in Lisbon and Mount Vernon, the impacts were felt primarily by the sewer plant and companies in the area.
As a result, the city turned in an insurance claim for the sewer plant, and Siggins shared that everything is back to running like normal. Regardless of the amount of preparation the city could have done, it was not anything that they could have prevented.
Another sewage issue occurred in Lisbon, in which the sewage at Lisbon City Hall backed up into the men’s restroom. The issue had previously occurred and will likely continue to be a problem periodically in the future, as the system gets plugged “where the old building meets the new building, because there’s two different types of pipe there.” As of Feb. 9, “everything was cleaned out there and back running as it should.”
Director of Parks and Recreation Drayton Kamberling reported that although boys basketball has only a week left, spring soccer is right around the corner with registrations open now.
In Library news, upcoming spring break events include a slime event and a map making event, with more events occurring monthly including a Pocket-Sized Art Club every fourth of the month
“Meredith, our children’s librarian, started a new art club that got 16 kids to show up,” said director Elizabeth Hoover de Galvez. “They decorated a tiny museum that she got in the library, so they’re going to do that every month with a new art piece.”
Alongside the art club, the library plans to begin “working on getting a health, walking, and cooking club started in March,” according to Hoover de Galvez. The club will be done in collaboration with the Cornell College kinesiology department and is going to be reaching out to the Lisbon Parks and Rec department to explore a collaboration there as well.
Residents can find out more about upcoming events on the Lisbon Library website.