Granby fire chief offers $700 to fix police car

The Granby City Council was momentarily stumped on a budget issue in their meeting on Tuesday night, but Granby Fire Chief Kevin Johnson offered a solution.

The budget decision came up when the council approved $700 for the repair of a police car. The car’s transmission will be repaired by Terry’s Used Cars of Granby; $500 is for replacement of the transmission and $200 for installation.

“You’re not going to get a transmission installed for this price anywhere else,” said Carol Sparnicht, mayor pro-tem.

The decision to repair the car was easy; the hard part was discussing where to get the money to pay for it. After the council discussed options for a few minutes, a member of the audience asked if the general fund had emptied.

“We do have it (the money), we’re just trying to save as much as we can,” Sparnicht responded.

Shortly after this, Johnson offered to give $700 from the fire department’s fund for the police car’s repairs.

“It’s emergency services, so I don’t see where it hurts,” Johnson said.

The fire department will be refunded that money in the next court intake.
In other news from Granby City Council:

• Steve Clark approached the council after concerns were raised over a mobile home/trailer on his property. Council members were unsure if city ordinance prevents Clark from keeping the mobile home on his property.  

Nobody is living in the trailer, and Clark would just like to use it for storage and to turn it into a workshop. Before a resolution to the problem was reached, Clark left the room upset. Sparnicht said his frustration was understandable.

Aldermen voted to table the discussion until the next meeting because they were unsure if the ordinance prevents citizens from possessing a mobile home on their property when nobody lives in it.

“We don’t want to violate his rights by any means,” Sparnicht said;

• Only one person made a bid for construction to streets, the discussion of which was tabled from the last Granby City Council meeting. The name and bid amount were not made public because more bids are requested.  

• A new sanitation truck is looking like it might be more of an expense than a value.

“There’s places on the outside tread…some of them are 8-10 inches long,” said Bill Cooper, alderman. Sparnicht added that the sanitation truck is “burning through tires” every three weeks.

Discussion included comments that if a new, smaller truck is bought, the city will take a loss because of the money they already spent on the big truck. However, if the city constantly keeps purchasing new tires, eventually there will still be a loss.

“The truck is too big for Granby,” Cooper said.

The city will look into finding a new truck.

• The Granby Fire Station has a mold problem. Johnson said he has noticed mold in offices and bathrooms, as well as around an air conditioning unit. There is also mold around a phone jack, and some lights will have to be replaced. Firefighters have been using a dehumidifier to get the moisture out of the air.

• The City Council went into closed session to discuss personnel issues, which resulted in the hire of Philip Whiteman. His employment will be effective Oct. 1, and he will work for the police patrol.

“He’s a new one…he’s just out of the academy,” Sparnicht said. “But he’s a very personable young man.”

• The city is still awaiting CK Construction’s completion of the community building. Sheetrock is needed, as well as a few other repairs.

• A purchase of $526.75 was approved for tires for Maintenance Truck number one, payable to Shotgun Tire.