Members of the Superior Council voted Monday evening to add $50,000 to the city’s NC3 investment in an attempt to improve child care services within the community.
The city is one of three investors in the NC3 Childcare organization that is attempting to reopen the closed Lighthouse Daycare Center located in a former church on East Seventh Street. The Superior Schools and Brodstone Healthcare are the other two organizations affiliated in the effort.
The current goal is to have the service open by Aug. 1. The opening will be in stages to allow the employees to adjust and get acquainted with the operation. While the goal is to offer childcare services to the entire community and communities surrounding Superior, a survey of the childcare needs of the three partners found more than enough youngsters to fill the facility.
When the facility opens for a trial period, only youngsters with parents employed by either the schools or hospital will be admitted. It is thought these parents can be more flexible if program adjustments are needed.
It is expected an expanded facility will be needed and the hope is to utilize grant funds to pay for some of the expansion. However grants are not available until after the childcare facility is operating.
With that possibility, the council Monday evening approved contracting with the South Central Development District to prepare a facilities update grant application. If the grant should be awarded, it will require a 20 percent local match.
The present facility has a maximum capacity of 58. Hopefully on opening day the center will have a minimum of 6 employees.
Treg Vyzourek, a member of the NC3 board, told the council, “To grow the community, we must have daycare.”
The request was for $100,000 to be used for operating expenses related to start up but the council approved only $50,000. Once up and running, it is hoped the facility will be self-supporting.
Daycare wasn’t the only business coming to the council with problems or asking for money
Robert Lyons and associates pleaded with the council to revise the days fireworks stands may operate within the community. Currently, Superior only allows a fireworks stand to be open five days which Lyons said was the shortest run of any of the 35 communities he operates stands in. Most allow 10 days, the least number of days of the other communities is 7. He requested Superior allow at least seven days.
He said weather had hurt his Superior sales in recent years by damaging his equipment and further reducing the number of days the stand is open.
Mayor Peterson and the council declined the request to consider a change in the fireworks regulation.
Because construction may be underway in City Park, Harvest Christian Church requested and received permission to close a portion Converse Street east of the church from 5 to 9:30 p.m. on July 18 for the Summer Block Party. The party has previously been held in the park. This year it will be held in the green space across the street from church building. However, it is expected participants will be frequently crossing the street. The requested permission was granted.
The block party will have Big Air Games, face painting and food. Permission was also granted to use six park picnic tables.
It was reported the owners of the never opened Perrie’s Smokehouse had signed a quickclaim deed giving a city agency ownership of the former Pizza Hut property. Permission was granted to begin advertising for a contractor to remove the partially constructed addition, close in and make the building weather-tight and return the electrical panel to the interior of the building.
With the building now owned by the city, it will soon become available for sale and additional development.
A change in the 2024 sewer sliplining project was approved. The sliplining of existing sewers was begun in 2015 and this year the plan was to slipline a sewer main serving Park Street. However an inspection of the National and Park street sewer mains revealed the National Street main is the one most in need of attention. The work is expected to cost about $106,000.
Vicki Perrie, the city’s head librarian, reported the lawn service hired to mow the library lawn was no longer doing the job and she had been unable to find someone with the city required insurance to mow the lawn. She asked, but did not receive permission, for either she or her husband to mow the lawn. Perrie acknowledged her husband did not have insurance for such work but as a city employee she thought she might be able to do the work. She was told the city insurance was for a librarian and not a lawn mower.
Andrew Birittenham, city administrator, said the city would arrange for the temporary mowing of the yard while looking for a more permanent solution.
The council reviewed the annual insurance quote. The total bill was up about $14,000 to $241,385.00. It covers 36 city owned buildings and included in addition to the commercial property, general liability, inland marine, business auto, law enforcement, workers’ compensation, commercial umbrella and linebacker coverage.
Casey Muzic, executive director of Midland Area Agency on Aging, asked for the council to continue contributing $15,200 to the agency to assist with senior services provided in the community. The council agreed to the request.
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