Wix and water

The Riverside Town Council meeting on December 10, 2020 began as all meetings with the minutes and financials being approved quickly. The main topic of discussion for the night was the town’s website, which currently is not as user friendly as the council would like.

Jamie Waugh, creative designer of Bandita Design Co., has experience in web design and was asked to assist in developing a new website. She presented the town council with two options.

According to Waugh, Wix would be the best option for the town. It is easy to use and HTML coding is not a requirement for building the site. Waugh was confident that she could easily teach Jan Cook, Riverside Town Clerk, how to maintain the site.

The other option was Wordpress, Waugh suggested it only if the town were to eventually want to do things like pay water bills online. Since the population of Riverside is small and the site requires some understanding of HTML coding, it would be the more labor intensive option.

The Riverside Town Council directed to Waugh to create a new site for the town on Wix. All the information that is on the current website will be rolled over to the new one.

Next, the bathrooms in the park were discussed. Previously, Mayor Leroy Stephenson had briefly discussed an option of replacing the bathrooms that needs repairs. Stephenson said that he went to look at them with Brad Hebig and said, “You know, its actually a nice little building. I can’t hardly bring myself to knock it down.”

The building would require some work. The electrical would need to be updated and the doors would need to be made wider so that it would be handicap accessible. A few other repairs would also need to be made such as putting on a steel roof and gables, coating the floors with a non-slip rubberized surface, adding handrails and painting.

Sewer was briefly discussed. An engineer will need to be contacted as muskrats have undermined the middle berm in the lagoons.

Lee Ann Stephenson, Sierra Madre Joint Powers Board (SMJPB) Representative, provided an update. A request was submitted to remove the rehabilitation water transmission project from their list and move the water storage improvements to the top of the list. According to Lee Ann Stephenson, one of the water tanks has a leak and is nearing the end of its life. The SMJPB had previously put in a new alarm system, circulator, drain and coated the inside of the tank but there are still issues with it leaking. The SMJPB believes that the tank would need to be replaced within 5 years no matter what further repairs are done. It would be best to replace it sooner rather than later.

The council asked for an update on the 6th penny bonds. Lee Ann Stephson said that there had not been another meeting but would keep the town council updated when she had more information.

The next regular meeting of the Riverside Town Council will be on January 14, 2021 at 6 p.m. at the Riverside Town Hall.