City hires new mechanic, authorizes fund transfers

by Bill Knowles
WALSENBURG- The City of Walsenburg hired James Ecke as the new mechanic, and he was already receiving praise from the city council and city administration during the regular city council meeting last Tuesday.
“He is able to multitask very efficiently,” acting City Administrator Beth Neece said. “He is able to work on several pieces of city property while diagnosing others.”
The city has been without a mechanic for several months and had been farming its work out to a local area mechanic, which has presented problems for the city. “We are competing with scheduled customers and sometimes we have to wait.” Neece said in October. At one point the city was down to four serviceable police vehicles.
The city council also passed two ordinances during the Tuesday evening meeting.
The first ordinance was passed by an 8-0 vote after the second reading. Ordinance 1005 sets up an administrative fee for billings when multiple statements are requested for a particular property that is served by municipal utilities. For example, the ordinance will affect properties where a utility bill statement is sent to both the landlord and the person renting the property.
Ordinance 1006 was passed on the first reading. This ordinance allows for fund transfers from several city funds to the city’s general fund. However the ordinance calls for the city council to ratify and approve the transfers before they can be effected.
In other news, the city council officially approved its sponsorship of the annual “Parade of Lights.” The city already carries insurance for the event and the parade is the only event that the city officially sponsors.
Organizer for this year’s event is Brian Orr, co-owner and co-publisher of the Huerfano World Journal. “The theme for this year’s event is ‘All I want for Christmas is …’ and then fill in the blank,” Orr said.