City Council meeting

Many organizations and government entities are facing a new challenge during this time of shelter in place and social distancing, how to continue to have meetings. For some, weekly or monthly meetings are where business is conducted, important decisions are made, and the maintenance of critical infrastructures is planned. One such meeting is the meeting of the Linden City Council. These monthly meetings, held on the second Monday of the month, are open to the public and are typically held at the Linden Senior Citizens Center. However, this month, the meeting was held via phone.

This month’s meeting saw the approval of a new fire truck and the decision to retire both the fire departments Jeep and their 1987 Chevy fire truck. They will be keeping the iconic yellow fire truck and keeping the equipment from the two retired trucks to put on the new one. They will also be looking into selling the trucks.

Also approved is the eventual hiring of a grant administrator who would be responsible for locating and securing grants for various departments within the city. One such grant will allow for the streets and sidewalks inside the main street district to be redone.

A position change within the Linden Public Library was discussed and approved. This would see the hiring of a second full-time librarian. The ideal candidate will need to have much more than a degree in library science or library experience. They will also need initiative, be able to assess the needs of the community, be tech-savvy, and be able to take the library to the next level with offerings such as a system that will allow the library to request a book or books from other, larger, libraries as they are requested.

City works reported that all water leaks have been fixed and one sewer line has been replaced. There are other lines that do need to be replaced as well, however those have had to be placed on hold due to the rain. The city would also like to welcome two new city workers, Michael Riley and Joseph Swanson. A reminder also, that city hall is closed to walk-ins for the time being.

There were ten medical calls within the city limits and five in the county, three fires within the city and one grass fire, and three vehicle accidents in the city and one in the county. Special standard operating procedures have been added for Covid-19 and first responders are using masks based on the call.