Pending matters in Homer will have to wait another month as the city council was unable to take action during Tuesday’s meeting because of the lack of a quorum. The council members did choose to go ahead and hear from two speakers present at the meeting.
Doug Andrews of the state’s forestry commission spoke on the tree city ordinance. Andrews told the council that the city would have to set aside a day for a proclamation to celebrate Arbor Day and that the forestry commission could help the city find ways to get trees for residents to set out.
Andrews also provided examples of current tree city ordinances from other towns as well as a pamphlet of native trees to the area so that the city could include or limit certain types or species of trees in the ordinance.
The council also heard from Kirk Wimber of Orenco Systmes Inc. on “an affordable sewer system” that integrates a de-centralized system instead of the more common centralized system that is present in large cities.
According to Wimber, the system is highly modular and can add on sections easily. The main difference is that in the de-centralized system, instead of the waste being pumped through large pipes to a treatment center, each property would have a septic system with a pump that removes the clear effluent through normal sized PVC pipe installed by a trencher in the right-of-way.
Mayor Doug Cheek thanked Wimber for the information and said that the city would hold onto the literature until the economy picked back up.
Matters that will be moved over to the next council meeting from Tuesday’s agenda include the 2009-10 budget, further information on the city voting district and the sign at Mama’s This and That.
