At their regular meeting on Monday, May 17, the Riverside City Council passed a resolution to approve the city’s budget amendment and held the first reading of an ordinance to enact changes to the Riverside Code of Ordinances, following public hearings in which there were no comments.

The changes to the Riverside Code of Ordinances include amendments to Chapter 106 regarding solid waste collection fees; Chapter 136 regarding removal of snow, ice and accumulations; Chapter 155 regarding the adoption of international building code; Chapter 156 regarding the adoption of international residential code; Chapter 157 regarding the adoption of uniform plumbing code; Chapter 158 regarding adoption of national electrical code and Chapter 159 regarding adoption of international fire code.

City Administrator Christine Yancey said the changes were “basically wording changes,” therefore the council had the option to waive the second and third readings of the Ordinance.

“All of these have been reviewed by the city attorney and it’s just bringing all of our code sections up to the code year that they need to be,” Yancey said.

The motion to adopt the code changes and waive the second and third readings of the ordinance was made by councilperson Jenelle Bender and seconded by Edgar McGuire. The motion passed 5-0.

The budget amendment, which shows an increased revenue of $373,700 and increased expenses of $690,200, was also approved by the council in a unanimous vote.

In other business, the council heard updates from wastewater operator Bill Stukey regarding a broken aspirator pump, which would cost about $6,000 to repair or $9,000 to $14,000 to replace with a new model, depending on the model chosen. After discussion, the council asked Stukey for more information before making a final decision.

The council heard the Washington County Sheriff Report, which showed 48 calls last month, compared to nine calls in April 2020 and an average of about 20 calls in previous years.

The council also began a discussion regarding moving the polling location to the Fire Station starting in 2022. The current polling place, in City Hall, is very crowded during large elections, city staff said.

County Auditor Dan Widmer attended the meeting to view the potential space and listen to the discussion. He said the large, open room in the Fire Station would be an ideal place to hold polling for future elections. A final decision will be made at a later date.