More notes from City Council meeting

In other business Monday night, the Decorah City Council:

• Approved the first reading of an ordinance to establish a Communications Utility Board that would study the issue of whether to establish a fiber optic cable network to deliver Internet access and other services.
• Approved a three-year contract with the city's AFSME union members.  The contract requires city employees to pay a small share of the cost of the self-insurance fund the city establishes so it can buy health insurance with a larger deductible, then pay out of its fund the costs that would have been covered with a lower deductible.
• Heard that the city's Yard Waste Site will open for the season on Saturday, April 2nd--although the site might be open, though unattended, before then, depending upon the weather.
• Heard the Decorah Police Department has received a $5,000 grant from the Winneshiek County Community Foundation to help pay for a computer unit inside a city police squad car.