Construction has not yet started but progress continues to be made on the Montana Meadows development in northeastern Superior.

Monday evening members of the Superior Community Development Agency met in special session at 7 p.m. before the regular city council meeting called for 7:30. At the special meeting they approved a memorandum of understanding between the development agency, the City of Superior and the Montana Meadows developer. The document sets forth what each of the signers will be responsible for doing. The housing development is located on the east side of Montana Street between 15th Street and the prior condominium development.

The city will need to extend street paving and a sewer main. Electrical, water and natural gas service is available for the area being developed.

In an unrelated zoning matter the council approved a rezoning of the Brodstone Memorial Hospital campus. The nearly eight-acre plot had been zoned both medium density and high density residential. This was changed to a planned unit development. It was thought the change would simplify the approval process for future developments should one be proposed.

A big chunk of the meeting was devoted to discussing what has been classified as a nuisance property at 604 East Fifth Street since 2017,

The property was in line for demolition but it has since been sold and the new owners given until the end of June to bring the property into compliance.

The owners met with the council Monday evening and requested an occupancy permit be issued.

They explained they needed a place to live as their current place of residence had been rented to another person. Their plan is to stay in the house while renovations were underway.

The property’s electrical service had been brought up to meet current city code. A plumber had inspected the water system and it is thought to be in working order, However city officials have inspected the property and said the natural gas system and appliance venting did not meet code and thus additional utility service and occupancy had been denied.

The owners indicated they had purchased insulation and heat tapes to protect the water system from the cold snap expected this weekend. They pledged to continue working on the property and expected to have deficiencies corrected before the June 30 deadline.

Though installation of a new roof was not complete, they said the roof was not leaking.

While not allowing the requested utilities to be connected immediately, the council did direct that after an inspection by the utility manager, city planner and representative of the health board found the house met the minimum standards for occupancy, the requested utilities could be turned on.

An application from Benjamin Furman to join the Superior Volunteer Fire Department was approved,

It was reported Donald Moore had met the requirements to be classed as a water system operator 1 and that Joe McCormick, a city policeman, had successfully completed his probation period.

Andrew Brittenham, city utility manager, reported because of rapidly rising natural gas prices, the city’s gas procurement plan had been changed. Normally at this time of the year the city withdraws gas it has stored in Oklahoma and replenishes the reserve during the summer when gas prices are lower. However, with the prices currently rising, sufficient gas was purchased to meet the projected demand in March and April. It is hoped prices will ease and the gas being withdrawn now can be replenished at a lower cost later in the year.

Some modifications to the water conservation and drought contingency plan were approved with the adoption of Ordinance 51.65. The changes involve how notifications are issued in times of emergency.