By Steve Browne
Valley City Times-Record

Valley City got a present at the regular City Commission meeting Monday: free tree trimming service.
After the commission approved the new year's budget and approved all city department reports, Tim Van Hal, owner of Tim's Tree Service, addressed the meeting  during the public forum.
Van Hal said about four years ago he'd done the trimming for the trees along Central Avenue from the library to MarketPlace Foods, and on Main from the Elks Building to about Fourth Street S.E., and now it looked like it needed it again.
Last time, Van Hal did it for cost, about $3,000. This year he offered to donate his services for free, on a spare-time basis.
“When we've got an extra half-hour to an hour in a day we can swing by and do one or two trees,” Van Hal said. “We won't finish them until next year, but we can start now.”
Asked why, Van Hal said, “Valley City's been good to us. We own the Maytag laundry and we've got the tree service here, and Valley City's treated us good. This is kind of a way of giving back a little bit.”
Commissioner Ken Evenson commented, “Last time, they did a really fine job.”
The commissioners were visibly surprised and delighted, and thanked Van Hal. As Mayor Mary Lee Nielson asked if there was a motion to adjourn, City Attorney R. Jon Fitzner diplomatically reminded the commission there hadn't been a motion to accept the offer. A motion was then made, seconded and passed unanimously.