TUESDAY OCTOBER 20TH BELOIT CITY COUNCIL MEETING

Beloit City Council

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

By Terry Bailey

The Beloit City Council conducted their bi-weekly business meeting on Tuesday evening, October 20 to oversee the affairs of the city. All members were present. The seat vacated by the resignation of Charlene Abel months ago still remains vacant. Also in attendance were City Administrator Glenn Rodden, City Attorney Katie Schroeder, and City Clerk Amanda Lomax.

In the time reserved for Councilor comments Bob Peterson announced he had attended the history presentation at Elmwood Cemetery by Jim Bell. Peterson said it was very interesting and that Bell had done a great job with his performance.

City Attorney Katie Schroeder displayed the newly updated City Code book. She has recently received the copy from the vendor who had done the work and is in the process of reviewing the document to make sure there are no errors or misstatements. Schroeder said her work should be complete and the newly revised code book will be available and ready for viewing on-line by the end of November.

City Administrator Rodden told the Council that he had checked into security camera cost for use in Westside Park because of the vandalism problems there. He said a direct feed camera of suitable quality would cost in the neigh hood of $4,000. He felt this cost was excessive and that a Neighborhood Watch type of program might serve the purpose at a much reduced cost. Councilor Bob Peterson responded that the cost of all the damage done at the park might be more than the cost of a security camera to help catch those responsible for the damage.

Rodden reported on progress on repairing the railroad crossing on Highway 14 near the Coop elevator. It appears that all parties contacted believe it is somebody else’s problem and thus, nothing is getting done to solve the problem.

Raymond “Butch” Pontow addressed the Council regarding three structures in his neighborhood within seventy-five yards of his house. He said they are a blight and are sapping the energy from the neighborhood. He said they are bad and are getting worse because they are not maintained. He asked what the city could do to resolve the situation.

Mayor Tom Naasz told Pontow that he would check with City staff and would get back to him. Naasz indicated Code Enforcement Officer Chris Jones would need to examine the structures and evaluate their condition.

A fifteen minute executive session was held to discuss attorney-client privileged information. No action was taken as a result of that closed session.

By a 7-0 vote the Council approved Ordinance 2172 levying assessment for North Campus additions. The property owners have requested that the costs be paid in 10 equal yearly installments with a 6% interest fee. The total cost of the assessment is $379,047.

By a 7-0 vote the Council approved Ordinance 2173 levying assessment for Silver Fox Estates, Cooper’s Second addition, and the subdivision of the North Campus addition. The property owners have requested that the costs be paid in 10 equal yearly installments with a 6% interest fee. The total cost of the assessment is $395,025

The Council approved the agreement with KDOT for the Safe Routes to Schools sidewalk project. The project will not exceed $250,000. The routes have already been tentatively identified by the AWARE program and Schwab-Eaton has completed much of the preliminary work. Mayor Tom Naasz commented that there are concerns about the route causing problems for some homeowners. He believes there will be public hearings to discuss the issues.

At the last Council meeting a request to extend the completion date for the downtown Community Block Grant work was not approved. The question was revisited and in a 4-3 vote, the request for the extension was approved. Casting votes against the extension were: Tony Gengler, Bob Peterson, and Lloyd Littrell. Voting for the extension were: Matt Otte, Bob Richards, Kent Miller, and Rick Brown.

Having addressed all the items on the agenda the meeting was adjourned.

The work session was called to order at this point.

The yearly pool report was reviewed. Expenses for the season totaled $95,562. Revenue for the season was $74,666. Total attendance for all ages and all program was 14,157.

Stuart Porter, Schwab-Eaton engineer, addressed the Council regarding the East Main Street project. He said, “I am here to let you know where we are at and to answer any questions you might have regarding the East Main Street project.”

Porter said he had several questions to ask of the Council regarding the project so he could finalize the details.

His first question was – “Do we want to build sidewalks from the west end of the project all the way to Casey’s on the east end?” Porter said that changes in the original plans to the current plans would allow for sidewalks for the entire length of the project for $5,000. After discussion of the merits of a sidewalk along the north side of the new street the Council directed Porter to add the sidewalk to the plans.

Porter asked the Council about how they wanted to handle cement driveways for homeowners. Did they want to construct driveways only five feet from the back of the curb or did they want to construct cement driveways to connect with the homeowners driveways. Because would be a limited number of driveways in the project the Council directed Porter to plan for the city’s work to connect with the homeowner’s driveway.

The timing of the project was also discussed. The K-14 project will start this spring and run into the summer. Porter felt it would be unwise to have two major projects affecting the major entrances to the City going on at the same time. The Council agreed and requested that this situation be addressed in the bidding process.

Porter asked, “Should a specific detour route be identified or should drivers be allowed to find their own alternate route around the closed road. The Council discussed the merits of both methods and did not reach a firm decision at this time.

Porter’s final question was, “Should the East Main project be viewed as a two part undertaking or should it be one big endeavor?” There were benefits and disadvantages to both methods. It was finally decided to undertake the work as one big project which would give the contractors more flexibility in their work. There will inconvenience but the final product should be worth it.

The work session was adjourned.

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Beloit, KS 67420, USA