KVSV

TUESDAY FEB 2 BELOIT CITY COUNCIL

 

Beloit City Council

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

By Terry Bailey

The Beloit City Councilors braved the cold and windy weather on Tuesday evening, February 2 to conduct their bi-weekly business meeting. All seven councilors were present as well as Mayor Tom Naasz, City Attorney Katie Schroeder, and City Clerk Clerk Amanda Lomax. City Administrator Glenn Rodden has departed for a new job in Baldwin City, Kansas.

Mayor Naasz announced that the consultant John Devine contacted him and said he may have a candidate for the interim City Administrator position. This person is recently retired and has a great deal of management experience. The candidate is also from Wichita which Naasz believes may help ease the barrier of Beloit being “too far west.”

The Council went on to thank Amanda Lomax and the office staff for picking up the slack and keeping things operation smoothly.

Councilor Bob Richards said he had received several calls about code infractions. He said he hoped something could be done with two locations.

The first problem was at 121 South Pine. At this location it was reported that semi-tractor trailers were parked partially on the street and partially in the yard of the residence. Additionally, there were several cars parked at various places. Richards reported that the area was quite unsightly.

Richards also reported that 406 East Main was another address where tractor trailers, cars, pickups, motorcycles and various other vehicles were parked on the street and in the yard in such a fashion as to create an unattractive sight.

Code Enforcement Officer Chris Jones said he would check things out to determine what, if any, compliance violations existed. City code allows an individual to possess up to ten vehicles but they must be tagged and in operating condition. Parking in the yards in not permissible.

Councilor Matte Otte extended a Thank You to Lynn Miller and her staff in making it possible for Beloit to host the 13 county Democrat and Republican caucuses on March 5.

The venerable Bob Severance addressed the Council and gave his annual report regarding the Isle of Lights. “Our 17th year,” said Severance, “was a very good year.” Severance said that the display had to be shut down three nights because of rain. “Snow we can work with quite well,” said Severance. “Rain, on the other hand, creates life threatening dangers.”

New displays of note this year were the Michael Harbaugh appreciation display, Jorgenson family large beef cow, Remus family Percheron draft horse, Heart Choices, and a large rose from Brad and Rob Pearson. Severance said the Isle of Lights began with 59 displays in 1999 and has grown to the present total of 240.

Volunteers are the glue that hold things together. Severance wanted to thank very much the city crews and all the help they provide for the Isle of Lights. The Board Members are: Ray Conway, Ruth Bell, Michelle Heidrick, Charles Axtell, Barbara Axtell, Ernie Endsley, Terry Nyberg, Bob Gibbons, Glada Cooper and Bob Severance.

Statistics presented by Severance include: A total of 166 Kansas towns were represented totaling 9,983 people. Visitors from 33 non-Kansas states totaled 732 visitors. 8 non-United States countries provided 23 visitors for a grand total of 10,738 people. The total amount of money donated by the sight-see-ers was $12,497.99 for an average of $1.16 per person.

The Council approved a contract with the Isle of Lights for the 2016-17 Christmas season which will run from October 19, 2016 to January 21, 2017.

The Council unanimously approved Ordinance 2176 adopting the new code book with all revisions. This is the first city code update since 1986.

Resolution 2016-5 for the financing of $16,800 for police radios through Solomon Valley Bank was approved by a 7-0 vote. The interest rate will be at 2.19%.

The bi-annual fee schedule update, contained in Resolution 2016-6, was unanimously approved.

Resolution 2016-7 providing for a GAAP Waiver was approved.

The audit agreement for the accounting firm of Clubine & Rettele in the amount of $8.800 was accepted.

At the last meeting the Councilors deliberated the purchase of a 2016 GMC Sierra 1500 four wheel drive, extended cab pickup for the Water/Wastewater pickup. After discussing the merits of purchasing a new pickup at the last meeting, the Councilors chose to table the discussion.

Jim Bentz once again presented his rationale regarding his need for such a vehicle. He mentioned the need to have an extended cab for the times people from his department travel out of town for trainings. He defended his request for a four wheel drive saying the cost was minimal when the usable life of the vehicle is considered. The Councilors believed the city should have a specific vehicle to be used for all out of town trips instead of using a work pickup. They also believed because the vehicle would be used in town or on the road, a four wheel drive was not necessary.

Bob Richards made a motion to deny the purchase of the pickup. The motion was seconded and by a vote of 4 to 3, the motion passed ending the consideration of the pickup purchase.

The Council adjourned into a ten minute Executive Session to discuss non-elected personnel. At the conclusion of the closed session it was announced no action had been taken.

The regular meeting was adjourned and the Public Building Commission was called to order. Matt Otte, president of the Commission presided over the meeting. The minutes of the last meeting were approved and then the Building Commission meeting was adjourned.

Chris Gutschow of People Service Incorporated of Omaha, Nebraska spoke to the Council regarding their bid for the outsourcing of the Water/Wastewater Department. The Council has solicited bids to privatize the operation of the water system. There is some thought that by outsourcing the water system operation to professional who specialize in such work, significant savings might be realized.

Gutschow highlighted the benefits of contracting with his company do manage the water/wastewater needs of the city. The areas in which People Service would provide service are Operation Personnel, Supplies and Maintenance, Communication, Material and Repair, and Insurance. The total cost for the People Service contract would be $930,000 per year.

The Council will take the details of Gutschow’s proposal into consideration and discuss the benefits and disadvantages of his proposal.

 

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