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Beloit City Council Meeting Tuesday August 15th

 

Beloit City Council

 

Tuesday, August 15, 2017

 

By Terry Bailey

 

 

The Beloit City Council met and conferred at City Hall on Tuesday evening, August 17th. All Commissioners were present as well as the Mayor Tom Naasz, City Manager Jason Rabe, City Attorney Katie Schroeder, and City Clerk Amanda Lomax.

 

In the time for opening comments Councilor Kent Miller took time to praise the crews working on the water main project on North Bell Street. He observed the work was very challenging and the crews were doing a good job and moving as fast as possible. Councilor Andrew Grabon noted that the First Impressions program has provided the city with a wealth of information to consider as they look for ways to improve our community.

 

All members of the governing body took time to encourage drivers to use extreme caution in the next week or two as our children are getting back into the swing of things, walking to and from school Accidents can happen in a blink of an eye and have lifelong consequences.

 

In his report Rabe told the Councilors that the East Main street project is coming together nicely. The sidewalk work is moving along and should be completed in the near future.

 

Referring to the Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning situation at the North Campus, Rabe said an audit is being scheduled to totally evaluate the current state of affairs and to determine the best avenue of insuring proper heating and cooling of all he buildings. The current equipment is quite dated and does not function well. The big question is. “Is it best to fix what is there or to remove it and replace it with a modern system?”

 

Rabe mentioned the First Impressions report and provided copies to Counselors who did not have one. This will be a long term and ongoing project.

 

At the September 5th meeting, John Brummer will attend to lay out the options for improving Beloit water, hopefully into the far distant future. According to Rabe, Brummer is ready to get down to the cold hard facts regarding the future of water in Beloit. It appears there will four basic options on how to proceed starting with an expensive option and going up from there.

 

The Council unanimously approved Ordinance 2212 dealing with making the possession of marijuana a Class B misdemeanor. Previously the possession of marijuana carried a designation of a Class A misdemeanor.

 

A Public Hearing was called to order to allow citizens an opportunity to express their ideas on the 2018 State Budget. Nobody appear to speak in favor of or in opposition to the proposed budget. The public hearing was adjourned.

 

In formal actions the Council voted unanimously to approve the 2018 State Budget.

 

A sale of lots at the North Campus was approved to LeSage Designs, Inc. in the amount of $16,000. Penalties will be assessed if work is not started by October 1, 2017. Proof of acceptable work will include the pouring of a pad or basement and framing of exterior walls.

 

Rabe led the Council through a series of photos showing problems with sidewalks of four residences on the north side of the new East Main street work. In four locations the elevation of the property makes it virtually impossible to create a slope that will stay in place when it rains. Rabe suggested that at those four locations a retaining wall be built to hold the earth in place. Ken Benedict gave Rabe a bid for the work that was in the neighborhood of $16,000. After considering the alternatives, the Council voted to accept Benedict’s bid.

 

The business meeting was adjourned and the work session was called to order. The sole topic of consideration was one of the many topics from the First Impressions report. One item suggested by the report was for the City to adopt a catch-phrase or slogan that was unique to Beloit. This could be a phrase or a symbol that might be woven through signs, stationery, labels and so forth. It was noted at one time the phrase “Visions with Values” had been used. The downside of a phrase such as that is it might be appropriate for any city in the state. It would be well to adopt a slogan or phrase that would be unique to Beloit.

 

Councilor Andrew Grabon made a motion that a contest or competition be held to solicit public input into what is viewed as unique to Beloit. The motion passed.

 

 

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Beloit, KS 67420, USA