Beloit City Council
Tuesday, June 19, 2018
All Councilors were present for the Beloit City Council meeting on Tuesday evening, June 19th. Also in attendance were the Mayor, the City Manager, Attorney, and City Clerk.
In the time allocated to the Councilors for comments several had comments.
Councilor Andrew Grabon observed that two people had contacted him thanking the Council for revising the length of the new speed limit on the curve and north toward the high school.
Kent Miller said some constituents had inquired of him if the City had demolition plans for a house that was in bad shape near 4th and Mill.
Mayor Tom Naasz commented he had noticed a good turnout at the Chautauqua swimming pool and a large number of visitors to the Chautauqua Park. The entire Council expressed the opinion that having children swimming in the pool and playing in the park was a good thing and should be encouraged.
The City Manager used Power point slides to display the state of sales tax receipt for the City. In April of 2017, $113,426 was collected by the City in sales tax. In 2018, $89,916 was collected. It was noted that monthly sales tax collections vary considerably from month to month and year to year. As we all know, sales tax reflects consumer spending and economic outlook.
In 2017 the City collected a total of $1,319,315 in sales tax. At this point, about halfway through the year the total collected is $510,592.
The Safe Routes to School project continues to move toward the opening of the actual construction work. Work is still being completed on locating water and gas lines and making plans for their safety when the digging starts. Tentative plans is for the construction work to begin at 12th Street near the Jean Rose residence.
Figures are being collected for the Fiscal Year 2019 Health Care insurance. Rates and coverage will be examined and be set in the August budget meeting.
Chief of Police Dave Elam provided the Council with his quarterly report about the Police Department. The Police Department has received 1285 calls during the month of March, April and May. 582 traffic stops were conducted by the officers resulting in 140 tickets being written.
Heather Hartman, Economic Development Specialist, distributed copies of the NCK Food Survey. The NCK Food Council is surveying the population on North Central Kansas in issues of the availability of food and the preference of food. It is very helpful for the success of the program for folks to complete and return the survey. Survey forms can be found in the City Office.
A pole bid was approved from Westco for $10,176 for utility poles.
A bid was approved to purchase wastewater pipe from JCI in the amount of $11,882.
A Special Event License was approved for Adam Mosier to host a Frisbee Disc Golf Tournament at Chautauqua Park. The date if the event is July 20-22, 2018. Beer will be consumed but not sold.
The business meeting was adjourned and the work session was called to order.
An extended discussion then took place regarding a little known and even more little understood item on the City’s water bill known as PCA. It appears as if this was a charge added to the City’s water bill to streamline or adjust individual water bills to insure accuracy. No consensus could be reached to make this a more easily understandable part of people’s water bill.
The final person to address the Council was the City Engineer, Stuart Porter. He was on hand to review plans that that are nearing finalization for the future of the water needs of the citizens of Beloit.
Porter briefly reviewed the history of the City’s water needs and resources and then the future needs of the City. The City’s water plant is almost 70 years old and is well past its expected usable life. This is a topic that has been well studied and numerous options have been studied. Funding sources have been explored. Partnering with the Rural Water Districts have been studied and found to be unworkable.
Porter said it would appear that the most cost effective method to follow for a safe, clean water supply that will meet state guidelines, would to build a pipe line from the Waconda Lake to the City of Beloit and to refurbish and modernize the current plant. The pipeline would deliver a steady supply of water that was cleaner than river water and easier to treat. Refurbishing the plant would essentially be putting a new plant inside the old plant. Modern technology could be utilized and much of the infrastructure of the current plant could be used, saving a great deal of money.
Porter told the Council he had been in contact with representatives from the USDA Rural Development Fund regarding various forms of funding for the construction of such a project. It appears that this agency has money available and would like to spend it on projects such as this.
The Councilors asked numerous questions of Porter. He answered each on to those who asked the question’s satisfaction.
Porter will use the service of folks skilled in writing grants and applications to prepare the City’s submission or funding.