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City Council Reorganizes After Election

The Beloit City Council reorganized the council at the meeting last night to reflect changes made by recent elections. Outgoing Mayor Becky Koster relinquished her gavel to newly elected Mayor Tom Naasz. Koster thanked everyone for their support during her fourteen years as Mayor of Beloit and for giving her the opportunity to serve the Beloit community.

City Administrator Glenn Rodden presented Koster and outgoing councilman Denis Shumate with plaques honoring them for their years of service to the community. Shumate said he enjoyed his five years on the council and hoped he had been able to contribute something to the community during that time.

Newly elected Councilmen were sworn in as follows Kent Miller, 4th Ward; Lloyd Littrell, 3rd Ward; Bob Petterson, 2nd Ward and Rick Brown 1st Ward. Pictures of these presentations can be seen on the KVSV web site.

Mayor Naasz called for the election of a new Council President with Councilmen Matt Otte and Bob Richard nominated for the position. The Mayor called for a roll call vote of the council which resulted in 3 votes for Richard, 4 votes for Otte with Councilman Rick Brown answering "neither one." Councilman Otte as elected as the new council president.

The Council unanimously confirmed Resolution 2012-7,the annual appointment of officers and appointment of expired terms to Boards and Commissions set by he Mayor as follows: City Attorney, Katie Cheney; Municipal Court Judge, Bonnie Wilson; Health Officer, Dr. Chris Marozas; Official City Newspaper, Beloit Call; City Engineer, John Cashatt.
Committee appointments include: Tree Board, Lloyd Fugate, Stan Deneke, and Michelle Ellenz. Planning Commission - Jeff Chrisman, Todd Kimminau, Katherine Roberts, and Nick Richmond; Recreation Commission, Jeff Bates; Sunnyslope Housing Authority, Mary Maxwell, and Lyla Newell; Cemetery Endowment Board, Jim Bell, Aaron Lampert, and Phil Roberts.

The biggest discussion concerned City Administrator Rodden's recommendation the Council approve the creation of a Property Disposition Committee to dispose of the property located on the North Campus. Rodden's guidelines recommended that the committee be comprised of the City's Economic Development Director Murray McGee, City Administrator Glenn Rodden, a member of the city planning commission and two members of the city council.

Administrator Rodden said the purpose of this Property Disposition Policy is to use the sale of City-owned properties as a catalyst for economic development and the creation of jobs. The proposed policy recommended that this group be chaired by the City Administrator and staffed internally and lists their duties as part of this committee.

Councilman Littrell took exception to the wording of the proposal saying the wording in the first part was at odds with the actual policy wording. "We aren't just going to gun and run on these decisions," Littrell said. After discussion Mayor Naasz suggested the motion be tabled until the May 1, 2012 meeting. Administrator Rodden explained that they need to get this done by the time they get the property value information back from the land appraiser in order to comply with his contract timetable. The Council voted to table this motion until the May 1 meeting in order to get the wording cleaned up and the language corrected to agree with the initial proposal guidelines. The vote was 7 to 1 with Councilman Richards opposing the action. Mayor Naasz asked for two council volunteers to meet with the Administrator to do this: however most of the council wanted to be included in the meeting which will also now include Murray McGee and a member of the planning commission. The two council appointments to the committee will be made at the May 1 meeting.

During the Public Comment section of the meeting David Chase discussed the changes in the park zoning for all the parks in Beloit and a change in the coverage of services listed on the utility bills the city sends out. Chase asked the council to consider putting more detailed wording in the statutes that would give the city law enforcement officials more direction in dealing with what goes on in the parks throughout the city.

Chase also suggested changes in the utility billing to list charges for water, electricity, and power adjustment costs separately so people would know how much each item is costing them and if there is a change in price. The new meters would have the ability to put a long term billing form in place, he said. Councilwoman Pat Struble commented the city has enough problems on its plate right now and should wait until things at the North Campus are done before they decide what they need to do about these issues. As these are just discussion items no decisions were made.

The two new council members abstained from voting on the April 3 council minutes. Before approving the Appropriations 4B section of accounts payable Councilman Littrell questioned the high cost of advertising spent for ads in hiring of a new employee totaling some $900. Rodden said the charges included ads in the two local radio stations and two newspaper ads necessary to find an employee to fill this position. After discussion Littrell made a motion to accept the bills and the motion passed.

Under Formal Actions, the council discussed applying for the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) Klink Grant. If the city were to be approved for the Connecting Links Resurfacing Program Grant, they would contribute 25 percent of the total project at a cost of $50,075. Funding for this project would come from the city's 2015 capitol improvement projects budget. It consists of a mill and overlay on K-14 beginning where the new concrete pavement ends and going north to US 24. The project would begin in 2014 and end in 2012. Councilman Littrell had questions about this and Rodden will check with the contractor about them.

Administrator Rodden also recommended the council approve the application for the Geometric Improvement Grant from KDOT. The city's share of this project would be approximately $177,960.00 and would be funded through the city's 1016 capital improvement projects budget. This project would start at Joe Schmidt's north drive and run north 1090 feet to where the drainage ditch that comes down from the Super 8 intersects the highway. The grade would be raised about 2 feet. The pavement will be 10' concrete with curb & gutters. A larger box would be constructed under the highway and a ditch constructed from the Super 8 ditch to the new box. The Council voted to accept a motion to apply for both grants as presented and they passed 8 to 0.

At the request of Councilman Otte, who has received a lot of questions on the storm damage in the City, Administrator Rodden explained what have been done to alleviate these problems and how they will be handled. Any one with questions should contact Fouts Insurance. The insurance adjuster will be here on Wednesday and a determination will be made after that. Homeowner damage is not covered by FEMA, Rodden said. Administrator Rodden also gave an update on the status of projects going on in the city.

In other business Mayor Naasz appointed Kent Miller to serve as the council representative on the Beloit Public Building Commission to replace outgoing Councilman Shumate. Tom Naasz and Matt Otte also presently serve on that Commission. Jeff Chrisman was approved to serve on the Planning Commission.

During the work session, City Attorney, Katie Cheney, reported she has located a few members of the Poindexter family who own the old Port Library property and will continue working on this. She said the Library director has asked her to look into the problem of people not returning books within 30 days. There are rules on the city books that allow charges to be filed and assessed in these cases. Cheney will review the Property Disposition proposal as directed. Administrator Rodden and Murray McGee will assist her in doing this.

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Beloit, KS 67420, USA