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BELOIT CITY COUNCIL – Wednesday, December 18, 2024

By Terry Bailey

The Beloit City Council conducted a meeting at City Hall Wednesday evening, December 18, to oversee the operations of the City. All Councilors were present as well as the City Manager, City Attorney and City Clerk. Also in attendance was Chief of Police Chad Lackey, Economic Development Director Emily Benedick, and Superintendent of the Power Plant Manny Milbers.
A public hearing was called to order to consider action on unfit structures. It appears that structures located at 612 Brooklyn, a structure across from the Catholic church on East Main, and 110 Washington will be demolished.
City Manager Halley Roberson reported:
• Work has began on the Willow Springs pocket park just east of Bubba Q's. Folks are invited to stop by and check out the progress.
• There will be an organization meeting with City staff and the Schwab-Eaton Engineers for preliminary discussions of how to progress with the Walnut Street project.
• There was a power outage in Beloit over the weekend, but it was fixed quickly.
• Work is progressing on the Bike Trail west of the power plant.
• Discussions are continuing in good form with the Bureau of Reclamation regarding the western end of the water pipeline.
Representatives from Priority Power conducted a Zoom presentation about the fundamentals of construction a 4 megawatt solar field with a battery storage system.
One of the Priority Power staff members, Steve Christ, related the goal of another solar farm in Beloit is to remove the volatility of the electricity market. Electricity prices vary a great deal from day to day, and even from hour to hour. The more electricity Beloit can produce on its own, the less they are dependent on the volatile market.
One of the downfalls of solar energy is that energy can only be created when the sun is shining. Power is not made at night and very little is made on cloudy days.
Rick Barry, another one of Priority Power's specialists, said the answer this shortcoming is the utilization of battery storage. Electricity can be generated during the sunny days and stored in the battery system to be used at nights or cloudy days. The solar panels create DC power, and it is converted to AC so it can be used in the normal fashion.
Considerable time was devoted to the intricacies of power generation and storage. Also getting considerable time was various ways of financing a 4-megawatt solar farm. The initial price of the system which includes a battery storage system is 9.8 million dollars. Various discounts could reduce the cost to 8.9 million. Local banks would be encouraged to participate in funding of the program.
Chad Lackey, Beloit Police Chief, said he and other officers will be traveling to western Kansas tomorrow to pick up the two new patrol vehicles.
Lackey said one of the committees on which he serves is carefully examining the topic of mental health, how it can be better understood and the most effective treatments when necessary.
Emily Benedick, Economist Development Director, announced she has a buyer for property that the City has owned for a long time and has been trying to find a buyer for it. She hopes the Council can take action on the offer at the next meeting.
Cereal Malt beverage licenses for those businesses holding licenses in 2024 were renewed for 2025.
Janelle Kircher, CEO of the Mitchell County Hospital Health Systems, appeared to follow up on her appearance at the last Council meeting. At the last Council meeting Kircher addressed the Council and requested the Solomon Valley Hospice be released from their current lease at the old Port Library building. Plans are in the works for the Hospice to relocate to office space in the Hospital.
A motion was made before the Council to terminate the lease agreement between the City and the Solomon Valley Hospice. The motion passed.

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Beloit, KS 67420, USA