REGULAR MEETING
Monday, June 11, 2007 – 7:00 p.m.
The governing body of the City of Coldwater met in regular session with the following present: Mayor Tony Smith, presiding, Council members Penny Bruckner, Klete Hackney, Chuck Salisbury, and Richard Thompson, Public Works Director Danny Shaw, Water Operator, Joe Ceballos, City Attorney Skip Herd, City Clerk, Kristal Sherman, Lake Manager, Ron White and City Marshal Doug Storie.
Guests included Leonard Kiehl, Brenda Fry, Beverly Clark, Staci Sherer, Carmen Thompson, Tara Ediger, Roseanne Sullivan, Lawrence Hall, Pat Puderbaugh, Darlene Caraway.
Mayor Smith called the meeting to order and led the flag salute.
Minutes were approved as written, motion by Richard Thompson, seconded by Chuck Salisbury. Motion carried.
SCHS cheerleading sponsor, Staci Sherer, along with cheerleaders Carmen Thompson and Tara Ediger, asked the council for permission to sell fireworks within the city limits from July 1st through the 4th , the council agreed. They suggested that the city council permit residents to discharge the fireworks from the 1st through the 4th also. After discussing the matter Richard Thompson made a motion to allow the discharge of fireworks within the city limits on July 1st, 2nd and 3rd from 10:00 am to 9:00 pm and on July 4th from 8:00 am to 12:00 midnight, seconded by Penny Bruckner and the motion carried.
Brenda Fry and Beverly Clark, representing the “Chili Peppers” reported on plans to hold a “Mini Relay for Life” Sunday, July 29th and asked the council for permission to use Heritage Park and also to be able to close off the street between the Coldwater Native Bank and Heritage Park for the evening. The council agreed to both requests.
Lawrence Hall, a defensive driving instructor asked the council if they would be interested in holding a defensive driving class sponsored by AARP, the cost would be $10.00 per person with the class maximum of 24 people. It will not cost the city any money, just need to find a place to conduct the class. After discussing the matter, the council was in agreement it would be a idea to hold such a class and Mayor Tony Smith said he would contact Mike Baldwin, superintendent of schools to see if the class could be held there. The council told Mr. Hall they would get in contact with him as soon as a date for the class is set.
Roseanne Sullivan met with the council explaining that she first received a letter about the condemnation of her trailer on February 9, 2007 with the hearing set for February 27th. Roseanne told the council she had fallen and broke her wrist on February 23rd and on February 28th received a 30-day extension letter on the condemnation. She went on to explain that on March 6th, she had surgery on her wrist to have it pinned and on April 10, 2007 received a condemnation order that she was to have her trailer removed on or before June 1, 2007. She also explained that she had made arrangements to have the trailer house moved, but was unable to have it done because of the closing of US 54 due to the tornado in Greensburg. On June 7, 2007, the city maintenance workers removed the trailer from the city out to the county landfill. Roseanne also told the council that there is a $3,259.00 mortgage on the trailer house and she felt the city should pay off the mortgage. In addition, she also said she did not feel she should be charged for the removal of the trailer, and wanted her personal belongings back that were taken from the trailer. After Roseanne read her letter to the council, Mayor Tony Smith informed her that the council was not going to discuss this matter with her, and she could further discuss the matter with the city attorney, Skip Herd. Roseanne and Skip then left the meeting to discuss the matter in private.
Prairie Plaza Manager, Darlene Caraway, gave a financial report of the Plaza and also told the council of several repairs done to the apartments and remodeling of one of the apartments so a victim of the Greensburg tornado could move in. Council member Penny Bruckner made a motion that the council meet in executive session with Darlene and Pat Puderbaugh for personnel reasons for 15 minutes, seconded by Richard Thompson and the motion carried. After the executive session, no decisions were made, but discussion was held on the number of hours approved for the Prairie Plaza Apartments maintenance man. It was agreed to leave the number of hours for that position at 24 hours per week, as per the minutes of the March 19, 2001 meeting.
Mayor Smith asked Leonard Kiehl of Code Technology, to approach the podium and instructed him to have public works director, Danny Shaw accompany him when he does his monthly inspections through town to help him identify property owners. Mayor Smith asked him to call Danny before he comes to town to make sure that Danny will be available on the days he plans to be in Coldwater, he said he usually comes once every ten days.
Marshal Doug Storie gave a report of his activities for the past month, noting that Memorial Day weekend was relatively quiet. He reported he has purchased a video camera and TV/DVD player, with 75% of the costs being reimbursed by the State with the grant he received. He also reported he is continuing to make traffic stops regarding child seatbelt/car seat violations and will start issuing citations after July 1, 2007, per the state program.
Water Operator Joe Ceballos reported that he has been working on his 2008 budget requests and well #4 is going to need some work done on it, he will include it in next years’ budget, and estimates the amount to be approximately $23,000.00. Joe also reported that the old water tower has been shut down since June 8th and hasn’t heard any complaints about the water pressure from anyone in the City. The council instructed Joe to get with Larry Ellis to do water pressure checks to see if the old water tower being shut off will affect the pressure.
Public Works Supervisor, Danny Shaw reported that Brad Davis was able to repair some of the ballfield bleachers that were damaged by the wind storm earlier in the spring. After discussing the seating at the ballfield, Klete Hackney made a motion to purchase one new set of bleachers at the price of $1,550.00, seconded by Chuck Salisbury and the motion carried. Danny asked the council for a volunteer to work on zoning the land below the dam at the lake, he said the City needs to extend the zoning to include a certain amount of acreage downstream from the lake dam to prohibit new construction. After discussion, the council agreed to have City Attorney, Skip Herd look into the matter and report back to the council on ways to proceed on the matter. Danny informed the council that the maintenance workers will be receiving new uniforms in the near future and would like to purchase the old uniforms for the part-time employees at $9.00 a piece. Penny Bruckner made the motion to purchase the old uniforms at $9.00 a piece for the part-time employees, seconded by Klete Hackney and the motion carried. Discussed with Danny the plans for the loading dock on the south end of the Veteran’s Building, instructing him to get bids to build a concrete dock. Danny reported he would like to purchase additional rock needed for street sealing this summer. Richard Thompson made a motion for Danny to purchase 10 loads of rock at an approximate cost of $5,000.00, seconded by Penny Bruckner and the motion carried. Danny discussed with the council the fact that a city sewer main runs beneath the west end of the hospital and the hospital is not planning on moving it with their remodeling project. Plans are to contact hospital administrator, Nancy Zimmerman, to discuss the sewer line situation with her and see if it can be fixed before their project begins later in the summer, early fall. Danny also discussed the problem with Glenda Hallet’s sewer line, saying he will have to replace the line going back east of her house, and that means tearing up the street to replace it with 8 inch line. Danny also reported he would like to put the 54-foot steel trusses he got out of the old school building, up for bids.
Opened the sealed bids on the Dixon 30-inch mower, accepting the high bid of $311.00 from Dale Kile. Other bids were as follows: $310.00 from Mike Snyder, $101.00 from Joe Ceballos, $100.00 from Dennis Sowa, $150.00 from Al Blagg and $25.00 from Tony Smith.
Accepted the only bid on the line locater - $105.52 from Robert Greer.
Opened the sealed bids on the concrete saw, accepting the high bid of $223.00 from Kelsey Thompson, the only other bid was $115.00 from Dennis Sowa.
Mayor Tony Smith asked the council to read the letter from Curt Rush, he is asking that the pavement be replaced on the street in front of his house which is in the 700 Block of South Topeka. The pavement had been removed and dirt hauled in to correct a drainage problem previously brought before the council by Donna Ward, who also lives on the same street. After discussing the situation, the council agreed they would like to see the street repaved, but also agreed to let the street sit as is for now to see if it needs further dirt work done before repaving it.
Lake Manager, Ron White reported the lake had a good Memorial Day weekend and the income was up from previous years. Ron also reported that the size and number of the fish are down from past years and there is a carp problem. The council suggested he get with the Fish and Game Department and see what can be done. Ron discussed the fact that he believed he had approval to pay the assistant lake manager, Karen Pitzer, $8.00 an hour when in fact she is only receiving $7.00. City Clerk, Kristal Sherman, told the council he had mentioned this to her and she had looked back in previous meeting minutes and could not find where they had approved a raise to $8.00 an hour for that position. After discussing the matter, the council agreed they had not approved the $8.00 per hour wage and it will continue at $7.00.
After tabling the ATV issue from last month, the council again discussed the issue, taking no action since the matter falls under the standard traffic ordinance adopted by the City. The council agreed it wouldn’t be such a problem if they weren’t so noisy and they hope that a place out of town can be found so they can ride them.
City Clerk, Kristal Sherman told the council of a request from Brian Fairchild, who is with the Iroquois Center from Greensburg, that they be able to use the veteran’s building at no cost for a place to meet with their clients who are being housed in FEMA trailers here. After discussing the matter, the council instructed the city clerk to gain more information as to what will actually take place and make sure it is not a money-making venture before they waive the fee.
City Clerk, Kristal Sherman, asked the council to review the hourly pay for lifeguards, informing them that as of now, all the lifeguards are being paid $6.00 per hour no matter how many years they have worked for the City. After discussing the matter, Penny Bruckner made the motion to raise the lifeguards that have been with the pool for more than one year to $6.25 per hour and pay one assistant manager $6.50 per hour. The motion was seconded by Chuck Salisbury and the motion carried.
City Clerk, Kristal Sherman, asked the council to close the Water Improvement Fund and she will transfer the $6,608.97 that is in the fund to the Water Debt Service Fund. Richard Thompson made a motion to close the Water Improvement Fund, seconded by Penny Bruckner and the motion carried.
Bills in the amount of $128,947.25 were presented for payment. Chuck Salisbury moved to approve the bills as presented, seconded by Penny Bruckner. Motion carried.
The golf cart permit application for Delbert Herd that was tabled from last month was under review again. Since the May meeting, Delbert has met all the requirements needed for his golf cart. Penny Bruckner made a motion to approve the golf cart permit for Delbert Herd, seconded by Klete Hackney and the motion carried.
Motion was made by Klete Hackney and seconded by Penny Bruckner to approve the Cereal Malt Beverage License application for Convenience Xpress (formerly Convenience Plus and Express Lane). Motion carried, with Chuck Salisbury abstaining.
No further business was presented. Richard Thompson moved the meeting adjourned, seconded by Klete Hackney. Motion carried.
On June 21, 2007, City Clerk, Kristal Sherman conducted a call-around vote for William and Lisa King, former residents of Greensburg, asking for a zoning variance to move a double-wide mobile home on the property described as “All of Block 10 in the Original Town of Coldwater”, which is not zoned for mobile homes. All members of the council voted yes, the variance was approved.