The Board of Aldermen held a meeting on Tuesday night October 16, 2012 at 7:00 PM. Those present included Mayor Greg Richmond Alderpersons Keith Kohley, Kristin Lett and Bill Hess. Also present were City Supervisor David Brodie, Chief of Police Tom West, Tax Collector Dawn Bunch, City Clerk Paula Brodie, Asst. City Clerk Karla McNorton, and Emergency management Director Denis Kolb. Guests included Valarie and Fred Branstetter, Doug Williams, Crystal Vaughn, Lois Kolb, Joel Gaona and J.R. Fisher. Ald. Wilson was not present.
The Mayor called the meeting to order.
The Board of Aldermen discussed the minutes from the meeting on October 2, 2012. Ald. Kohley moved to approve the minutes. Ald. Hess seconded. Ald. Hess, Kohley and Lett voted aye with 0 nays.
The Board of Aldermen discussed the minutes from the Special meeting on October 9, 2012. Ald. Lett moved to approve the minutes. Ald. Kohley seconded. Ald. Kohley, Lett, and Hess voted aye with 0 nays.
The Mayor acknowledged Joel Gaona who was present to discuss averaging his water/sewer bill. Mr. Gaona stated that he had a water leak and had repaired it. He wanted to know if the Board would average his bill.
Ald. Lett moved to approve averaging Mr. Gaona’s water and sewer bill from 110 W Frazier. Ald. Kohley seconded. Ald. Kohley, Hess and Lett voted aye with 0 nays.
The Mayor acknowledged Doug Williams who spoke for Valerie and Fred Branstetter, the owners of the Sawmill Trailer park. Mr. Williams stated that they were present to discuss requests for variances from Chapter 415 the Mobile Home Park ordinance. Mr. Williams stated that the trailer park was close to being in compliance with the Mobil Home Park Ordinance. He stated that most of the Mobil homes were spaced correctly that they were all serviced with water, sewer and septic. Mr. Williams stated that the main thing in the Mobile Home Ordinance that they needed a variance for was blacktopping of the streets. He stated that paving would be a financial burden on Fred and Valarie. He noted that in the future they will be forced to hook the trailers to the city sewers, which will be a huge expense. He noted that even if they were exempted from the requirements of the Mobile Home Ordinance, they would still have to comply with all of the other city ordinances just like everyone else in town does.
The Mayor stated that he believed that the Board was willing to work with Mr. and Mrs. Branstetter in regards to giving them variances on parts of the Mobile Home Ordinance. Mr. Williams stated that he felt that the Sawmill Trailer park should have been exempted completely in the first place as it was already an established park before the ordinance was passed. The Board discussed the possibility of changing Section 415. 120, number (2) to say that all parks that were already in the city before the ordinance was approved should be grandfathered in with no exceptions.
Ald. Lett moved to approve changing Section 415.120 (2) of the Mobile Home Ordinance making current mobile home parks exempt from the Mobile Home Park Ordinance. Ald. Kohley seconded. Ald. Kohley, Hess, and Lett voted aye with 0 nays.
The Mayor noted that Max Mace was not present. Chief West stated that Mr. Mace had an emergency call and would be present at the next meeting. The Board tabled discussion until next meeting.
The Board discussed the suggested coverage changes on the MOPERM property insurance. The Clerk noted that she had gotten prices per foot for all of the City buildings from two different contractors. She noted that the Police Department, the City Hall, the Community Building were all well over the replacement costs, using the per foot prices from the two contractors. The Mayor asked if the Board wanted to go ahead and change the values so that MOPERM could give the City a quote on the coverage. He noted that if there was not enough savings on the lower premium then they could raise the values back to the original numbers. Ald. Lett moved to approve changing the property values for the MOPERM insurance. Ald. Kohley seconded. Ald. Kohley, Lett, and Hess voted aye with 0 nays.
The Board of Aldermen discussed what to do about the tree behind the property at 105 W. Garner. David said the tree is dead and tall enough to hit the trailer if it did fall. He said it could be taken down and left. The Mayor asked if there were any other trees around town that need to be removed David said that right now he doesn’t know of any more trees on City property that need to be cut down. Ald. Lett asked if Scott Mitchell would cut it down. David stated that the Board had always used Scott to cut down other trees.
Ald. Lett moved to approve hiring Scott Mitchell to cut the tree down on the City property bordering the property at 105 W. Garner. Ald. Kohley seconded. Ald. Lett, Kohley and Hess voted aye with 0 nays.
The Board discussed accepting nCourt to handle the online payment program for the City. Mr. Fisher asked how much it costs and was told there was no charge to the City however those wishing to use the service will pay a service fee. Ald. Lett moved to approve using nCourt to handle the online payment program. Ald. Kohley seconded. Ald. Kohley, Hess and Lett voted aye with 0 nays.
The Board discussed purchasing a sign for the Stay and Play Park. The Clerk showed them 3 variations of a proposed sign. The Board all agreed that any of the three was satisfactory and left it to the clerks to choose. Ald. Kohley moved to purchase the sign. Ald. Lett seconded. Ald. Hess, Kohley and Lett voted aye with 0 nays.
The Department heads gave the following reports:
Tom West-had nothing to report.
David Brodie- Noted that the roof on the well house on Barlow Street needs to be replaced. He stated that it was a rubber membrane and had a dome in the top. The dome is designed so that when the pump needs to be pulled it can be pulled through the roof. He also noted that the soffit at the Police Department needs to be replaced and guttering installed.
Ald. Lett moved to run an advertisement asking for estimates on repairing the well house roof. Ald. Hess seconded. Ald. Hess, Lett and Kohley voted aye with 0 nays.
Ald. Lett moved to get estimates on repairing the soffits on the roof of the police department. Ald. Kohley suggested changing the motion to include the guttering. Ald. Lett changed her motion to include the repairs and guttering on the police dept. Ald. Kohley seconded. Ald. Kohley, Hess and Lett voted aye with 0 nays.
David stated that Kenneth Gideon would like to purchase an old oiler that has been stored for years at the treatment plant. It was noted to run an advertisement would cost more than what the oiler was worth. The Mayor asked the Clerk to find out if they could just post a notice around town that the City was taking bids on the oiler.
Denis Kolb- stated that Keith Kohley had been using his own laptop at the Emergency Management Department for several years. He said that the LCD screen was not working and that Elk River Computers would repair it for $168.78. He asked the Board to help with the repair costs. Mr. Kolb stated that most of the equipment in the Emergency Management Department had been supplied by himself and Keith. He said that they have not asked for much and he felt it was only fair that if the wireless laptop was being used for Emergency Management the City should help repair it. Ald. Lett stated that she did not like the idea of the Board using Citizens money on repairing something that goes out of the City’s offices for personal use. The Mayor suggested that the Board consider purchasing a new laptop for the Emergency Management Department when they are working on the city budget.
Keith Kohley stated that the Board had gone out of its way to help the ballpark but they do not do anything for the Emergency Management Department. He said that he did not believe that the Board realized the hours he and Denis have worked at the Emergency Management Department. Ald. Lett stated that she believed that the Board had recently purchased a new computer monitor for the Emergency Management Department. The Mayor stated that he felt the Board should discuss the request at the budget meeting. He noted that the Emergency Management Department was appreciated but that it might be better to discuss any funding for the Emergency Management Department during a budget meeting.
Dawn Bunch –stated that the statements would be ready in about two weeks and that this year’s tax statements will be single sheets of paper. She noted that Brenda Gordon had offered to make a second copy for the City records and to fold the statements with their new folding machine before sending them to the City to mail out.
Paula Brodie –-noted the email on the MML Southwest Regional Dinner Meeting in Boliver. (RSVP must be by October 26, 2012).
-noted that a sample Use Tax Ordinance was in the Boards packet. The Board agreed to discuss placing the Use Tax on the April ballot at the next meeting.
-noted that the Board received the September financial statements in their packets.
The Board discussed the following old business:
Ald. Kohley asked when Swift would be here to do the street repairs. David said that he had talked with them just this morning and they said they would start in about three weeks.
Denis Kolb reported that Lisa McCool had told him that the siren would be fixed on October 22nd.
Ald. Kohley noted that the City of Goodman sign had been repaired. David stated that they fixed two transformers.
The Mayor stated that he would like to see what kind of signs could be made to show directions to the City Hall.
The Board discussed the following new business:
Mr. Fisher asked why the Board was considering raising taxes instead of cutting expenses. It was noted that the use tax would only be charged if the citizens approved it at the April election. Mr. Fisher asked why the Board farmed out jobs that the city employees could do. He asked why the city was paying for mowing when the Recreation Department had a brand new $10,000.00 mower. He said he was sure they would let the city employees use it. He asked if it was not true that the Board had spent more on mowing than was budgeted for mowing. The Clerk said she did not think so because of the drought last year and this year. The Mayor noted that the Board had chosen to hire out part of the mowing during budget discussions. It was noted that the Terra Lewis Park, the Well houses, the water tower, the City Hall the City Park, the Police Station and the helicopter pad were all mowed by the contractor. It was noted that the contractor mows as needed not every other week and is paid $150.00 each time he mows.
Chief West stated that he had a three day conference coming up in December. He asked that the Board approve to pay $49.00 a night for three nights for the winter conference. Ald. Lett moved to approve Tom attending the conference and paying $150.00 for three nights. Ald. Kohley seconded. Ald. Lett, Kohley and Hess voted aye with 0 nays.
Chief West asked if David could trim the tree that is covering the speed limit sign on Garner just before you get to Highland Terrace. David said he would look at it and that even though it is on private property if it is covering the speed limit sign they can trim it.
The Board discussed the bills in the amount of $17,185.73 including transfers. Ald. Lett moved to approve the bills in the amount of $17,185.73 including transfers. Ald. Kohley seconded. Ald. Hess, Kohley and Lett voted aye with 0 nays.
Ald. Lett moved to adjourn. Ald. Hess seconded. Ald. Lett, Hess and Kohley voted aye with 0 nays.
__________________________
Greg Richmond, Mayor
Attest:_____________________________
Paula W Brodie, MRCC, City Clerk Approved: ____________________
Date: _____________