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February 17, 2010 The Norton City Council met in regular session Wednesday, February 17, 2010, at 5:30 p.m., with Mayor David Corns presiding. Council members present were Donna Foley, Toby Kuhn, Kim Snyder, Roberta Ryan and Joe Leroux. Jeff Otter arrived at 5:31 p.m. Others present were Robert Bowman, Erica Bradley, Deena Wente, Pat Morel, Karen Griffiths, Rob Lawson and Darla Ellis. Motion was made by Kim Snyder and seconded by Joe Leroux to approve the February 3, 2010, council minutes. Vote taken. Motion carried. The following building permit was presented: Robert Bowman thanked the City for cutting down the two trees so quickly after he made the request. Mayor Corns stated he requested a quote for a security system from Nex-Tech for the Library building, and he will be discussing this with the Library Board at their next meeting. Karen Griffiths stated she talked with Tommy Finklea from the Texas Truck Store in Longview Texas, and he said times are really tough and asked if there would be an agreed amount that he could pay in full to settle on the sludge truck, which was advertised with a 3500 gallon sludge land applicator, but only had a 2000 gallon tank. He will contact Karen by Friday, February 19th with an amount that he could pay in full, and then Karen will present the amount to council to see if they will accept it as settlement in full. Jeff Otter reported the Public Safety Committee met and discussed the latest activity in the fire department. Fire Chief Mitch Jones is working on bids for the SCBA air compressor. He has checked with fire apparatus companies regarding financing and FEMA will be opening up federal grants for funding of apparatus soon. Unit #10 is back from Colby and still needs to have the wiring checked out. He will be taking truck #16 to Hays on Monday for repairs. Motion was made by Jeff Otter and seconded by Joe Leroux to approve the state bid of $21,231.21 through the Kansas Highway Patrol Partners Program for a 2010 Ford Explorer 4x4, to be purchased from budget line item 01.11.450. The patrol unit which will be taken out of service will be traded for apparatus to equip the new Ford Explorer. Vote taken. Motion carried. Motion was made by Jeff Otter and seconded by Roberta Ryan to approve the purchase of a Responder 1000 in-car camera from Decatur Electronics of Decatur, Illinois, at a cost not to exceed $3,045 to be purchased from budget line item 01.11.469. Vote taken. Motion carried. Motion was made by Jeff Otter and seconded by Kim Snyder to approve the low bid from Nex-Tech for 6 Motorala HT-1250 portable radios at a cost not to exceed $4,914 to be purchased from budget line item 01.11.469. Vote taken. Motion carried 5-0 with Donna Foley abstaining from the vote due to her employment with Nex-Tech. City Code Inspector Jeff Wolf is working on some dilapidated properties in Norton, and the City will be running ads in the paper regarding awareness regarding the rules for abandoned vehicles. The Public Works Committee will be scheduling the city-wide spring clean-up in the near future. Donna Foley reported the Economic Development Board met and welcomed new board member Aaron Herman. They discussed the 2010 Census and approved the job descriptions for the Director and Assistant. Economic Development has finished the first step of the Historical Preservation Project and is now writing the grant. Director Diane Stiles will be at the March 3 council meeting to give her semi-annual report. Motion was made by Donna Foley and seconded by Toby Kuhn to approve Brenntag Southwest Inc.’s low bid for treatment chemicals at the water plant for 2010, at a cost not to exceed $110,000 to be purchased from budget line item 43.44.324. Vote taken. Motion carried. Motion was made by Donna Foley and seconded by Kim Snyder to approve Amendment #1 to the Loan Agreement with KDHE for the water plant project, and approve the amended loan payment amount of $58,321.35 for February of 2010 to be paid from budget line item 43.44.499. Vote taken. Motion carried. Motion was made by Toby Kuhn and seconded by Donna Foley to solicit bids for the replacement of the last old heating and air conditioning unit on the roof at the recreation center. Vote taken. Motion carried. Toby Kuhn stated the Finance Committee discussed the lease of the advertising sign located near 120 S. State Street. Motion was made by Toby Kuhn and seconded by Kim Snyder to notify Thomas Outdoor Advertising of a proposed contract change stipulating the maintenance and upkeep of the sign. Vote taken. Motion carried 5-0 with Donna Foley abstaining. Toby Kuhn stated John Haas of Ranson Financial has begun work on the electrical rate study. Motion was made by Kim Snyder and seconded by Jeff Otter to advertise for a Maintenance I position which is vacant in the Public Works department. Vote taken. Motion carried. Motion was made by Kim Snyder and seconded by Roberta Ryan to waive the purchasing policy and proceed with buying a refuse truck from the single source provider Elliott Equipment of Lincoln, Nebraska, at a cost not to exceed $123,632; the truck will be financed with a $40,000 downpayment from budget line item 78.49.452, and lease purchase the balance of the cost over 3 years. Vote taken. Motion carried. Motion was made by Kim Snyder and seconded by Donna Foley to approve the low bid from Almena State Bank for a 3 year lease purchase agreement for the refuse truck, with a fixed interest rate of 4% and three annual payments of $30,138.74, and instruct staff to prepare the necessary lease purchase paperwork. Vote taken. Motion carried. Motion was made by Joe Leroux and seconded by Kim Snyder to approve the revised 2010 race schedule for Elmwood Park Speedway. Vote taken. Motion carried. Motion was made by Joe Leroux and seconded by Roberta Ryan to approve the Norton Rotary’s request to have a circus in Elmwood Park on June 7th. He stated the Rotary has stated all proceeds from the Circus will go towards buying a vision machine to be used at the local school for vision screenings. Vote taken. Motion carried. Motion was made by Joe Leroux and seconded by Jeff Otter to approve the renewal of the annual agreement with the Norton Horse Council with no changes to the agreement. Vote taken. Motion carried. Joe Leroux stated the Parks Committee met with the Parks Supervisor and they are discussing splitting the Parks and Cemetery back into two departments. They are discussing prohibiting surface vaults in the cemetery unless there is already one located on the lot. They are also considering hiring one part time position which would work more months during the year, rather than 2 of the summer hires. Motion was made by Kim Snyder and seconded by Jeff Otter to approve Appropriating Ordinance #4 as a whole. Vote taken. Motion carried. Motion was made by Kim Snyder and seconded by Toby Kuhn to adjourn. Council adjourned at 6:04 p.m.
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