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August 19, 2009 The Norton City Council met in regular session Wednesday, August 19, 2009, at 5:30 p.m., with Mayor David Corns presiding. Council members present were Jeff Otter, Donna Foley, Toby Kuhn, Kim Snyder, Roberta Ryan, and Joe Leroux. Others present were Roxanne Kent, Erica Bradley, Deena Wente, Jeremy Hartwell, Dan Bainter, Pat Morel, Karen Griffiths, Rob Lawson and Darla Ellis. Motion was made by Kim Snyder and seconded by Roberta Ryan to approve the August 5, 2009, city council minutes. Vote taken. Motion carried. The following building permits were presented: Roxanne Kent said the Public Safety Committee asked her to talk to the County Commissioners regarding the animal cruelty issues she is wanting enforced, and they told her the City would need to pass an ordinance. She stated she just wants a clause about leaving your dogs in the car in extreme heat for more than 5 minutes. She stated a warning would be sufficient the first time. The second time or if the dog would die, then it would be handled as an animal cruelty situation and she would want maximum fines imposed. The Police Chief will copy the section of the Kansas Statutes Annotated relating to animal cruelty. Jeff Otter said the Public Safety Committee will discuss it further at their next meeting. Motion was made by Toby Kuhn and seconded by Kim Snyder to waive the formal third reading of Charter Ordinance #11. Vote taken. Motion carried. Motion was made by Toby Kuhn and seconded by Kim Snyder to adopt Charter Ordinance #11, exempting the City from the provisions of K.S.A. 14-201, only as it relates to specification of certain salaries by ordinance, and providing substitute and additional provisions on the same subject. Vote taken. Motion carried unanimously. Mayor Corns stated Pat Hillebrand has resigned her position on the Housing Authority Board. The term for this Board position will expire November 30, 2011. He asked that the vacancy be advertised, so the position can be filled at the next city council meeting. Rob Lawson stated the tennis courts have been patched and are ready for use. The swimming pool is closed for the season due to the fact that there are not enough guards available to keep it open. The Fire Department will be testing their trucks at the pool before it is drained. He also reported the crews have been busy picking up trees and branches from the storm over the weekend. Rob Lawson stated notification has been sent out and put on the radio and in the newspaper regarding the painting of the water tower. The City will maintain water pressure by using the pumping system at the water plant while the inside of the tank is drained and being painted. In the event of a power failure, the water pressure would be lost and citizens would be without water. Jeff Otter suggested checking to see if the City could get a generator on a temporary basis in case power is lost. Maguire Iron estimates that they will drain the tank in about a week. The bid included painting the bluejay beak on 2 sides of the tower and “Norton” on the other 2 sides. Rob Lawson stated the council had approved getting costs for a sludge drum thickener and aeration system for the sewer plant. The estimated cost was about $600,000. When KDHE issues the City’s next discharge permit for the sewer plant, it is expected that there will be new standards for nutrient removal. This will require upgrades, and the sludge drum thickener would no longer be used once the new requirements go into effect. Rob said it doesn’t make sense to spend that amount of money when it would only be used for about 3 years, so he suggests that the City continues to haul the sludge until the new requirements are put into place. He said the new sludge truck is here and we could hire someone to haul sludge part time if needed. Rob Lawson stated John Mapes will meet with the Finance Committee on August 24th to discuss budget options for the water fund. Dave Barber of USDA thinks USDA might be able to fund up to $3.4 million on the water plant project; these funds could be used to refinance a portion of the SRF loan. The loan with USDA would be paid over 40 years, and would reduce the City’s annual loan payments by as much as $225,000 per year. He will try to meet with the Finance Committee on August 24 at 6:00 p.m. Donna Foley stated the Economic Development Board met and discussed the Norton Correctional Facility and the possibility of having a lobbyist work with them. She reported the Utility Committee is still discussing the power plant. The main problem at the plant is the cooling systems and the switches. They are waiting to get engineering costs to do a study of the plant. Toby Kuhn reported the Finance Committee met with Chris Miller and Tom Downey and discussed the bids which were received for installing 5 new wells in the wellfield. Motion was made by Toby Kuhn and seconded by Kim Snyder to waive the informalities in the bid from Downey Drilling and accept the low bid, and award the contract to them for $399,841.00, contingent upon KDHE approval. He stated this is a substantial savings over the other two bids that were received. Vote taken. Motion carried. Toby Kuhn stated the third payment is due to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment for the SRF loan, and there are not sufficient funds in the water fund to make the payment. He stated this is primarily due to the wet summer and lower water sales. Motion was made by Toby Kuhn and seconded by Kim Snyder to transfer $40,000 from the water replacement fund to the water fund to cover this loan fund payment. Vote taken. Motion carried. Toby Kuhn stated changes to the water plant project and lower bids than anticipated have resulted in the water plant project costing approximately one million dollars less than expected. This will reduce how much will need to be borrowed from the State Revolving Loan fund. Therefore, the Finance Committee would like to review the rate study that Ranson Financial services performed. He stated they are looking very seriously at what the City can do to offset the utility rate increases which were recommended. Motion was made by Toby Kuhn and seconded by Jeff Otter that the City establish a hiring freeze for this calendar year in all city departments, contingent upon review of each position which becomes open. Vote taken. Motion carried. Toby Kuhn stated several months ago, each department head submitted a plan for a possible 5% reduction in their respective budgets. Motion was made by Toby Kuhn and seconded by Kim Snyder to implement an across the board 5% spending reduction in all city department budgets. Vote taken. Motion carried. Roberta Ryan reported the Chamber of Commerce met and discussed the Smoking in the Barn barbecue contest which is scheduled for August 28-29. She stated 22 teams have registered and they will have a beer garden Friday and Saturday night. The Winners Circle is scheduled for October 3 at the Eagles and there will be a $5,000 cash give-a-way. Crazy Days went well and all of the merchants were very pleased. The bid for work on the old Kent Station will be awarded to Paul Wertenberger of Hays. Joe Leroux thanked the Public Works crew for getting the tennis courts ready and everything else they have done. Mayor Corns stated all of the crews are doing an excellent job. Motion was made by Jeff Otter and seconded by Kim Snyder to approve Appropriating Ordinance #16 as a whole. Vote taken. Motion carried. Motion was made by Kim Snyder and seconded by Toby Kuhn to adjourn. Council adjourned at 6:07 p.m. ATTEST: City Clerk Mayor: David N. Corns
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