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August 5, 2009 The Norton City Council met in regular session Wednesday, August 5, 2009, at 5:30 p.m., with Mayor David Corns presiding. Council members present were Jeff Otter, Donna Foley, Toby Kuhn, Kim Snyder and Roberta Ryan. Joe Leroux was absent. Others present were John Haas, Chris Miller, Tom Downey, Diane Stiles, Roxanne Kent, Erica Bradley, Deena Wente, Pat Morel, Rob Lawson and Darla Ellis. Motion was made by Donna Foley and seconded by Kim Snyder to approve the July 15, 2009, city council minutes. Vote taken. Motion carried. The following building permit was presented: Chris Miller of Miller & Associates was present regarding the bids which were received for installing 5 new wells in the wellfield. The Engineer’s Opinion of Probable Construction Cost was $710,000. Three bids were received and the low bidder was Downey Drilling with a bid of $420,241. However, there were some errors on their bid form which needed to be corrected. The City Attorney was consulted regarding these errors, and she recommended that their bid be eliminated due to the errors, and the next low bid of $495,200 from Sargent Drilling Co. be accepted. Tom Downey of Downey Drilling was present and apologized for the mathematical errors, and asked that the irregularities in their bid be waived. He asked the council to consider their bid since it would save the City $75,000 from the next low bid. Chris Miller stated the bids are good for 30 days. Motion was made by Toby Kuhn and seconded by Kim Snyder to refer the bids to the Finance Committee and ask that the City Attorney be present at that meeting to review the request. Vote taken. Motion carried. At 5:45 p.m., a Public Hearing was called to order for the purpose of hearing and answering objections of taxpayers relating to the proposed use of all funds and the amount of tax to be levied for 2010. The proposed total 2010 budget expenditures were published as $9,195,366, with an estimated tax rate of 51.051 mills. The actual 2009 tax rate was 51.227, and the 2008 actual tax rate was 51.193. Approving the budget only gives the authority to spend the money; the capital outlay items will still need to be approved for purchase in 2010. There were no comments or questions from the public. Motion was made by Kim Snyder and seconded by Roberta Ryan to close the budget hearing. Vote taken. Motion carried. The budget hearing was closed at 5:50 p.m. Rob Lawson reported the Airport Board met and discussed reissuing the Airport Bonds over 11 years at a lower interest rate to save money. John Haas of Ranson Financial Services stated the refunding would save the Airport $34,440. Motion was made by Toby Kuhn and seconded by Jeff Otter to suspend the rules and waive the three reading requirement for Ordinance #1587. Vote taken. Motion carried. Motion was made by Toby Kuhn and seconded by Kim Snyder to adopt Ordinance #1587, authorizing and providing for the issuance of $310,000 principal amount of general obligation refunding bonds, series 2009, for the purpose of providing funds to refund the city’s outstanding general obligation bonds. Vote taken. Motion carried. Motion was made by Kim Snyder and seconded by Roberta Ryan to adopt Resolution 6-2009, prescribing the form and details of and authorizing and directing the sale and delivery of $310,000 principal amount of general obligation refunding bonds, series 2009. Vote taken. Motion carried. John Haas of Ranson Financial Services stated he has performed a rate analysis study of the City’s water, sewer and refuse rates, and reviewed the results of the studies. He will be doing a study on the electric rates in the near future. He recommends that an escalator clause be used for each utility so the rates are adjusted slightly each year rather than having to do a large adjustment every 5-10 years. His study recommends that the solid waste collection charge be increased from $13.00 to $15.60; the single landfill disposal charge be increased from $3.00 to $3.60; and the family landfill disposal charge be increased from $6.00 to $7.20. Based on the study, John recommends that the minimum sewer charge inside the city limits be increased from $13.25 to $20.37; and that the minimum sewer charge outside the city limits be increased from $26.50 to $40.73. He recommends that the user charge over 200 cubic feet be increased from $1.53 to $2.35 per 100 cubic feet. These increases would cover the annual debt service of $253,120 to the State for the sewer plant project. John Haas also reported on the water rate study. He stated that the City now has a $456,000 loan payment for renovations to the water plant, and the payment will have to be made for 20 years. Due to this annual expense, he recommends that the current monthly minimum charge be increased from $16.82 to $30.61, and that the step fee be increased from $1.62 to $2.92 per 100 cubic feet over 200 cubic feet. Rob Lawson stated a loan payment of $227,967.90 is due to KDHE in August, and there are not sufficient water funds to cover this payment. Rob stated this problem will get worse and the cash basis law will be violated if the problem is not addressed. He stated money will have to be transferred from the water replacement fund to cover this payment at the next meeting. John Haas stated he will contact USDA to see if the SRF loan could be refinanced through USDA, in order to reduce the annual loan payment. This could prevent the water rates from having to be increased as much. He stated he will also contact KDHE to see if the City can reduce their loan payment to be based on the amount that they have actually borrowed to date, rather than on the total amount that has been allocated to the City. Toby Kuhn stated the Finance Committee will review the recommendations for the rate increases and will reporting back to the council. Roxanne Kent was present to request that the City adopt an animal cruelty policy. She presented a copy of the City of Lawrence’s code, and stated she would like several things added to Norton’s code. She stated people are leaving their pets in the car and they are overheating and dying. The Public Safety Committee will discuss her request. Motion was made by Kim Snyder and seconded by Toby Kuhn to waive the second reading of 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. Motion was made by Jeff Otter and seconded by Donna Foley to suspend the rules and waive the three reading requirement for Ordinance #1585. Vote taken. Motion carried. Motion was made by Jeff Otter and seconded by Toby Kuhn to adopt Ordinance #1585, incorporating the 2009 Uniform Public Offense Code for Kansas Cities. Vote taken. Motion carried. Motion was made by Jeff Otter and seconded by Kim Snyder to suspend the rules and waive the three reading requirement for Ordinance #1586. Vote taken. Motion carried. Motion was made by Jeff Otter and seconded by Kim Snyder to adopt Ordinance #1586, incorporating the 2009 Standard Traffic Ordinance for Kansas Cities. Vote taken. Motion carried. Motion was made by Kim Snyder and seconded by Roberta Ryan to accept the average increase of 2.17% to the Blue Cross/Blue Shield health insurance premiums for the new policy year starting October 1, 2009. Vote taken. Motion carried. Rob Lawson reported a retirement reception will be held August 13 from 2–4 pm for Janet Manning. The fair rides have been taken down and put away. He stated crews replaced a valve in Elmwood Park to fix a leak, and it seems to have helped the flow and pressure problems they have been having. Rob Lawson also reported he talked to Jeff Stewart from KDOT about the school crossing lights on Highway 36 and Jones Street, regarding the line of sight for the pole lights and cleaning the lenses of the lights mounted in the highway road surface. He checked the field survey completed by KDOT and it says that placement of the poles is at the discretion of the City. He will see what can be done with the highway light lenses. He also said KDOT is doing what they can with the road surface on Highway 36 in the Pamida area. Their funding programs have been cut from their budget. A letter was received from KDOT that due to the current economic environment of the State and the adverse impact on State Highway Fund resources, a moratorium has been imposed on the approval of any new loan requests. Rob Lawson stated he has had many complaints regarding the condition of the railroad crossing at Lincoln and Eagles Road. Kyle Railroad has been contacted and said they are going to fix it. Rob also stated there was some hail damage to some of the city-owned vehicles in the recent storms. He stated the Norton City/County Economic Development will have a Strategic Planning Session on September 3 at 5:30 in the Economic Development office, if anyone is interested in attending. Rob Lawson reported the new electric contract with Sunflower Electric will be presented to the City between now and December 31st. The City is currently operating on a 5 year contract and will be renegotiating this new contract in the near future. Sunflower Electric has notified the City they will be working on the Rhoads Substation on Highway 36 later this fall, and will need the City to either generate electricity during the construction time, or they will have to bring in a temporary power station to supply the City power. The total time of bypass is estimated to be 10 to 14 days. Rhoads Substation provides all of the power supply to the power plant transformer. Rob will recommend that they bring in portable power during this construction period. Power Plant Supervisor Curt Bozarth is contacting engineer firms to get quotes for a power plant study. Donna Foley stated the Utility Committee discussed the aging condition of the power plant; the City needs to decide whether to repair and update the existing plant, build a new plant, or close the plant. Mayor Corns stated when those costs are determined, he would like a letter written to the representatives in Washington regarding all of the mandated projects the City has been forced to do, and possible federal funding to assist with the repairs of the power plant. Motion was made by Kim Snyder and seconded by Donna Foley to approve Mark Griffin’s curb replacement request at 607 N. Grant, with the City paying the cost of the concrete, and the owner paying a private contractor for the labor. Vote taken. Motion carried. Jeff Otter stated the Public Safety has requested that the City Attorney prepare the necessary ordinances to authorize No Parking signs by the Clinic and Recreation Center and by the Manor on Second Street. He also stated a request was made for a stop sign under the railroad track going to the KQNK Road. He stated the Fire Chief gave a report to the Public Safety Committee. Toby Kuhn stated the Finance Committee met and reviewed the budget. They also discussed possible rate increases for the different utilities. Motion was made by Toby Kuhn and seconded by Kim Snyder to adopt the 2010 budget as published and presented. Vote taken. Motion carried. Jeff Otter reported MBM Motor Sports requested that the city pay for the concrete to install 75 poles for a wheel fence at the race track at an estimated cost of $3,500 or less. They have the needed pipe, cable and material, and will provide the labor. Jeff Otter said $2,000 was budgeted in the racetrack improvement fund. Motion was made by Jeff Otter and seconded by Toby Kuhn to fund the cost of concrete to install 75 poles for wheel fence improvements on turn #2 at Elmwood Park racetrack, not to exceed $3,500. Vote taken. Motion carried. Jeff Otter stated work is being done at the tennis courts to fill the cracks. The City has had some complaints regarding broken and damaged stones at the cemetery. This is the result of many years worth of accumulated damage. The Parks Supervisor will prepare a list of suggestions to eliminate this problem in the future. The Parks Committee also met with Jerry Jones, who said the motorcycle races were cancelled because the promoter was overextended, and because he would rather pay a flat fee instead of a head tax. He stated it is easier to budget for a flat fee than an unknown amount. Motion was made by Kim Snyder and seconded by Jeff Otter to approve Appropriating Ordinance #15 as a whole. Vote taken. Motion carried. Motion was made by Kim Snyder and seconded by Donna Foley to adjourn. Council adjourned at 7:33 p.m. ATTEST: City Clerk Mayor: David N. Corns
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