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May 19, 2010 The Norton City Council met in regular session Wednesday, May 19, 2010, at 5:30 p.m., with Mayor David Corns presiding. Council members present were Kim Snyder, Roberta Ryan, Jeff Otter, Donna Foley and Toby Kuhn. Others present were Ron and Natalie Hadley, Dale Henry, Jeff and Sue Urban, Joyce Garrison, Carl Conkey, Michael Coffey, Dan Bainter, Erica Bradley, Deena Wente, Pat Morel, Karen Griffiths, Rob Lawson and Darla Ellis. Motion was made by Kim Snyder and seconded by Jeff Otter to approve the May 5, 2010, council minutes. Vote taken. Motion carried. The following building permits were presented: Ron Hadley was present to request a Cereal Malt Beverage License for Main Street IGA at 313 W. Main Street. Motion was made by Roberta Ryan and seconded by Kim Snyder to approve the 2010 Cereal Malt Beverage License for Main Street IGA. Vote taken. Motion carried. Mayor Corns announced that Joe Leroux has moved out of Norton and has resigned his position of Council Member of Ward III. Motion was made by Kim Snyder and seconded by Roberta Ryan to accept his resignation. Vote taken. Motion carried. Motion was made by Toby Kuhn and seconded by Kim Snyder to advertise for the vacant seat in Ward III until the position is filled. Vote taken. Motion carried. Pat Morel stated the cage has been installed in the new Ford Explorer patrol vehicle. Jeff Otter reported the Finance Committee met and discussed the petition prepared by the City Attorney, to pursue the refund which was due from the Texas Truck Store for the difference in value between a 3,500 gallon tank and a 2,000 gallon tank on the sludge truck which was purchased. Tommy Finklea had agreed to pay a settlement amount of $6,000 in contractual damages by February 15, 2010, and has not made any payments. Motion was made by Jeff Otter and seconded by Toby Kuhn to authorize the City Attorney to proceed with the petition to pursue the collection of $9,600 from the Texas Truck Store in Longview, Texas. Vote taken. Motion carried. A request was received from The Rock for a donation to help cover their operating and remodeling expenses. Motion was made by Jeff Otter and seconded by Roberta Ryan to donate $100 to The Rock. Vote taken. Motion carried. The Finance Committee also discussed the Inmate Work Agreement, and an Addendum Agreement which states KDOC would provide a utility trailer and miscellaneous tools for the work crew. Motion was made by Jeff Otter and seconded by Toby Kuhn to initialize the contract with KDOC for an inmate work crew and the addendum agreement for the utility trailer and tools, for the second half of 2010. Vote taken. Motion carried. Motion was made by Jeff Otter and seconded by Toby Kuhn to enter into the Interlocal agreement between the City and County to share expenses and responsibility for the Inmate Work Crew. Vote taken. Motion carried. Motion was made by Jeff Otter and seconded by Roberta Ryan to apply a 3% cost of living adjustment to the city payscale effective July 1. Toby Kuhn stated the national cost of living adjustment was 0% this year. He stated employees get a 3% merit raise with a good job performance, which is greatly higher than the majority of the employers within Norton County and many businesses have faced budgetary cuts. Jeff Otter stated by implementing it on July 1, the City would only be spending half of what was budgeted in 2010. Vote taken. Motion failed with Jeff Otter and Roberta Ryan voting yes and Donna Foley, Toby Kuhn and Kim Snyder voting no. Donna Foley asked if the Municipal Court records are current. The quarterly reports are current with the State. Judge Hawks will be invited to the next Public Safety Meeting to discuss the reports and the status of the court. Donna Foley stated she attended the Chamber of Commerce board meeting, and the recent golf tournament was a success. They are looking at events to raise funds and will be doing a survey. Toby Kuhn reported the Public Works Committee met with some citizens regarding the condition of the street by the intersection of Second and Crane. This is one of the areas the city had identified earlier and it was designed and submitted for stimulus money. There are several areas in town that need street work, and grants are being pursued to help fund the improvements. The City may need to relocate some water mains and electric lines along the east end of Highway 36 for KDOT highway improvements in 2011. Kim Snyder reported the Parks Committee met and discussed interest in having a demolition derby. There was some concern that the Nex-Tech lines might interfere with this but it was looked into and they will not interfere. Kim Snyder stated the current IMCA Race Promoters for Elmwood Park Speedway are promoters during the stock car races only. Anyone interested in having other events such as go-cart races, motorcycle races, tractor pulls or other events, can bring their request to the city council for approval, as long as there are not any scheduling conflicts with events already approved in the park. The Utility Committee met with Allan Miller from Prairie Land Electric to discuss different options for the power plant. Prairie Land is one of six owners of Sunflower Electric, which is who the City currently gets their power from. One option the City is considering is to buy firm power from Prairie Land. Allan gave them some preliminary numbers, and asked that we give him an hourly schedule of the WAPA power which we receive, so he can apply that to what our load is. He would also look into what our power plant might be worth if we would try to sell it as opposed to just closing it. Allan suggested that the City meet with Bob Johnson of Sunflower Electric. They would need to come out and look at the plant and review the capacity tests over the past few years to see if they are interested in any of it. These would just be steps in deciding if the City wants to put in a new cooling system and repair the plant, or start buying firm power and eliminate part of the power plant. Motion was made by Kim Snyder and seconded by Roberta Ryan to authorize a $10 per month discount to Mortensen Computer Service and Lee Russell during the summer for allowing the flower committee to use their water for the flowers by Mortensen Computer Service and the swimming pool. Vote taken. Motion carried. Roberta Ryan reported the Economic Development board met and approved the new applications for the Storefront Renewal project. The funds were raised to proceed with Travel Nation. There will be two national television presentations and seven Kansas presentations, which is done in association with the Travel Channel. This particular series focuses on different areas and what they have to offer for new businesses and industries. Expansion of the Industrial Park was also discussed. An Economic Development Young Professionals event is scheduled for June 26, which is the day after the Relay for Life event. Motion was made by Jeff Otter to approve blocking off Kansas Street from Washington to Main Street and Main Street from Kansas to Norton by the courthouse. Motion was rescinded until there is more information regarding the location to block off. Roberta Ryan also reported Economic Development received a $4,600 grant which they matched with $3,000 for the Historic District and Diane Stiles got a $475 grant to attend a meeting in Oklahoma City. Motion was made by Donna Foley and seconded by Toby Kuhn to move into Executive Session at 6:00 p.m., for a period of time not to exceed 20 minutes with the Mayor, City Council and City Administrator present for discussion of non-elected personnel. Vote taken. Motion carried. Council resumed in regular session at 6:20 p.m. Motion was made by Toby Kuhn and seconded by Kim Snyder to return to Executive session for a period of time not to exceed 20 minutes with the same people present for further discussion of the same topic. Vote taken. Motion carried. Council resumed in regular session at 6:40 p.m. No motions were made as a result of executive session. Motion was made by Roberta Ryan and seconded by Jeff Otter to move the Meter Reader position from pay range 6 to pay range 9 on the city payscale. Vote taken. Motion carried. Motion was made by Toby Kuhn and seconded by Kim Snyder to approve Appropriating Ordinance #10. Vote taken. Motion carried. Motion was made by Toby Kuhn and seconded by Kim Snyder to adjourn. Council adjourned at 6:43 p.m. |