May , 2005
April 4, 2005The Moran City Council met in regular session on Monday, April 4, 2005. Mayor Phillip Merkel called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. Councilmembers present were Mike Holman, Jerry Jackman, James Mueller, Warren Johnson, and Chryll Ginn. Also present were Bret Heim, City Attorney; Shane Smith, Police Chief; Loretta Roberts, Ambulance Director; Barbara Shoate, Asst. Ambulance Director; Lori Evans, City Clerk; and Mike Stodgell, City Superintendent. Dr. John Atkin, Allen County EMS Medical Advisor; Elaine Duggan, Allen County EMS Director; Alan Webber, Allen County Counselor; Buddy Mann, and Lee Roberts were visitors attending the meeting. Susie Jackman arrived as a visitor at 7:06 PM. Councilmember Mueller moved to approve the April 2005 consent agenda consisting of: March 2005 regular council meeting minutes, April 2005 pay ordinance totaling $78,354.18, and corporate resolution for purchase of a $25,000.00 certificate of deposit (CD) to replace a CD maturing April 20, 2005. Johnson seconded the motion, motion passed with all approving. VISITORSSusie Jackman of 236 E. Franklin informed the Council that she believes she has a problem with low voltage to her home. She said her home is supplied by a 200-amp service with 100 amps serving the home and 100 amps serving the garage. Susie told the Council that she has recently had a new furnace and A/C system installed and has noticed the lights in her home dimming when the A/C switches on. She asked if this problem could be due to the fact her home is served by the older 2400 service rather than the newer 7200 service lines. Superintendent Stodgell told the Council that he didn't believe the 2400 service was causing a problem and that the Jackman's home is the only home on the transformer serving their area and the voltage provided should be sufficient for their needs. Mayor Merkel suggested the City crew install a monitoring meter to check the line for voltage irregularities and to check the underground service to see if there might be problems there. No action was taken.OLD BUSINESSEMS Operations - Tabled until later in the meeting.Update on Street Project - Buddy Mann spoke with the Council regarding street repairs and said he thought the majority of the roads in the southeast corner of the City only need repairs rather than being rebuilt. With the exception of needing to rebuild Maple Street between Front and Second and Second Street between Cedar and Cottonwood, Mr. Mann said most problems can be resolved with cold patch and ditching. Mr. Mann said he could not give an estimate of how much it would cost to rebuild each block or street due to unknown variables. He said he thought the work could be done for $9,000.00 - $10,000.00. Discussion followed with Councilmember Mueller moving to spend up to $10,000.00 on road repairs. Ginn seconded the motion, motion passed with all approving. EMS Operations (cont)- Councilmember Mueller moved the City Council meet in executive session at 7:20 PM for one hour to discuss non-elected personnel matters. Dr. John Atkins, Elaine Duggan, Alan Webber, Loretta Roberts, Barbara Shoate, Lee Roberts, and Bret Heim were invited to attend the session. Jackman seconded the motion, motion passed with all approving. The Council returned to open session at 8:10 PM, the Council unanimously agreed that the City should only be responsible for maintaining and housing the ambulance and that the County and/or EMS Director should assume responsibility for training and staffing issues and will ask the County to address these concerns in a new contract between the City and County. No further action was taken. NEW BUSINESSMoran Library Roof Repairs - Superintendent Stodgell informed the Council that Boren Roofing made repairs to the roof of the Library in an attempt to stop a leak. The Librarian was asked to keep watch for new leaks and let the City crew know if any occur.Memory Upgrade for Computers - Councilmember Mueller moved to approve purchasing up to 1 gigabyte of memory for each of the computers in the Clerks office. Any extra memory from these computers will be installed in the police department's computer. Ginn seconded the motion, motion passed with all approving. Auditing Services Contract with Diehl, Banwart, Bolton, Jarred & Bledsloe - Councilmember Mueller moved the Mayor sign a contract for budgeting and auditing services for fiscal year 2006. Johnson seconded the motion, motion passed with all approving. 2005 Water Project - Superintendent Stodgell advised the Council that he had some concerns with the City crew trying to replace the existing 8" water line between the water tower and Chestnut Street along Franklin Street. He noted possible safety issues as the 8" line is much larger and cumbersome to handle with just three employees. He proposed the City crew replace the valves at the water tower and work on clean up and electric projects for the summer. Following discussion the Council tabled the topic to the June meeting. Mitch Bolling Damage Claim - Superintendent Stodgell reported an incident at 229 S. Cedar where the landowner was having problems with the sewer line backing up. The landowner employed a contractor to replace the old orangeburg service line and when they uncovered the service line they found the service had been cut and was not attached to the sewer main. Upon inspection by the City crew it was found the service line must have been cut between 20-30 years ago when a new water line was installed by trenching methods. The landowner, Mitch Bolling has sent a request that the City assume responsibility for ½ of the $1020.00 costs to replace the sewer service line. The Council discussed the necessity to replace the service line and if that should be the City's responsibility. The Council agreed the City's responsibility was only for the damage where the line was cut, not for the line replacement. Councilmember Mueller moved the City offer to pay $250.00 towards the line replacement. Holman seconded the motion. Motion passed with all approving. Moran Library Board Appointments - Mayor Merkel appointed Patty Miklos and Kathy McEwan to 4-year terms on the Library Board. Councilmember Johnson moved to approve the Mayor's appointments. Jackman seconded the motion, motion passed with all approving. DEPARTMENTAL REPORTSFire Chief - Chief Merkel reported the department had been called to numerous grass fires in the past month. He also discussed the importance of landowners calling 911dispatch to report a controlled burn.Ambulance Director - Director Roberts announced CPR training will be offered at City Hall on April 16, 2005, from 9:00AM to 6:00PM. She also noted the new ambulance should be ready for service sometime in July. Police Chief - Officer Smith reported there have been some complaints regarding trash disposal by the traveling railroad crew. The railroad crew was receptive of criticism and is trying to rectify the situation. Additionally, Chief Smith said he would begin issuing citations to dog owners who have not registered or purchased city tags for their pets. Chief Smith reported he contacted the residents at 304 N. Park and they are making improvements to their dog pen. He said he advised the residents that the pen must be fixed before ball season and that the Judge ordered the dog to be picked up and destroyed if it is found running at large again. Officer Smith concluded his report by stating that the DARE graduation ceremony went well. He also noted there may be an additional training opportunity for him in August or September. Superintendent - Superintendent Stodgell reported the following for the month of March:
Councilmember Mueller asked if the ball field was in shape for the ball season. Stodgell said the City crew would be doing additional work on the field but there has been no communication from the ball association regarding their plans for the field this year. City Clerk - Clerk Evans reported income for March as follows:
Clerk Evans informed the Council that the Hyatt Regency Hotel is requiring a cash deposit be made to secure hotel rooms for the 2006 KRWA Conference. Cancellations may be made without penalty and loss of the cash deposit until February 26, 2006. Councilmember Ginn moved to pay the deposit for Superintendent Stodgell, Mueller seconded the motion, motion passed with all approving. Clerk Evans relayed a request to the Council from the landowner of 211 N. Pine. The landowner has asked the City to install a water meter on his property so he can water new trees he's trying to establish on his property. Clerk Evans noted the City Code requires all residential water accounts be subject to sewer and refuse charges when they establish water service. The landowner does not want to be subject to these charges as he just wants water service to water trees. Superintendent Stodgell noted the City has had one commercial account that had water service only to water cattle. Councilmember Johnson moved to approve the landowner's request but noted that if the landowners, or subsequent landowners, ever connect water service to the buildings on the property they must connect to the sewer system and will be subject to sewer and refuse charges. Mueller seconded the motion, motion passed with all approving. The Council requested a review of Chapters 14 and 15 of the City Code be placed on the May agenda. Barbara Shoate advised the Council that she always takes vacation days to compensate for days off when she attends the KEMTA conference and asked the Council to compensation for the possible loss of runs so she would not have to take vacation time this year. Mayor called for action. Councilwoman Ginn moved no changes be made to the pay schedule. Motion died for lack of action. There being no further business to come before Council, Councilmember Mueller moved the meeting adjourn at 9:45 PM. With Holman seconding the motion, motion passed with unanimous approval.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
May , 2005
|