Minutes September 17, 2008
MINUTES OF THE
NEW UNDERWOOD CITY COUNCIL
A regular meeting of the New Underwood City Council was held at 6:10 p.m. in the Community Center on September 17, 2008. Present were: Mayor Benita R. White, Councilmember’s: Michael Green, Tyler Richter, John Torrey, and Jack Trullinger. Also present: Finance Officer Meri Jo Anderson, Dir. Public Works Greg Hall, Cris Allen, Deputies McPherson & Marsland, and Wes Flint.
AGENDA
Moved by Green second by Trullinger to approve the amended agenda. Aye: all. Motion carried.
MINUTES
The Mayor wanted it noted that when Councilman Torrey voted nay on the budget and stated he did not agree with paying part time employees health insurance he was referring to her. She explained that she is an elected official not an employee and that paying the health insurance for the Mayor is set by Ordinance, which they can change. Moved by Richter second by Trullinger to approve the September 3, 2008 minutes as presented. Aye: all. Motion carried.
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Deputy McPherson introduced the new DARE teacher Deputy Marsland.
Discussion on ATVs, and bicycles followed including unlicensed vehicles, driving in the flood ditch, following safety and road laws. Officer McPherson will try to get a bicycle safety course going through the School. The unlicensed ATV’s on the road are illegal. The council will think about putting something about riding in the flood ditch in the new nuisance ordinance.
Officer McPherson will talk to the sergeant to get a key to Sunny Haven.
PLANNING & ZONING ORDINANCE
The Mayor suggested the Council insert in the Planning and Zoning ordinance a requirement that copies of plumbing & electrical inspection reports from the state be attached to building permits when completed. The Council will look at this at the next meeting.
AQUATIC DIRECTOR
Cris Allen reported Pool & Spa will be down tomorrow to winterize the pool. The public works staff has drained the filters, inlets, pool, & drains, and winterized what pool and spa does not cover.
A new chlorinator is $198.00, the Council agreed this unit should be purchased well in advance of opening next year.
Ms. Allen has done research on a UV filter that kills 99.9% of the bacteria and would decrease purchasing of chemicals by 70%. The unit costs around $1500.00. The Council requested the documentation on this unit in order to make a more informed decision.
NUISANCE ORDINANCE
Discussion on the nuisance ordinance followed with suggested changes. Since the current ordinance is from around 1927 with some changes through the years it was suggested that we get some other small City’s ordinance and take a look at those. Moved by Richter second by Green to table this ordinance and get samples from others. Aye: all. Motion carried.
INCREASING PRICE AT WATERSALESMAN
Increasing the price at the watersalesman at the Fire Hall was discussed. Motion by Torrey to raise the rate to $8.50 per 1,000 gallons to be more reflective of the rural rate. (The current rate is $5.00 per 1,000 gallons at the watersalesman.) This motion died for lack of a second. The remainder of the Council did not see the need to increase the rates right now mentioning you have to have customers to make money and it is a service that needs to be provided. This will be reevaluated when the Council does other enterprise fund increases.
BID PACKAGE FOR WALL MATERIAL
Motion by Green second by Richter to publish the bid notice for the wall materials for the public works shop. Aye: all. Motion carried.
ALLEY NORTH OF SCHOOL
Some complaints have been received about the holes in the alley north of the school. Travis Madsen said he would donate the gravel to fix this alley. Discussion followed including: some of the landowners do not want this alley used like a street; it is a goal of the City to start fixing the alleys; speeding down the alley when it is repaired; drainage; the mobile homes along this alley are too close; it will take more than gravel to fix. Motion by Trullinger to repair the alley with the donated gravel if the gravel meets County specifications, as required by ordinance. Second Torrey. Aye: Richter, Torrey, and Trullinger. Nay: Green. Motion carried. Councilman Green still felt there are too many obstacles to overcome to do it right.
The Mayor reported that the asbestos inspectors will be coming and that this building can be taken down and buried at our dump according to our restricted use permit.
Interest has been expressed by individuals who would like to tear the building down and salvage what they can to sell. It was suggested the City go to bid and advertise the building for salvage. The Mayor stated we must declare the building surplus property if we sell it and we would need to have conditions on the sale i.e. insurance, what still belongs to the City, complete removal, etc. The Finance Officer requested time to research the legalities of this suggestion.
Building a club meeting room behind the public works office with a private entrance followed. Motion by Richter second by Green to put a 12’ X 16’ meeting room & a strong enough mezzanines for future development in the wall materials package. Aye: all. Motion carried. Councilman Green suggested that plumbing and electrical be planned for, even if it is not done right away.
Where to store the old records, when the building is demolished, followed with suggestions including the following: van trailer box, stack pellets in new shop, storage shed, adding on to City Hall. Motion by Trullinger that in order to save money, leave the old City Hall building for storage until the Public Works shop is done. Second by Torrey. Aye: Torrey and Trullinger. Nay: Green and Richter. The Mayor broke the tie by voting aye. Motion carried.
The Dir. of Public Works requested the old city hall sign be taken down to avoid confusion. Motion by Richter second by Torrey giving him permission to take this sign down. Aye: all. Motion carried.
DUMP KEY
Moved by Trullinger second by Richter to add credit card and military ID to the list of driver’s license or twenty dollars to get the key to the dump. Aye: Green, Richter, and Trullinger. Nay: Torrey. Motion carried. Councilman Torrey did not feel this was necessary.
SPIKING PERMIT
SP#08-11; Tyler Richter; September 17, 2008
Moved by Green second Trullinger to approve this permit. Aye: Green, Torrey, and Trullinger. Abstain: Richter. Motion carried.
BUILDING PERMITS
BP#08-23; Bill Gillen; 313
#08-24; Chana Cudmore; 401 S. Bailey; storage shed
Extension on #08-01; Travis Madsen; 706 S. “A” Ave.; bins
It was moved by Richter second by Trullinger to approve these building permit. Discussion followed on set backs and variances. Aye: all. Motion carried.
Councilman Trullinger wanted the Council to think about how to get citizens to apply for their building permits prior to the start of construction to avoid problems. This led into a conversation about if Councilmen notice a problem they stop and talk to the citizen or call City Hall to have it checked out, do not wait until the meeting, and cause bad feelings.
OTHER ITEMS DISCUSSED:
- Ione Wolf started in the Finance Office today.
Being no further business the Mayor adjourned the meeting at 8:05 p.m.
(Seal) Meri Jo Anderson, Finance Officer