The Clinton City Council exited executive session at 6 p.m., September 20 and the Dangerous Buildings Commission convened. Councilman Daniel Wilson led the commission proceedings: all members of the commission were present.
Community Development Director Chuck Bailey reported to the commission that he had been in contact with the contractor and that a meeting, tomorrow, was scheduled to discuss how to move forward. Councilwoman Martha Nichols said she had been informed there were still negotiations among the insurance companies about fiscal responsibility and it would, most likely, be in November before a path forward could be put into effect. The commission, appearing somewhat disgruntled at this news, agreed to recess until the next scheduled council meeting.
Mayor Carla Moberly called the regular council session to order. All council persons were present, but City Administrator Christy Maggi was absent. After roll call, the Pledge of Allegiance was recited and the previous meeting’s minutes were approved.
Michael Meyers, who had previously submitted a request to the city about parking, spoke to the council about a change in the situation. The council previously denied the request to approve parking, but Mr. Meyers, who has an air B n B style apartment, and whose wife owns a business in the front portion of the property (at 102 N. Main), told the council he had obtained permission from US Bank for one parking spot to accommodate his needs for the apartment/hospitality suite he has recently renovated. The problem lies in the fact that the city does not have clear guidelines/codes regarding these types of structures/residences. Councilman Cameron Jackson asked that the matter be tabled until the city attorney could help develop a policy regarding these. Mayor Moberly thanked Mr. Meyers for providing the extra information. Later in the council session, Councilman Jackson said he was able to do a simple Google search and come up with at least six places in Clinton which potentially fall into the same category of listing Mr. Meyers had inquired about. “I don’t think Mr. Meyers should be penalized for trying to come to us and do this the right way,” said Councilman Jackson.
Gary Cox, Jr., who spoke at the previous council meeting about the mowing problems at Englewood Cemetery, again spoke to the council in a personal address. “It looks 75% better,” he said. “But, there are still areas with weeds around the stones and in other areas [where previously mowed] they are coming back.” He also suggested the cemetery grounds staff use a rake or bagger system to deal with the wind-rows that have developed from the previous mowing. He also said he just wanted to follow-up and was hopeful there would not be these issues again next year.
The second readings of three bills (Bills Nos. 2022-15, 16, and 17) were held; all were adopted by the council.
Councilman Cameron Jackson gave the Public Works report. The city-wide clean up (fee holiday at the transfer Station) will take place later than normal. The potential dates for this will be re-evaluated in one month’s time.
Only one actuator is remaining for installation at the Waster Water Treatment Plant, and it is scheduled to arrive in mid-October. After that one is installed, Waste Waster will be back running at 100% (concerning the actuators).
It was noted that the sewershed surveillance project may be used in the future to help track viral material other than COVID (such as the flu). It was also noted that COVID materials are decreasing slightly and trending downward. Also at Waste Water, another water testing measurement will soon be required (state regulation) and the city will be following those guidelines/rules. The annual review for the operating permit at the plant is also under review with DNR. The cost estimate for the new testing is estimated to cost the city about $2,200 per year.
The flow-monitoring project (sewer lines) is still ongoing: it is expected that a full report will be available by early October.
Resolution 27-2022, regarding the renewal of the agreement between the city and Alliance Water Resource (the operators of the Waster Water Plant) was approved: there was a 6.8% increase in the fees charged to the city (the cost to operate increased). Although no one on the council argued that the cost of living raises, etc. that play into that agreement’s rise in cost was out of line, a few council people (Councilman Gene Henry, for instance) argued that the timing of the relay of that information was late as the budget sessions had already passed. It was not made clear, however, if that information was actually known at the time of the budget sessions or not.
The council approved the Clinton Youth Baseball request to move games from Optimist Park to the Wagoner West fields to accommodate the need for more room (because of increased interest in the program).
The Artesian Park Bathhouse (for the outdoor pool) bids will be due September 28: the Public Works Committee will review those bids submitted on that day as well. Also, Westport Construction won the bid for the Hurt Park renovation project(s): they were the sole bid and it was for $84,000. It should be noted that it has been a few decades since any real improvements have been made at the park; the council approved the bid.
The Franklin Street Bridge has been removed: the gas lines associated with the bridge removal were scheduled to be relocated later in the week and a plan for temporary pumping is being developed for when the sewer lines through the bridge area are moved. The sewer line found during the bridge removal and was an unexpected “find.”
A design update for the Vansant Road improvement project is still in the data gathering stage: recently, a drone was used in a fly-over of the proposed road to help gather the information needed to incorporate into the plans. Also: the loader that was to be sold at Cook Auction did, indeed, sell. It brought $41,500 – more than anticipated.
The property that was the topic of discussion at the previous council meeting (217 North Sixth) is now in Code Enforcement hands.
Mowing at Englewood was discussed: Councilman Jackson reported the major problem with the mowing concerns is that the cemetery staff is running at 50%. Solutions were considered (such as contracting the mowing out), however, the more permanent solution is to raise the part-time pay to help lure in more potential employees. There was a lengthy discussion about employee salaries and how the increase at one department may affect other departments, but in the end the council approved the advertisement of an increased pay for the cemetery part-time position(s) for the 2023 mowing season. It was noted the increase would still stay within the approved budget.
The matter of a conditional use permit for a communications tower (at 1106 South Second) was tabled pending the revision of the original application.
The Public Safety Report was given by Councilman Gene Henry: the permit for the Homecoming Parade was approved by the council and a matter related to the zoning codes for structure heights was not discussed as it pertained to the conditional permit for the communications tower.
The Finance Committee report was given by Councilman Daniel Wilson. The Hurt Park renovations were approved early in the council meeting, and so not discussed. Authorization for advertisements for the Gerhart Industrial Park’s farm lease was approved. There are provisions in the lease should the property sell while being leased. Councilman Wilson updated the council about the 2023 health insurance plans: they are currently working with Mike Keith Insurance about that.
A discussion about comp time payouts was held: it was proposed that the payout be at the end of September instead of the end of December. The reasoning behind this is to “clean the books” as the city’s fiscal year ends at the end of September. Their were some objections as to this: Councilman Jackson believed the early payout may be unfair to the employees – Councilman Gene Henry echoed that dissent. However, despite both of them voting “no” the remaining council voted “yes” and the change was approved.
The Mayor reported that the groundbreaking event for Capri – originally scheduled for Wednesday – has been postponed. The Governor was supposed to be present, but a conflict in scheduling led to him having to cancel his appearance. Because of that, the CEO of Transcontinental decided to move the event to a time which would accommodate his schedule.
New business for the council included approving a request from Cub Scout Pack 430 to use the Benson Center grounds for an event.
The Clinton City Council entered into executive session at about 6:45 pm.
