COUNCIL MEETING
Tuesday August 15, 2017
The Board of Aldermen held a regular meeting on Tuesday, August 15, 2017, at 7:00 PM. Those present included Mayor Greg Richmond, Alderpersons Calvin Wilson, Keith Kohley and Alice Kezar. Also present were City Supervisor David Brodie, Emergency Management Director Denis Kolb, Tax Collector Meghan Sexson and City Clerk Karla McNorton. Also present were Lois Kolb, Jared Mackall and Sally Carrol from the McDonald County Press.
The Mayor called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M. He noted Ald. Johnson was not present
The Board discussed the regular meeting minutes from August 1, 2017. Ald. Kezar moved to approve the minutes from the regular meeting held on August 1, 2017. Ald. Wilson seconded. Ald. Kohley, Kezar and Wilson voted aye with 0 nays.
The Board discussed averaging Earline Wilson’s water bill. Kathy Wilson read a letter that noted she believed there was a leak on Wednesday evening. On his time off, City Supervisor Brodie came over and turned the water off after verifying there was a water leak. Kathy received the water bill of over $300.00. Kathy came to City Hall and City Clerk McNorton explained how to go about getting her bill averaged and it would be $116.35 with the 20% of the original bill. David went again in August to check the leak (without being asked to) and discovered additional water usage had been used while the house was empty at that time. It was discovered there was another leak. Kathy had both leaks fixes and asked the Board to average her bill. The Mayor noted that since she has had another leak after the last reading, it would be a good idea to hold off on averaging until we know if her bill will be high again and both months may need to be averaged. He also noted there was not a proper voting Board on the issue since two of the members are related and one member is not present. It was agreed by all parties to table the issue until the next meeting with no late fee assessed or the water disconnected.
Mayor Richmond noted the he and the office staff have discussed getting a credit card machine for some time now. It was noted that a lot of people have come in and wanted to pay by debit or credit card and are frustrated the city is not able to accept them in house. McNorton noted she had asked Matt Osborn from First Community Bank to come and explain the types of machines available that the city could use for water, meter, court and tax collection payments. Matt explained that most people are now using credit cards more than anything else to make their monthly payments and there are several types of machines available. Matt noted he thinks the cities best option would be the first Data FD130 machine that would put the money directly into each account and runs about $350.00. The City would purchase the machine and get the accounts set up with the initial cost being around $500.00 to start. The monthly cost would be around $10.65 a month for each account and then on the 3rd of the month the Merchant Card Fees are charged. Those fees are what the credit card companies charge based on the risk of the cards you will be accepting payments for, and that is anywhere from 2.5% to 3.5%. Matt noted the machine City Clerk McNorton was interested in for the office is a Point of Sale mini unit that runs about $350.00 to purchase the machine and there will also be the once a month fee of around $30.00 a month since it is only one account and a once a month Merchant Card Fee of 2.5% to 3.5% as well. You can set up the one account for the credit card payments only as the mini has the option to print reports to see where the payments go for each account and is the only machine that has that option, (besides the full version for $1500.00) that the City would need for the volume it will see. Matt also noted a convenience fee can be charged to help offset the cost of the monthly fees. Karla Also explained she had spoken to Patti from Nick Myers, CPA and it would be alright to have one account for the cards as long as the reporting showed what account the money was to be transferred to and we could do transfers once a month. After a brief discussion, it was agreed to do more research through Mick Myers office and other Cities to find out which option would be best for accounting purposes. The discussion was tabled.
Old Business: City Clerk McNorton noted she had spoken by email with Marilyn Ponder from Empire about the tree giveaway. There are 5 different types of trees at a total of 240 trees. The property owners will have to reserve the trees through a web site (we will put the link on our website and on Facebook) and the City will need to pick a day in November to have the trees picked up. The tree giveaway will be noted on the October water bill about the giveaway. It will be in November because we are going to put it on the DNR Water Fee on the September bill. Empire has also planned on putting it in the McDonald County Press to get the word out. It was also discussed having the Board plant a tree in the park. The Board would need to decide which tree and which date in November to plant the tree and do the giveaway. There is Chinese Dogwood, Prairie fire Crabapple, Shortleaf Pine, Swamp White Oak and Tulip tree. After a brief discussion, it was agreed to have the Board plant a tulip tree and do the giveaway for the citizens on November 4th around 12:00 P.M. or 1:00 P.M. City Clerk McNorton will find out if that date and time is good with Empire for the giveaway and get back with the Board. The discussion was tabled.
New Business: Ald. Kohley brought up the cities 10th Annual Employee BBQ and noted we normally have it in September. After a brief discussion, it was agreed to have it on September 24th at 2:00 P.M. and to have Redneck Restaurant do the meat again this year.
Citizens Business: there was none,
Department head reports:
Curt Drake- Not present
Denis Kolb- Nothing to report
David Brodie- David told the Board he got a quote from Mellon and Associates about the valve at the treatment plant. For the valve and pneumatic actuator also needed, it will be $2000.00, not including shipping. Ald. Wilson moved to approve getting the valve and pneumatic actuator for the treatment plant at a total of $2500. Ald. Kohley seconded. Ald. Kohley, Kezar and Wilson voted aye with 0 nays.
David then noted that he will need to go to a class in Springfield on September 12, 2017 for Chemical Spills Response as the EPA and OSHA have made it mandatory for state and local governments. The cost of the class is $150.00.
Ald. Wilson moved to approve David going to the Chemical Spills Response class in Springfield for a total of $150.00. Ald. Kezar seconded. Ald. Kohley, Kezar and Wilson voted aye with 0 nays.
David then brought him and David had cleaned up the pad at the ballpark and the Community Building still had a whole wall, part of another wall, trusses and boards with nails in them and some tin still lying at the site. JR Fisher has picked up most of it and he doesn’t think that Marshall Long has picked up that much. David noted that JR and Marshall need contacted that we need it removed before the Ozark Orchard Festival next month. City Clerk McNorton is to contract JR and Marshall and give them a week from Friday to get it Cleaned up or David will have to do something with it. The discussion was tabled.
Meghan Sexson- Meghan noted that the Tax sale has been in the paper for three weeks. The tax sale is August 28, 2017 and she has had only 2 people pay. She also noted she has emailed the list of delinquent personal property taxes to City Attorney Duane Cooper and hopes people start paying those soon. There were 34 on the list.
Karla McNorton- Brought up needing a new copier for the office. The copier is 15 years old and has been having issues with paper jamming for quite a while and on the 4th it started printing copies of nothing. She had Lakeland (who we have used for many years and this is through a state contract) come and give her a price on a new copier. Right now the city is set up on a service contract of 2500 copies at $51.80 a month. The city averages 3686 copies a month bringing the average monthly amount to $71.79, with a two drawer copier that will print/scan/copy/fax black and white and color for $4138.00. They will give us $500.00 for our copier, making it $3638.00 or we can lease it for $75.00 a month for 60 months or we can get two extra drawers for $4237.00 or $88.00 a month to lease. The service contract would be $35.00 a month for either option we choose. Karla noted she would like to have 4 drawers because the water bill cards now are legal size, so we keep them in one drawer all the time, leaving us with one drawer. For the 4 drawer copier, it would $123.00 total, with the service contract and we own it in five years or we can trade it in before then and start leasing a newer one. After a brief discussion, Ald. Wilson moved to get the 4 drawer copier under the lease option of $88.00 a month plus the service contract. Ald. Kohley seconded. Ald. Kohley, Kezar and Wilson voted aye with 0 nays.
McNorton then noted that the 2nd Comprehensive meeting is Tuesday August 22nd at 7:00 P.M.
Mayor Richmond then noted he wanted to verify if needed, that the Ozark Orchard Festival still had approval for the $1000.00 the Board agreed to at the Budget Meetings. It was agreed by the Board it was still available.
Mayor Richmond then noted First Community Bank committed to $500.00 and he has been trying to get with Mr. Cooper at Cornerstone and has not has success getting in touch. Tax Collector Sexson noted she would get ahold of Mr. Cooper and see about a donation to the Ozark Orchard Festival.
Mayor Richmond also noted that he had received information about Livable Streets. It has been adopted by Anderson, Pineville and several other cities. It has to do with agreeing to make certain improvements when construction is taking place.
The Board discussed the bills in the amount of $37,759.34 including transfers. Ald. Kezar moved to approve the bills in the amount of $37,759.34 including transfers. Ald. Kohley seconded. Ald. Johnson, Kohley, Kezar and Wilson voted aye with 0 nays.
Ald. Kohley moved to adjourn the meeting. Ald. Wilson seconded. Ald. Johnson, Kohley, Kezar and Wilson voted aye with 0 nays.