COUNCIL MEETING
Tuesday December 2, 2014 at 7:00 PM at the
Goodman City Hall
December 2, 2014
Regular Board Meeting
The Board of Aldermen held a regular meeting on Tuesday night December 2, 2014 at 7:00 PM. Those present included Mayor Greg Richmond, Alderpersons Calvin Wilson, Bill Hess, Keith Kohley and Alice Kezar. Also present were City Supervisor David Brodie, Emergency Management Director Denis Kolb, City Tax Collector and City Clerk Paula Brodie. Guests included Rita Green from the McDonald County Press and Lois Kolb.
The Mayor called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM.
The Board of Aldermen discussed the minutes from the regular meeting on November 18, 2014. Ald. Wilson moved to approve the minutes from the regular meeting on November 18, 2014. Ald. Kohley seconded. Ald. Kohley, Wilson, Hess and Kezar voted aye with 0 nays.
The Board discussed the minutes from the special budget meeting held on December 1, 2014. Ald. Hess moved to approve the minutes from the special budget meeting on December 1, 2014. Ald. Kohley seconded. Ald. Hess, Kohley, Kezar and Wilson voted aye with 0 nays.
Citizen Business:
The Board discussed renewing their contract with Nick Myers to complete the 2014 audit. The amount for the 2014 audit will be between $8,660.00 and $9,010.00. Ald. Wilson moved to have the Mayor sign the engagement letter from Nick Myers for the 2014 Audit. Ald. Kezar seconded. Ald. Kohley, Kezar, Hess and Wilson voted aye with 0 nays.
The Mayor noted that it was time to set the Candidate Filing Dates from December 16th, 2014 to January 20th, 2015. Positions open are the Mayor, Tax Collector and one (1) Alderman from each ward for terms of 2 years. The Election will be held on April 7th, 2015. Ald. Kezar moved to set the candidate filing. Ald. Wilson seconded. Ald. Hess, Kohley, Kezar and Wilson voted aye with 0 nays.
The Board discussed the following old business.
1. The Clerk noted that none of the procedures for collecting and averaging water bills has ever been in ordinance form. She suggested the Board just set the procedures for handling high water bills due to leaks as a policy. If the policy works over a period of time they could then add it as an ordinance. The Board agreed not to put it in ordinance form at this time but to make it a policy instead. Ald. Wilson moved to approve the procedure for averaging high water bills as a policy to take effect on January 1, 2015. Ald. Kohley seconded. Ald. Hess, Kohley, Kezar and Wilson voted aye with 0 nays.
The Board discussed the following new business:
1. Amanda Edwards who lives at 210 W. Fields Street was present to discuss a leak they had and had repaired over the week end. She asked if the Board would be willing to average her water bill. She noted that the current bill is. $275.00 David suggested that the Board have them read the meter in the morning and average from that number. He said David had read the meters on Tuesday and if Ms. Edwards had not repaired the leak until this past weekend, her next bill would be high also. Ald. Wilson moved to have the meter read in the morning and then average Ms. Edwards’s water bill. Ald. Kohley seconded. Ald. Hess, Kohley, Kezar and Wilson voted aye with 0 nays.
2. The Mayor noted that in the past the Board had approved giving each employee, appointee and elected official a $40.00 Christmas gift. He asked if the Board wanted to approve doing that again this year. Ald. Kezar moved to give the city employees, elected officials and appointed employees a $40.00 Christmas gift. Ald. Wilson seconded. Ald. Hess, Kohley, Kezar and Wilson voted aye with 0 nays.
3. The Mayor pointed out that the budget for 2015 is complete and that during the budget meeting the board had agreed that the rate for water and sewer will need to be increased by $1.00 on the minimum water and sewer rate. He noted that the increase to each household would be a total of $24.00 per year. He noted that the reason for the increase was because of higher costs of operating and running of the water and wastewater system. He also noted that yearly the city’s auditor Nick Myers had told the Board that they needed to increase their rates to cover expenditures. The Mayor stated that the Board would be voting on the 2015 Budget twice at the next meeting because it had to be in place by December 31, 2014. He also stated that the ordinances for the increases will be voted on twice once on December 16, 2014 and once on January 6, 2015 and the increases would not be effective until the February billing.
The Board discussed the following old business:
1. The Mayor acknowledged Clyde Davidson to discuss the appointing of the next Recreation Board Director. Clyde stated that he was not on the Recreation Board anymore but he would be willing to help the Board find someone to be the next Recreation Board Director. He said the people that had been on the Recreation Board in the past would be willing to help but none of them want to be the next Recreation Board Director. Clyde agreed that he would make some inquiries and be at the next meeting to discuss it with the Board.
The following reports were given by the department heads:
Curt Drake-was not present.
Denis Kolb-stated he had nothing for the Board.
David Brodie- noted that the 30 year old altitude valve had quit working. He said he had it replaced. He said the tower had been full of water and now that the valve had been replaced he would be draining the tower and refilling it. He noted that Engineer Systems had completed the work and that the bill would be around $1800.00.
-noted that he had received bids on cleaning the clarifiers, one from Reddi Service for $4,950.00 per clarifier and one from Environmental Works for $3,500.00 per clarifier. He noted that Environmental Works has an office in Springfield and Reddi Services is out of Kansas City. He thought the difference in the bids was because the guys from Springfield can go home at night, and their mileage costs would be less. David also informed the board that he would contact whoever is going to clean the clarifiers when he gets the aerators so that he will be able to replace them while the tank is empty. He said that he would only be able to do one clarifier at a time. Ald. Wilson moved to have Environmental Works, out of Springfield clean the clarifiers at the cost of $7,000.00. Ald. Kohley seconded. Ald. Hess, Kohley, Kezar and Wilson voted aye with 0 nays.
Dawn Bunch –monthly reports were in the packets and she had nothing else to add.
Paula Brodie- noted that the Annual Goodman Christmas Parade is on December 13, 2014 at 1:00PM.
– noted the letter from Missouri Rural Water Assoc. regarding future training classes.
The Board discussed the bills including transfers in the amount of $15,148.71. Ald. Kezar moved to approve the bills including transfers in the amount of $15,148.71. Ald. Wilson seconded. Ald. Hess, Kohley, Kezar and Wilson voted aye with 0 nays.
Ald. Kohley moved to adjourn. Ald. Wilson seconded. Ald. Hess, Kohley, Kezar and Wilson voted aye with 0 nays.