The Rock Port Board of Aldermen met Wednesday, June 20, 2018, at 6:00 p.m. at Rock Port City Hall with Mayor Chris Chamberlain presiding. Board members present were Ron Deatz, Lavon Paukert and Todd Stevens. Alderman Tim Taylor was absent. Also present were Utility Clerk Terri McGuire, City Superintendent Trevor Hale, Chief of Police Shannon Sherwood, Deputy Clerk Emily Schulte and City Clerk Ashtin Paris.
Mayor Chamberlain called the meeting to order.
Paukert moved to approve the meeting agenda. Deatz seconded. All votes aye.
Deatz moved to approve the May 16, 2018, and June 4, 2018, meeting minutes. Paukert seconded. All votes aye.
Stevens moved to approve the city financial statements, accounts payables, tax report, delinquent tax list, and all board and departmental reports. Paukert seconded. All votes aye.
Stevens moved to approve the utility financial statements, accounts payables, purchased power and water statements, take or pay water use report, water loss reports, Utility Clerk report and City Superintendent report. Paukert seconded. All votes aye.
Resolution 2018-02 Authorizing Mayor to sign an agreement with JEO was discussed. Alderman Stevens discussed the cost savings we will see due to the contract agreement revisions. The funds to pay this contract will come from the Pool Repair Fund. Stevens moved to approve Resolution 2018-02. Paukert seconded. All votes aye.
Resolution 2018-03 Authorizing Mayor to sign an agreement with Thiele Geotech, Inc. was discussed. This agreement will coincide with the JEO revised agreement in an effort to bring down costs. Deatz moved to approve Resolution 2018-02. Paukert seconded. All votes aye.
Stevens moved to table the offer from The Overland Group to purchase city-owned property. The city will have their attorney contact The Overland Group regarding modifications they would like to see in the contract. Deatz seconded. All votes aye.
Chief of Police Shannon Sherwood reported the property at 214 N. Market St. is almost cleaned up. Another property belonging to R. Pankau at 401 W. 2nd Street has begun generating complaints due to the number of junk vehicles. Chief Sherwood has spoken with the owner who plans to put a structure in place to cover all of the vehicles.
Chief of Police Shannon Sherwood reported 421 calls for the month of May which resulted in 41 reports and assistance of other agencies 17 times. The department also issued 17 citations and 10 arrests were made.
All three officers will be out on the 4th of July. In the future, Chief Sherwood would like to have wristbands be a clause within the City of Rock Port’s special event alcohol permit. It would make identifying individuals of legal drinking age much easier for law enforcement during city events.
City Clerk Ashtin Paris reported that her last day with the city will be on July 20, 2018.
City Superintendent Trevor Hale reported that the Calhoun Street project is now complete. Next will be the chip-seal project. Once that is complete they will likely take a break from redoing streets in order to get caught up on other projects that have been put off due to equipment issues, project setbacks and recent storms. The city has also been experiencing some lift station issues. Westrum Leak Detection had a difficult time identifying current leaks. One was fixed near the school and another on Bluff Street, but it has since broken back open and been repaired for the second time.
Superintendent Hale also believes a hydrovac could be beneficial for the city to own. When brought in by other companies they have shown to do the job in a fraction of the time we could accomplish it with increased safety benefits for our workers. Not only would the hydrovac prove useful with street and utility projects, but it would eliminate several days of man hours in regards to maintenance at the city pool. If one could be budgeted the city could then sell the current sewer jet, which is over 25 years old. A new vendor located out of Council Bluffs has options in both a 400 and 800 gallon tank.
Superintendent Hale discussed the city’s equipment as a whole. Most equipment is very old with a lot of it on the brink of needing to be replaced. Per requests from the aldermen, an equipment schedule will be submitted at next month’s meeting. The old grader was sold earlier today with only the old street sweeper still for sale.
Superintendent Hale discussed the effect all the recent storms have had around town. There has been a great deal of tree clean-up along with calls of limbs laying on lines. Next year’s budget will likely include hiring out for city tree trimming. The electrical upgrade is in the final phases and a walkthrough will take place June 21. The city will have to do a final outage that will affect all customers. This outage will take around four hours and will hopefully take place during the night. All customers will receive a two week notice and they will do their best to schedule for a day with lower temperatures. Hale would also like to see the training budget going towards getting J. Baucom lineman trained, which would bring them up to having three on staff.
Stevens moved to review the budget to see if it can be adjusted to allow for Superintendent Hale to rent a hydrovac for the remainder of the year. Funds are not to exceed $1,200 a month and a stipulation should be added with an option to purchase at year’s end with full amount paid from rent being applied to the purchase price. Paukert seconded. All votes aye.
Stevens moved to allow Superintendent Hale to purchase the Toolcat as budgeted for the year. Deatz seconded. All votes aye.
Utility Clerk Terri McGuire and Superintendent Hale reported the estimated annual usage for the water was 38 million gallons, but we’ve only been seeing usage around 32 million gallons. The deficit is building and the City will need to decide whether or not a rate increase is the best option.
Alderwoman Lavon Paukert reported the Tourism Board is having a meeting with J. Jones regarding the state of the Wind Turbine Look-Out. They will be discussing his current contract for services between him and the board regarding maintenance.
Alderman Todd Stevens requested that the board review the city’s tree trimming ordinances next month. As the new electrical system upgrades are being completed, we need to ensure the new assets are being protected. Cutting back trees is going to be a major piece of asset protection as we move forward.
Mayor Chris Chamberlain reminded Superintendent Hale to be sure the workers from city-wide cleanup receive their gift cards as a sign of appreciation for their work. He’s also heard a complaint from a citizen about a drainage tube that needs to be replaced, but understands it is not high on the priority list of current work orders.
Mayor Chamberlain wanted to extend his appreciation to Chief Sherwood for his efforts in getting all of the nuisance properties around town cleaned up. It was also noted that there have been complaints of large fireworks being set off around town. He is grateful for Chief Sherwood continuing to be on the lookout for these individuals as fireworks are only allowed to be shot off in city limits July 1-5 from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
Mayor Chamberlain invited anyone interested to attend his Community Council meeting June 21 at City Hall. He also mentioned that MoDOT doesn’t plan to drop the speed by the interstate after their studies. Finally, the Mayor expressed interest in doing more appreciation nights in the fall since the ones in spring were well received. He’s looking for suggestions on other groups to spotlight.
Stevens moved to adjourn. Paukert seconded. All votes aye.