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City Engineer Discusses KDOT Grant Information

City Engineer, John Cashatt, spoke to the Beloit City Council during the work session portion of their meeting Tuesday night to explain how the two KDOT grants the City of Beloit recently applied for will be implemented.

Cashatt told the council several years ago the City of Beloit agreed to take over the maintenance of the portion of Highway 14 that runs within the city limits. This made the city eligible to receive special funds as a benefit from the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) he explained.

There are two types of projects available through KDOT, Cashatt said. The first is a City Connecting Links Resurfacing Program Grant, or KLINK Grant. This grant is strictly for maintenance and nothing else. If the city were awarded this grant, KDOT would pay 75 percent of the cost up to $200,000. The estimated total cost of this project would be $200,000 making the city's 25 percent be $50,075 with KDOT paying the remaining $200,000.

The other project is the KDOT Geometric Improvement Grant. The total construction cost of this project would be $683,760. The city's share of this project would be $128,000 and would be funded through the city's 2016 capital improvement projects budget. KDOT's share of the cost would be $750,000.

This project would start at Joe Schmidt's north drive and run north 1090 feet to where the drainage ditch comes down from the Super 8 and intersects with the highway. This would raise the valley floor about two feet and put a bigger box structure beneath it. The pavement will be 10" concrete with curb and gutters. A ditch will be constructed from the Super 8 ditch to the new box, Cashatt said.

The question was asked as to why they are applying for both grants. Cashatt said what the City will decide to do depends on whether they get funded for both grants or not. Both announcements will be made at the same time and it usually takes about 3 months to get the decision back. The city may want to go ahead and apply for funding to put the concrete back in down to Thompson Tire, he said.

Councilman Kent Miller asked if Cashatt thought there was a good chance the city would get both grants. Cashatt said he wouldn't want to bet the ranch on it because KDOT is very short of funds due to all the other projects they have had to fund. He said this project would not be at the bottom of the list. Cashatt, along with Mike Haeffele, Director of Transportation and Streets, and City Administrator Glenn Rodden, spoke with a KDOT representative and he agreed that this is a very necessary project so this was encouraging, Engineer Cashatt said. This was an information only item so no decisions were made.

City Administrator Rodden discussed the Automated Meter Reading system contract the City has with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE). City staff is requesting the council consider amending this contract. The City of Beloit was originally approved for a KDHE loan in the amount of $515,000. Mueller Systems gave the city a bid of $75,215 for installation of the water meters, which would use the entire amount of the KDHE loan, and the City of Beloit, would still be responsible to pay for the installation of the new water meters. If the council agrees to have Mueller systems install the water meters they will still be $8,000 under budget. However, they will need to amend the KDHE loan agreement to include the installation. Rodden would like to get the contract amended this week.

If Mueller installs the meters they will have the project finished in 45 working days. It the city crews do the work it will take them at least 6 months of continuous work to get this completed. Rodden will get the contract amended and bring it back to the May 15 meeting. He said the amount approved at tonight's meeting would be $13,000 less than the present contract amount. The total contract amount of $791,452.67 is for the complete system, the software and all the hardware necessary for the meters.

Since there was a question earlier in the regular agenda portion of the meeting as to why the full amount of the system was listed in the Accounts Payable detailed listing. Rodden assured the council the check would not be written to Mueller Systems until the contract has been amended and approved by the council. Councilman Lloyd Littrell had earlier questioned why the full amount was listed as paid out. Rodden explained that the city sends the amount to KDHE and they reimburse them. They do not cut a check when the city is awarded the grant. Littrell asked that this amount be listed as a non-budgeted item and be taken out of the capitol gains fund and not out of the line item account. The council voted 8 to 0 to make this change.

During the formal actions portion of the agenda the Council voted 8 to 0 to approve the creation of a real Estate Disposition Initiative Committee as recommended my Mayor Tom Naasz which is: Development Director, Murray McGee; City Administrator, Glenn Rodden; Planning Commissioner, Jeff Chrisman; and Council members Kent Miller and Matt Otte. The purpose of this committee is to dispose of the property located on the North Campus following the policy guidelines.

City Administrator, Rodden recommended the Council approve the Mayor's appointment of Sharon Treaster for a position on the Planning Commission. Treaster was the only person who filed an expression of interest form. She will be representing people who live within the three-mile area around the City of Beloit.

Bob Richards questioned if the position had been advertised so other people were aware of it. Mayor Naasz said, the position has been open for some time and no other applicants applied. The position was brought to a vote with the appointment being approved 6 to 3 with Councilmen Bob Richards, Pat Struble and Kent Miller casting the "No" votes.

The final discussion item in the work session was a request by three homeowners to remove any existing sidewalks. These requests were from Mr. And Mrs. Don Stroede of 806 E. Court; Reiter Land Co. LLC; and Mr. And Mrs. Gerald Harr, 730 E. Court. City Code Officer, Chris Jones, was present and presented information surrounding each of the three requests.

Jones provided the Council members with a copy of Ordinance No. 1927 in the Beloit City Code which was adopted in September 2000 and regulates sidewalk repair and spells out the duty of property owners and actions the City may take if the terms of this regulation are not followed.

After much discussion it was determined the Ordinance is still in effect and the City Code Officer is to see that it is followed. Jones said he wants to go after all those who have sidewalks in disrepair before going after those who have already removed their sidewalks. The Council discussed how they could reinstate the Sidewalk Reimbursement Program that was used in the past and how that could be done. No decision was made on this situation, as this was a discussion item only.

In his City Administrator Report Rodden gave the following information:
The Mill Street Project is still moving along and they are still dealing with the Insurance issue. An insurance investigator has been here checking out the situation. He will be here this week to talk to property owners who were affected by the situation so the City has no final decision on this issue. About 25 people tuned in damage reports of dirt, mud, and sewage problems.

The Grand opening of the new swimming pool will take place over Memorial Day weekend. John Devine, Salina, Chief Facilitator, who sets up meeting retreats with City Council members can be here on Wednesday, June 20 and Thursday, June 21, if this works for the Council members. These meetings take place in the Firehouse meeting room with dinner at 7 p.m. followed with discussions from 7 until the meeting closes. City Department Heads will be invited to come and join the discussions on the second evening, Rodden said.

The new Port Library is planning to move their equipment and books at the end of this month and is asking for volunteers to help them move into the new facility.

Work at the power plant is moving forward and hope to have that in place by the end of the month. The City hasn't received a contract from the National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) on the area where the banks of the Solomon River need to be reinforced.

All of the homes in the Crown Homes project are filled at the present time. City is talking to them about building more homes with the city limits. They are working on the walking trail at the present time but this may stop when NCKTC classes are out and students go home for the summer, Rodden told the Council.

Mayor Naasz adjourned the meeting.

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Beloit, KS 67420, USA