Beloit City Council President, Matt Otte, presided over the Beloit City Council meeting Tuesday evening in the absence of Beloit Mayor Tom Naasz. All eight members of the council were present.
As listed under formal actions on last night's agenda the Beloit City Council members discussed the recommendation made by Administrator Glenn Rodden that they approve the letter drafted by the City Attorney Katie Cheney in accordance with the wishes of the council at their November 6 meeting. The letter is to be sent to the Mill Street property owners who sustained a loss in the flooding that occurred on April 14, 2012 to inform them that the city is not willing to compensate property owners for any damages that occurred during the flood in April.
The letter states EMC Insurance Companies, the City's insurance company, has conducted an investigation and has determined the City was not negligent in its actions taken prior to and on April 14, 2012. The City's engineer has conducted an investigation and has determined the City followed appropriate and standard procedures prior to and on April 14, 2012 so the City of Beloit denies responsibility for the loss sustained by the flooding. During the November 6, 2012 meeting of the Beloit City Council they voted that the city would not render any payments for the loss sustained as a result of the flooding that occurred on April 14, 2012. After discussion at Tuesday night's meeting the decision on this issue was tabled.
The council approved the revised land contract from Mike Blass to purchase real estate on the North Campus by a vote of 7 to 1. Mr. Blass has decided he does want an option on lots eight and nine in the North Campus addition that he had previously not been interested in. The contract states the buyer shall pay the sum of $4,500 for Lot 8 and $5,715 for Lot 9 or a total sum of $10,215.00 at closing. The buyer will be entitled to immediate possession of the property upon the signing of the agreement by both parties.
Blass also has an option to purchase Lot seven of block eight and Lots fifteen and sixteen of block nine of the North Campus Addition for the sum of $1,500.00. The buyer may do so any time within two years of the closing date. Street improvement and utility line responsibilities are also designated in the contract.
The Council approved the radio bids received from Pierce Electronics, as submitted by Ronald Sporleder, Director of System Operations in the amount of $16,830.76 by a vote of 8 to 0. This was the only bid received. These radios are for the Electric Plant, Water Plant, Sewer Plant and Systems Operations Electric, Water and Sewer. None of the other departments wanted radios and plan to use cell phones. By Federal mandate requirement all radios used need to broadcast on narrow band by January 1, 2013. The radios presently in use are not capable of being converted, Sporleder said.
The Council approved the sale of the North Campus House Contract to Brad Smith for $1,000.00 based on the agreement that was approved at a previous council meeting by a vote of 8 to 0.
The Council approved the engineering agreement with Schwab Eaton Engineering for the City Connecting Links Resurfacing Program Grant from the Kansas Department of Transportation by a vote of 8 to 0. There is no direct cost for this action, however if the city were awarded this grant then the city would contribute 25 percent of the total estimated project cost of $100,000. Funding for this project would come from the city's 2013 capital improvement projects fund which ha a balance of $214,387.67.
KDOT has agreed to let the City of Beloit combine two KLINK Grants and bid the project in early 2013. The city engineer recommends that the two projects be combined because he believes the city will get more competitive bids. This project consists of a mill and overlay on K-14 beginning where the new concrete pavements ends and going north to US Highway 24.
A revised agenda showed a late addition to the formal actions by a bid on the new furnace for the Municipal Building. The item was tabled in order to allow time to obtain more bids.
Jessica Rosebaugh was chosen to receive the Employee of the Quarter Award. Rosebaugh is an administration-billing clerk in the city office and was commended for her extraordinary work during the mass change over of the city water meters.
The Council approved the hiring of Tony Salcido to the Beloit Fire Department as recommended by Fire Chief Steve Rugg by a vote of 8 to 0.
During the work session that followed the adjournment of the regular meeting, the third quarter Treasurer's report was discussed and City Attorney and City Administrator Reports were made.
Discussion items included in the work session included a copy of the first draft of the employee compensation study based on the statewide survey made by Austin Peters. The first draft of an early retirement program was discussed. This program would allow employees who qualify for retirement under KPERS, but are not yet the retirement age of 65 to do so.
Also, on the list for discussion were the North Campus Leases. The council members were given a summary of the leases the city currently has for the buildings on the North Campus. The lease the city has with the school system has expired but they have filed a letter stating they wish to continue the current lease. Administrator Rodden recommended the council negotiate a new lease with the school system that would start in June 2013. This action will be placed on a future agenda for the council to make a decision on this issue.