The Beloit City Council met last night and had a full agenda for their meeting. Among other items, the council recognized outgoing and incoming council members and reviewed and approved items of formal action. They also discussed items in their work session after the formal meeting had adjourned.
The council began the process of rolling new members into the group by offering appreciation to Pat Struble and Frank Delka for their service to the city, the council, and to the constituents in their wards. Pat Struble expressed her appreciation to the people of the 2nd ward for their support while she represented them on the council and also pointed out all the goals that had been met in Beloit since she had served as a council person. Frank Delka said he learned a lot during his four years on the council. The two outgoing council members were also awarded with service plaques by City Administrator Glen Rodden as a token of appreciation from the city. New council members Charlene Abel and Tony Gengler were then sworn in along with re-elected council members Matt Otte and Bob Richard. Rick Brown was re-elected as council president.
Another topic discussed at the meeting was a grant that has been won by the city for housing. Community Development Director Heather Hartman addressed the council during the meeting to let them know that the city had received notification last week that Beloit has been awarded a grant in the amount of $442,000 to be used for housing improvements around the city. She also informed the council that several landlords in Beloit would be contributing to the efforts as well in the amount of $44,000. She said this would cover at least 15 housing units, but having enough work to fulfill this grant would not be a problem since she has received 50-55 applications for improvements to properties in Beloit so far. She also stated the need for a housing board that would consist of one council member, herself, and one member of the community so that the process of processing the applications can begin.
City Administrator Glen Rodden addressed the council to let them know that water quality has been a concern lately and that water mains would be flushed between April 21st and 25th.
One resolution addressed at last night's meeting was the passing of city officer appointments. City officers will be City Attorney Katie Cheney, Municipal Court Judge Bonnie Wilson, Health Officer Dr. Chris Marozas, official city newspaper the Beloit Call, City Engineer Steward Porter, Cemetery Endowment Board Jim Bell, Aaron Lampert, and Phil Roberts, Library Board Joyce McKinney and Lorraine Jensby, and Planning Commission Kathy Roberts.
Formal actions included the approval of the special event license request for Solomon Valley Raceway. Bids approved were a concrete pipe bid from Old Castle Pre-Cast of Topeka in the amount of $36,080.56 for work to be done at the North Campus, a storm sewer inlets bid in the amount of $16,265 also from Old Castle Pre-Cast, and an electrical transformer bid from Kriz-Davis Co. of Salina in the amount of $9,885. The council also addressed and approved three properties in need of nuisance abatement.
Items discussed during the city council's work session mainly centered on street improvements around the city, but continuing contact with KYLE Railroad to fix the poor driving conditions over their railroad tracks on the South end of Beloit was also a topic of discussion.