Beloit City Council
Tuesday, April 3, 2018
By Terry Bailey
The City Councilors met at City Hall Tuesday evening to conduct the business of the City. All Councilors were present. Also attending the meeting was Mayor Tom Naasz, City Manager Jason Rabe, City Attorney Katie Schroeder, and City Clerk Amanda Lomax.
City Attorney Katie Schroeder explained the bill before the legislature which regulates amusement rides. This concerns the City of Beloit because the water slide at the pool is considered an amusement ride by law. Slides over 30 feet in length will be taxed and regulated more closely. Fortunately, the Beloit slide is less than 30 feet. Schroeder also said that it appears as if the Internet sales tax bill is dead.
Jason Rabe said the combined water boards will meet on April 12th to discuss issues and then each of the representatives will go back to their respective boards to disseminate the information.
Rabe said he will soon have a phone conversation with the KDHE specialist to report the latest test results for Beloit’s water. His next actions depend on what she says and how she says it.
Katie Schroeder presented the Council with three options from which to choose for a new dog ordinance. Option A keeps the breed specific ban in place and updates the vicious dog language of the ordinance. Option B uses breed specific language and identifies a Rottweiler and a Pit Bull as dangerous animals and updates the vicious dog language. Option C eliminated the breed specific ban and updates the vicious dog language.
Schroeder has researched this issue very seriously and presented three options for the Council to choose from. Each option addressed proper fencing, micro chipping, registration, and other nuts and bolts specifics of owning a vicious dog and the consequences of not following the applicable code. Only passing mention was made to the owner’s obligation to caring for any animal in a safe and humane fashion.
Councilor Andrew Grabon made a motion to accept Option C as the new Dog Ordinance for the City of Beloit. His motion was seconded by Lee McMillan. Voting yes on the motion were McMillan, Lloyd Littrell, Andrew Grabon, and Matt Otte. Voting no were Kent Miller and Tony Gengler. The motion passed by a 4-2 vote.
Melody Kelso, founding director of the Pet Connection, commented, “I was very impressed that the council listened to what the citizens wanted and made a decision that was good for Beloit.”
A discussion of replacing Yield Signs with Stop Signs at locations where drivers seem to ignore the Yield command and instead seem too often speed right through the intersection. The Council unanimously voted to change the current Yield signs at Court and Pine Streets and at 14th and Bell Streets to STOP signs. This will take effect as soon as the details are worked out but the change should take effect within two weeks.
The Council adopted a Resolution to declare the existence of an unfit structure at 511 East South Street. Attorney Schroeder will initiate the appropriate paperwork.
A bid from Fouts Insurance was accepted for the city’s insurance.
A bid of $48,358 was accepted for the Airport Fuel System. There was three bids for the system.
Rabe provided the Council with new figures for the Court Street drainage project. The previous bid number of $91,752 for supplies has been downsized to $86,150. The work will begin in the Boettcher’s parking lot and go to the south to a position near South Street. Rumor has it that Brett Wichers will be creating a special burger with a creative name to honor the project.
Rabe discussed the possible details about the next stage of the K-14 highway project. The next segment will take place on both sides of the bridge project that was completed in the past. The work will not take place until 2021.
The business meeting was adjourned and the work session was called to order.
The Council has recently observed the operation of two different street sweepers. The current sweeper was purchased in 1985 and its effectiveness is seriously compromised by age. The RAVO unit with straight line suction seemed to be the preferred unit. This comes with a price tag in the neighborhood of $200,000 depending upon the accessories desired. A lease/purchase program is available to spread the cost of the unit over several years. Rabe will have a more firm proposal in the near future.
The Council once again revisited the dumpster-in-the yard issue. It seems as if some people have a need to have a dumpster because of a high volume of stuff one puts in a dumpster. At one time there were 25-30 problematic dumpsters. The number has now dropped to 5 or 6.
The final topics of the evening was comprehensive cemetery ordinance compiled by City Attorney Schroeder. There is no singular ordinance that addresses all the issues relating to cemeteries. There is this and that here and there but there is no one ordinance that speaks to the entire topic.
The Council will review her proposed ordinance and deliberate over it at the next meeting.