Grant City Council Meeting: Around $20,000 Raised for Pool Renovation Project

Economic Developer Charity Austin reported to the council that people had donated over $18,000 for the pool renovation project so far. The council met with Auditor David Rowe to discuss how best the city could manage the project. He said that it was best if the city oversaw the project since the city owns the pool; therefore, he said that all the money had to come through the city. He said that it was OK for the city to transfer the $25,000 that they pledged from the Street Light Fund since it was a transfer to a user-based account. This brings the total amount pledged from city and private donors combined to $43,000. Persons wanting to make a donation can send it to the WCPO Pool Fund at PO Box 53, Grant City, MO 64456.
After the meeting, even more money was raised; Austin told the Sheridan Express that the fundraiser dinner before the Draft Horse Pull Sunday brought in another $1,500 in donations; she estimated that the amount of money donated to the pool project was close to $20,000 as of Monday.
Austin said that she planned to send out even more fundraising letters; she said that she had already sent out 250 fundraising letters to Worth County Alumni for the pool renovations. She said that Brock Pfost was willing to donate some of the piping for the project and that volunteer crews were working. Becky McElvain of the Pool Renovation Committee reported to the Express in an e-mail that the Worth County Football Team had worked on the pool Wednesday night; a new blog has been started to report on progress of the renovations. The address is http://www.grantcitypool.blogspot.com/. There will be work nights every Tuesday and Thursday nights; weekends might be added as work nights as well.
Rowe said that the city would have to keep track of volunteer hours performed and that the project would fall under prevailing wage guidelines, but City Attorney David B. Parman said that the Division of Labor was not going to care in Grant City’s case since there were no unions involved in the project.
The council voted to approve the contract with Snyder and Associates for the Downtown Renovation Project.
Public Works Director Carl Staton told the council that the city had put in a new fire hydrant by Worth County lumber, put in a tube by Bob Wilson’s, and had fixed some of the signs that were torn up by the vandalism sprees this year. He said that it would take a lot of loads of clay to fix up the baseball diamond; the city has agreed to donate labor to the project and Staton said he would meet with Chuck Borey to discuss what was needed. He reported that the work on the streets would start next week; he said that the city would need to fix McKinney Street, which has ruts, a sand base, no crown, and extensive truck traffic.
The council discussed doing level billing for gas customers and discussed the rules. Customers must have had a 12-month history, and delinquencies would null and void the contract. They would run for a 12-month period with refunds at the end of the 12-month period. Currently, the city is doing a trial run starting in August to work out any glitches in the system. Parman and council members said the plan would help with residents on fixed incomes who were having trouble paying high heating bills during the winter months by avoiding bills of as high as $350. City Attorney David Parman said that he would draw up a proposed contract for the council to look at next meeting.
The council voted to accept a bid for tire mulch for the pool park from Entire Recycling for $6,144.32 which was the only bidder for the project. There were two $500 donations to the project, which means that the Park Board will have almost $1,000 left over. Councilwoman Linda Phipps was not present; Cathy James made the motion to accept the bid. But councilmen Bruce Downing and Doug Pickering, who voted against donating the money at the last meeting, refused to second the motion; Mayor Debbie Roach reached Phipps by phone and Phipps seconded the motion, which resulted in a 2-2 split. Roach cast the tiebreaking vote in favor of the bid. The Park Board subsequently scheduled a work day on Saturday, August 2nd at 8:30 a.m. to put in the mulch; the board is calling for volunteers for the project. (Ad, Page 10)
Clerk Ayvonne Morin reported that the city did not receive any bids for the debris management plan; she said that she would note that in the city’s FEMA management book.
The council voted to donate $100 to the Worth County Fall Festival.
Councilman Bruce Downing asked why Windstream was not paying its franchise fees like Aquila/KCPL does with Grant City. "We have to give the phone company right of way and work around their phone lines," he said. "They are collecting a tax in our name, but the city is not getting a dime." City Attorney David Parman said that he would look into the matter.