Tyler Hann was named the building inspector for the city by a vote of the City Council. He will be classified as a part-time employee of the city and will be doing building inspections at a rate of $25 per inspection on an as-needed basis. He would inspect buildings for city ordinance violations as directed by the city. If Hann were unable to determine whether or not a building was in violation, the city would need to hire an engineer who would make that determination for the city. If the owner believes that their building is safe, then there would be a hearing before a building commission. The city council will act as the building commission in that case; there would be a public hearing. At the hearing, the burden of proof would be on the building owner to prove that their building was safe and in compliance with city ordinances.
The city met with Michel Goins of Midwest Data to renegotiate the contract between the two. The city will implement three-tiered pricing. The contract will run for five years with Midwest Data getting 85% of the revenues and the city getting 15% of the revenues. Support services would remain the same.
Andy Macias has inspected the west side of the Square for the city and an official report is on its way. Macias did so free of charge for the city. The cause of the fire has been undetermined. The city learned that it would take 20 days for the samples from the buildings were back. Nothing can be done regarding demolition until the reports are back. DNR would then need to sign off on demolition. The insurance comany would then put the insurance money for the owners into escrow until the cleanup was complete. Dennis Adams said that his coverage was for up to $25,000 in the event of such a disaster. The city withheld 10% of the insurance proceeds per property owner until cleanup was completed.
Should the samples test positive for asbestos or lead paint, then the inspector who tested for the asbestos would have to be on site during the entire cleanup for $30 per hour plus mileage. Nothing was burnt on the ground floor of Carquest. The council voted to issue a new building permit for Adams to rebuild his business across the street from Worth County Lumber. Adams subsequently met with Greg Miller of the water department as well as people from Davidson Construction to make plans for construction of the building.
The city voted to have Sullivan update their code books for $100.
The city voted to hire Doug Thomson as City Attorney and Prosecutor at a rate of $135 per hour. Thomson serves in that capacity for several other towns in the region, including Maryville. Thomson will not charge a retainer fee, but will charge for municipal court hearings, attending meetings, and writing letters. Mayor Debbie Roach said that the rate was typical for the area; she said that the change was needed because of David B. Parman's injury. The city had previously hired Robert Rice to prosecute ordinance violations; however, Rice became Nodaway County Prosecutor and could no longer prosecute city cases. Parman had stepped down as city prosecutor because of conflicts of interest. Roach said that Thomson's practice was to work out a deal where violators would be fined $500 and then have all but $150 of it waived if it were resolved within a sufficient period of time. Fines would approved by Joel Miller, who as Associate Circuit Judge, also serves as the Municipal Court Judge for Grant City. Roach said that the move was needed immediately because of the need to look at contracts regarding the recently-passed bond issue, Midwest Data, and others. The city can fax contracts over so that Thomson would not have to make the trip to Grant City.
Councilman Dennis Downing said that he worried that there would come a point in time where the city could not afford to have court given the high legal fees. He said that he was not against enforcing the city ordinances, but "what if it costs $800 and we only bring in $200 worth of fines?" Roach said that fines had not been asked for in the past but that if they lined up a lot of cases at a time, the fines would be well worth the fees.
Mayor Roach reported on the meeting between the State Department of Economic Development and local officials regarding the proposed Enhanced Enterprise Zone for the county and said that she felt comfortable proceeding with the project. The entire county qualifies, but one census bloc has to be omitted under the rules. It would give tax breaks for future businesses to locate in the area. The city has already given its approval to the project.
The council voted to authorize Holly Baxley to pay $15.47 per month to optimize search engine results for the city website.
The city voted to change the color of the blocks for the new Pool Bathhouse to buff.
Public Works Director Carl Staton reported that one truck was ready for snow and that city crews had been hauling dirt on 5th street, where a water line had frozen last winter. Work on the gas line by the river was completed; FEMA reimbursed the city $26,000 for the work. A water leak by Alan Fletchall's was fixed and some new stop signs were put up.
The city received a complaint from Robin Behrens regarding dogs getting into her trashbags. It was also reported that there was a female dog who was running around the northwest corner of town which was giving birth to a lot of puppies.
The city purchased two more cell phones to use in the event of another major fire.
Clerk Ayvonne Morin reported a sharp drop in sales tax revenues in October. September revenues were $13,697 while October revenues were $6,395.
The budget timeline for next year was discussed. Following the audit of the city finances following Thanksgiving, an amended 2010 budget will be passed in December and the regular 2011 budget will be done in January 2011.
An informational meeting between Brock Pfost of Middlefork Water Company, Tye Parsons of Northwest Missouri Regional Council, and city officials will be held Monday evening November 29th at 5:30.
The council voted to donate $25 for the Worth County Holiday Program.
The city voted to enter into closed session to discuss potential pending litigation as well as employee matters. In closed session, the council voted to hire Janelle Buffington as part-time clerk for the License Office as the other part-time clerk has taken another position. The council also voted to approve a $100 Christmas Bonus for full-time employees and $50 for part-time employees.
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