Mindy Goodrich, new ambulance chief
After several months without an ambulance chief, the Minonk City Council approved the appointment of Mindy Goodrich as Ambulance Chief at the council's normal Monday night meeting.
Police Get New Squad Car
In other business, the council approved the purchase of a new police squad car. The bid of $28,964 from Morrow Brothers Ford for a 2016/2017 Ford Police Interceptor Utility vehicle was accepted. City Administrator Austin Edmondson said it costs about $7000 to install the necessary communication equipment in the vehicle.
Barbecue Cookoff July 1 and 2
The council approved the payment of $325 for insurance for the Barbecue Festival to be held on July 1 and 2 in the downtown parking lot. The money will come out of a City Hotel Tax which provides funds to promote tourism and local business.
The festival is a sanctioned Kansas City Barbecue Society Cookoff in which the winner will go on to the national finals. The council also approved the closing of Chestnut Street between 4th and 5th streets on Saturday and Sunday, July 2 and 3 for a live band performance and to allow restricted use of alcohol in the area.
Mowing City Property
The council decided to budget for 2 part time employees for the summer. One employee will do the city mowing while the other will work with the street department. The council also decided to put in the budget sidewalk work as an in house expense rather than contracting out sidewalk work.
Comp Time
The council approved changes to an ordinance that removes the police and ambulance department employees from receiving comp time and requires that they receive compensation for overtime at the appropriate overtime rate..
The council also approved a motion that requires an employee to use any comp time accrued in excess of 32 hours at a time to be determined by the City Administrator.
The council approved a rate of 0.0% for the franchise fee to be collected by MediaCom in order to comply with state law.
In other business, City Administrator Edmondson said the Elm Court Sanitary Sewer project continues to make some headway. Another section of the tile has been replaced and the camera crew is coming in next week to look for more signs of blockage.
Mayor Koos advised that a request for an appeal of an ambulance bill for $300 by Darin Feigenhaur be handled by the City Administrator and the Ambulance Chief.
Alderman Larry Fortner said there is an opening on the Parks & Recreation committee.
Alderman Jack Marcoline said he has been notified that the Filger Library is the number one economic development building in the city thanks to the efforts of Librarian Debrea Blunier and her staff.
Junk Cars
The council session ended with a heated discussion on the number of junk cars in the city. Alderman Russell Ruestman asked who is responsible for enforcing the city codes. He said there are over 50 junk cars in the city that have been sitting for months and some for years. He said the City of Roanoke has no City Administrator or Police Chief and their town is immaculate. Why is Minonk so different he asked?
City Adminsitrator Edmondson replied that one of the city councilmen rode around the city with a police officer and counted 10 junk cars, not 50. Mr, Edmondson said it is the responsibility of the City Administrator to enforce some of the codes while the police department can enforce others and the city council may have to enforce certain ordinances from time to time based on the type of ordinance being violated. He said the city does not have a building inspector to enforce building codes and would need to hire some one to do that job.
Mr. Ruestman asked that the enforcement of codes be put on the next council agenda.
Comments
Gail Zack: Way to go Mindy! I am also shocked at the willingness of some people to go around and count cars and compare our town to others. If Roanoke is so much nicer, why not move there? I do not ever hear of anyone else complaining about this stuff. Ever. I think the city administrator and police chief are doing an amazing job!
Sonja Kay Ruestman: Congratulations Mindy!