The Minonk City Council ensured that Minonk would retain its ambulance service by approving a motion
to hire 2 full time intermediate EMT's and 1 fulltime basic EMT. City Administrator Trent Smith said that
he met with members of the ambulance squad to finalize an option that is workable with their existing members.
The full time personnel would work during the days. Since the daytime runs were the hardest to fill, this
should improve the response times for daytime calls. The personnel will remain at the ambulance shed during
the daytime work hours. Volunteers would continue to fill the night and weekend shifts and would only be required
to stay within 5 minutes response time of the ambulance shed. There will be one paid EMT Intermediate on duty
for 6 hours each weekend day.
Smith said that Duffy's Ambulance Service in Pontiac would be willing to provide part time people to
fill in the Minonk squad when someone is sick or if a position cannot be filled from within the ranks.
The annual total cost to fund the full time staff of three plus the volunteers would be $58,635.01. Health benefits will not
have to be paid, just FICA and social security. It is anticipated that over $80,000 in revenue will be realized
this year from the ambulance runs.
Alderman Matt Fink made a motion to accept the proposal and was seconded by Alderman Steve Mattox. The council
approved the motion with Alderman Bill Koos voting no. Alderman Fink recommended that a job description be
written up for the newly created positions. The positions will be advertised. Currently, only residents of
Minonk can apply for the positions. Smith said that the system should be able to be in place by the start of
the new fiscal year in May.
Food pantry proposal
Members of the Minonk Food Pantry and Senior Meals Program met with the Minonk City Council and the Minonk
Township to discuss options for housing the food pantry and the senior citizens meal program. The two groups
asked the city and the township to consider purchasing the former South End Restaurant to house the Minonk
Township Food Pantry and Minonk Senior Meals Program.
The owner of the building, Dick Flynn, said he would
accept a cash offer of $25,000 for the building with a $5,000 down payment. Representatives from the committees said
that it would cost $5,000 to upgrade and furnish the building. In addition, it was estimated that $12,000
a year was needed to maintain and run the operations of both programs.
Cost estimates were given showing the costs of providing meals for seniors. Based on the number of meals served
and the price of $3.00 or $3.50 charged for a meal, the daily shortfall would be between $14 to $45 a day.
Alderman Bill Koos suggested that the groups consider the use of the old Kent Lumber building at the corner
of Sixth and Oak Streets. Koos said that the city will assume ownership of that building next year and
could be donated to the food pantry and the senior meals program for their use. Members of the committee agreed
to meet with City Administrator Trent Smith this week to inspect the building to determine if it is in good enough shape to be
fixed up and used.
Millennia Park Subdivion Plat approved
The council approved the Final Plat for the Millennia Park Subdivision. The subdivsion is located
directly west of the New Millennium Sports Park and will front the extension of Johnson Street on
the west. Eight residential building lots are included in the subdivision.
Police officer becomes fulltime
The council approved the appointment of Justin Gales as a full time police officer. Gales has been
working as a part-time police officer since July, 2003.
City Administrator Comments
City Administrator Trent Smith said that the city has advertised for bids on the Chestnut Street
overlay project. The bid opening will take place on Monday, March 1, 2004 at 10:00 a.m. in City Hall.
It is estimated that the project will take 33 days to complete. The high estimate for the project
is $351,000. The bidders will be made aware that the project must either be completed before June 11
for the Sesquicentennial celebration or started after July 4.
The spring cleanup dates have been set for April 27 and 28.
