The Minonk City Council was given cost estimates for upgrading the baseball diamonds at Veterans Park at their normal Monday night meeting. The council agreed to accept a total cost of $28,774.02 for the improvements except for the fencing. The cost for chain link fencing surrounding the outfield was set at $22,166.89 for labor and material. That would put the total cost at $50,940.91 which would be almost $28,000 over the amount budgeted for the project.
City Administrator Trent Smith said that the scoreboards, bleachers, concrete pads and dugout roof repairs are not included in these figures. Those costs were separated under different line items in the budget. It also does not include any labor/machine costs already spent on cutting out the infield/outfield lip or French drain materials cost.
City Administrator Trent Smith gave the following report of the projected costs of the ball diamond upgrade project.
East Diamond
• Core out 50 feet of softball infield and replace with topsoil which is approximately 50 feet X 150 feet = 7500 square feet and replace with 8 inches of topsoil which equals about 187.5 cubic yards of dirt.
• Cost of coring out and dirt is $8,900.00 (Dick Davis estimate).
• Labor and machine cost to do this is $1,631.90.
• 7500 square feet of sod delivered and installed cost is $2,025.00
• Raise baseball infield with Ag lime cost is $2,649.60.
• Labor to spread and drag Ag lime cost is $677.64.
• City would be using their trucks and backhoe.
• Total estimated cost without drainage is $15,884.14.
West Diamond
• Diamond does not require any coring because the infield is the correct size.
• Cost to raise baseball field with Ag lime is $3,974.40
• Cost to spread Ag lime is $645.25.
• Total estimated cost without drainage is $4,619.65.
Drainage Costs (East & West Diamonds)
• Drainage tile (4” corrugated) cost is $394.56.
• Labor and machine cost to install is $7,875.67.
• Drainage costs are about ½ for each diamond.
• We have not determined the exact amount of drainage tile that is needed
• The fields should drain naturally with a ½ % grade on the infield and 1% grade on the outfield.
• Tiles would be needed at low points.
• Installing drainage tile is labor intensive since the grade of the tiles installed will have to be perfect.
Fencing
• The fencing costs are directly related to the high school baseball teams.
• Raising the fence would deter easy homeruns
• Costs shown include raising the fences in both fields.
• Raise the outfield fence to 15 feet (from each foul post to 130 feet in) using netting (The Jugs Company) cost is $3,896.60 for labor and material.
• The netting fence would have to be taken down every year.
• Raise the outfield fence to 15 feet (from each foul post to 130 feet in) using chain link (Hohulin Fencing) cost is $22,166.89 for labor and material.
• This chain link fence would be similar to a backstop fence for a portion of the outfield fence.
Total Costs
City Administrator Trent Smith reported that the total cost of everything together for both diamonds without the cost of the fencing was $28,774.02. The total cost using netting for fencing would be $32,670.62. The total cost using chain link fencing would be $50,940.91.
Mayor Koos said that in the budget passed for fiscal year 2007/08, $3,000 has already been spent to date. Alderman Cunningham said that even without the fencing we are $6,000 over budget.
Mayor Koos said the premise of Fieldcrest not playing high school ball in Minonk is the field conditions. He said there is no doing this half way and there is no quick fix.
Koos said that on the West Diamond there is a lot of work that can be done. He added, "We can repair the field conditions; however the fencing is a whole different issue. With the premise being field conditions, we can fix that. With the fencing, this is a whole different avenue of what needs to be done on those fields. Does the fence serve Minonk’s purpose at this moment where it is at? It serves Minonk’s purposes, however it does not serve the high school’s purpose simply because they say it is too close and easy to hit home runs out of our ball field. Does that mean that they will not come back and play if we do not do something about the fencing? I cannot tell you. What I can tell you is that we are going to present these numbers to the school board and we have a budget and just with the grade issue we are going to be $6,000 over budget."
Koos said that this project is going to consume man hours from our City employees. "We will present these costs to them and await their decision. If they choose not to play in Minonk, the Recreation Board has also made some recommendations as to what can be done to the West field."
Mayor Koos further stated that the fields are not draining because of improper maintenance. He added, "The fields are being dragged wrong and is creating bowls and the water is sitting in these bowls. The grade of the baseball fields is sound and they are properly constructed. Improper maintenance has led to this drainage problem that we have today."
Koos said that with any option that the high school chooses, there is going to be a maintenance agreement. We are not going to spend all of this money and not have a maintenance agreement that somebody is trained and knows how to drag those ball fields.
Koos continued, "We are already $6,000 over budget on this so somebody is going to have to help us out on this. We are not negotiating with them, they said to us that this was field conditions and we now know what it will cost to fix the ball fields. If they want to use some of their employees or get a bid that is fine, but the City of Minonk is spending money.
The drainage issue we can fix, but it is gong to take money and there is no guarantee that there will not be water on those ball fields when we are done because there is just so much clay out there."
Alderman Cunningham said that he was fine with going $6,000 over budget, but not for the City picking up the fencing costs.
The Council members were in agreement for fixing the field and drainage conditions on the ball diamonds, but none of the Council members were in favor of upgrading the fencing and stated that is going to have to be made clear to the high school.
Tomlinson Disposal Cost Increase
The council approved an increase in the waste collection rate (garbage fee) $0.25 per month per stop for a total of $9.75 per month. The increase was due to numerous factors.
• Tomlinson Disposal reported that their landfill rates have increased 2 ½ %.
• There is an environmental fee of $5.00 per load.
• There is a fuel recovery fee from the landfill and the fuel fee fluctuates monthly based on the price of fuel.
• All of these fees have been confirmed by Livingston Landfill.
• Clause #15 of the contract with Tomlinson Disposal allows for a rate increase due to landfill increases.
• The City currently pays Tomlinson Disposal $8.31 per residential pickup per month.
• A 2 ½ % increase would be $0.21 per pickup and this does not include the fuel recovery fee or the environmental fee. These last two charges averaged $232.00 per month.
• Tomlinson Disposal is requesting an increase of $0.49 per stop to cover the increase in charges they pay the landfill. The increase is justified.
• Tomlinson Disposal will be paid $8.80 per pickup beginning in July.
The City Council was in agreement that Tomlinson Disposal was entitled to the $0.49 per stop increase to cover landfill cost increases as per the garbage contract that the City has with Tomlinson Disposal.
City Administrator Trent Smith said that this will have an effect on the budget and he calculated that this would cost about $0.25 per household for the increase that we must pay Tomlinson Disposal. The $0.25 is because the spring clean-up fees were less then what had been budgeted. The difference between that and the increase means the City will be short about $0.25 per stop for the next nine months which is about $1800.
Tomlinson Disposal will now be paid $8.80 per stop by the City beginning in July as per the contract with the City. This increase in costs is due to increased landfill charges only. The environmental fee went from $3.00 to $5.00, but the City has never been charged for this fee before. This is a per load fee. City Administrator Trent Smith said that if the City does not increase the garbage fee, it will be $1800 short in the budget.
Smith said that a $0.25 increase would increase the current garbage fee collected per household from $9.50 to $9.75. He said, "The difference between the rates we pay Tomlinson Disposal for the monthly rate and the rate we charge the customers is for the spring clean-up costs."
City Treasurer O'Riley resigns
Steve O’Riley, who has served as City Treasurer for 22 years, submitted his letter of resignation. In his letter O'Riley thanked all mayors, council members, administrators, and city employees that he has served with over the years. Mayor Koos said that this resignation is effective at the end of this meeting and that Steve will be in to sign all of the checks for the bills on the Vendor’s Warrant List as required. The Mayor, City Administrator, and Council members all thanked O'Riley for his service and wished him luck
Mayor's Appointments
Mayor Koos appointed Glennda Weers as a co-chairman of the Parks and Recreation Committee.