TOWN OF
Council members present were Keith Wharton, Ronica McCoy & Richard Ells.
Absent – Fred White and Katherine Shearer
The meeting was called to order by Mayor Darcy Linklater.
Councilperson Ronica McCoy made a motion to approve the previous meeting minutes as read. Councilman Richard Ells seconded it. Motion carried.
Guest’s present-
Citizens present- Sue Wharton, Sam Vernado
The Water Bacteriological Analysis was satisfactory for the month of July.
Our lead & copper water samples that were taken last month were destroyed when the lab sent them on to the next lab so we need to do them over again.
Keith reported that they called Municipal Research about the process of getting Doug Eisenrich to move his fence off the alley. The city has the authority to manage our own property and that we have every right to follow through with this. City or county property can never be claimed by anyone else other than the entity. We need to have an ordinance in place about this sort of thing before we can take any legal action. If we don’t have one, we need to create one. We need to have on record non compliance procedures. We have to consider the location. Burden of proof falls on the land owner so we wouldn’t have to get a survey. Some issues questioned are height, materials, maintenance and the steps the town would take to enforce this. We need to have all this on record before acting on this.
We need to have a public hearing to discuss these issues if we don’t have an ordinance in place. Keith brought some examples of other cities for similar kinds of situations. Municipal Research recommended that an attorney help us send the letter out. We need to make sure that we do everything correctly.
Sam Varnado asked if someone can block an alley. Keith reported that no one can but we do have an alley with a sign on it of no thru traffic. Sam stated that he has a no trespassing sign on the telephone sign but people are ignoring this and pushing down his fence to get to the river. How can I stop people from doing this? This is on the county side of the bridge. Mayor Darcy stated that he will talk to the Co. Co. Eng. about this.
The council received a letter from Doris Matheny concerning the city spraying around her property. We need to send her a letter stating that the city did not and has not sprayed in the city limits therefore there are no records that we can send her.
Ronica made a motion to send a letter explaining this to
Darcy reported that Herb Bessy from the Corp. of Eng. is coming into our areas to inspect our dike and give their recommendations and they say we can get back into compliance. We have a permit in place from Tom Shurm from Dept. of Wildlife until the end of Sept.
to clear more trees.
Darcy also talked to Ted Olson with FEMA and he is going to come meet with us about any changes.
Darcy talked to Drew Wood about our brush situation and the grant for doing something with our debris from now on. Maybe we could place some ecology blocks to help us sort brush from the leaves. The grant amount available is $10,000 and we have to come up with 25 %. We can go for a smaller amount, which is the way the Mayor thinks we should go.
The Fire District #1 stands a chance of loosing grant monies because they don’t have any First Responders that have taken their test at the state level, which would enable them to keep the aid car. This concern came from Bill Peters.
Darcy asked if everyone read his letter regarding Katherine Shearer and working on sewer lines. Katherine Shearer has the Sewer Operator certification... In reading about the certification it seems that it pertains mostly to the Sewer Treatment Plant. Her work is volunteer. The council discussed that no city person should buy or act on major workings without authorization from the Mayor. Richard Ells stated that we need to have things authorized. Also we need to have only authorized people working on the sewer lines. The Majority of the council wants a letter drawn up explaining this and send it to Katherine Shearer. Hopefully this will take care of the situations. If not, then we will go one step further and tell her that her service was appreciated but will be no longer needed. The Mayor stated that David Tysz is certified and will step in and help us if need be.
Keith would like to see a full time person be hired to be maintenance person/sewer but the Clerk stated that we probably could not afford this.
.
The Mayor reported that we contacted David Tysz from Rural Water and they will be back to check on our water leakage situation and will check the sinking ground up by McCoy’s.
Mayor Darcy stated that he will have
Keith brought a plan for the community bulletin board for the council to look at. He will use stain for the finished product and will have plexy glass to cover. It shouldn’t cost more than $300.
The bills were looked over and discussed.
Treas. Report read:
Councilperson Ronica made a motion to pay the bills. Was seconded by Councilman Keith Wharton. Motion carried.
As there was no further business the meeting was adjourned. Motion carried.
“I, the undersigned, do hereby certify under penalty of perjury that the claim is a just, due and unpaid obligation against The Town of Starbuck, and that I am authorized to certify to said claim.”
Vouchers #3226 – 3344, totaling $7,606.78 were approved and
paid on
__________________________________ _________________________________
Mayor Darcy Linklater Clerk/Treas., Candice Harrison