Mayor Richard Clark called the November 6 Howard City Council meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. with council members Martin Hunter, Erica Cordell, Derek Cookson, Gary Harrod and Jerrad Pope present. Also present were Debbie Roebuck, Susan Galvan and Clerk Joanna Hunter.
Motion by Cookson, seconded by Harrod to approve meeting minutes of October 16, as presented. Carried 4-0, Cordell abstained.
Roebuck and Galvan spoke on Howard Housing Authority’s (HHA) interest in the city duplex building. HHA currently has 42 units and always has a waiting list, so two more units would be utilized. Council discussed confirming more about the requirements and Roebuck will provide more information from HUD. Roebuck and Galvan left the meeting.
Motion by Harrod, seconded by Pope to approve payment of City bills at $64,064.80 which includes October payroll. Carried 5-0 Motion by Cookson, seconded by Harrod to renew gWorks SimpleCity software annual license and product support for 2024 at $2,811. Carried 5-0. Council declined the discounted offer for moving to cloud-based system with the company at $6,000 annually and $2,000 one-time changeover fee.
Motion by Cordell, seconded by Harrod to give Christmas Bonuses to regular City employees in the November payroll of $100 full-time and $50 parttime. Carried 5-0 Motion by Cookson, seconded by Harrod to approve the KMGA Projected Gas Supply Requirements for May 2024 to April 2025 as provided. Carried 5-0 Motion by M. Hunter, seconded by Pope to use ARPA Fund to pay for recent playground equipment purchased from Summit Supply Corp. Carried 5-0 Motion by Harrod, seconded by Pope to approve City Clerk write a letter of support for Elk General Transportation regarding their KDOT funding. Carried 5-0 Motion by M. Hunter, seconded by Cookson to approve Family Dollar 2024 CMB license. Carried 5-0 Motion by Harrod, seconded by M. Hunter to approve hiring Bill Beougher to help put up Christmas streetlights in November and to take them down in January. Carried 5-0 Motion by Cookson, seconded by M. Hunter that water meters the City installs free on designated plots where meters were not replaced in the 2016 Water Project, and those which may be individually allowed on new construction/ building projects, will require owners to set up utility accounts and pay the standard monthly minimum use fee from date of that installation. Carried 5-0 The intent of this action is to prevent the City spending money and time on installations that will not immediately be used to purchase water and support the city water services.
Other items discussed: Security cameras with prices and options were presented, Councilmember Cookson will do more research for a future meeting; Finding and appointing a Public Officer for ordinance compliance, Clerk will update at next meeting; Shop cleanup is going well, old tires and non-working equipment to be disposed of as appropriate; Continued developments in State legal action concerning 2021 gas price spike; Lead & copper surveys have been mailed as State requires; APAC is planning to do maintenance on recent street work that appears to be deteriorating; City owned properties are all winterized; Councilmember Pope will check into details of toilet facilities at lakes; and Discussion of appreciation for Sweet & Spicy’s 11year tradition of offering a community Thanksgiving meal to area residents free of charge. Names of people or families wishing a meal delivered and/or donations toward expenses are accepted.
Motion by Cordell, seconded by Cookson to adjourn. Carried 5-0. Meeting adjourned at 8:38 p.m.
The council also met on Monday, November 20. Their next meeting is slated for Monday, December 4, at 7:30 p.m., at City Hall.
s/Richard P Clark, Mayor s/Joanna Hunter, City Clerk
