May 1, 2012 – Council Minutes
Thursday, June 7th, 2012May 1, 2012
Those Present: Matt Argyle, Ada DeClark, Joe DeClark, Clerk
Lynette Smith, Doug Thompson, Mayor Bob Van Cleave, Marty Nate, Attorney Adam
McKenzie
Meeting called to
order: 7:00 pm Invocation: Councilmember Matt
Argyle
The chair entertained a motion from councilmember Ada
DeClark that the council accepts the published agenda. Councilmember Matt
Argyle seconded the motion. All were in
favor and the motion carried the council.
Minutes from the April
3, 2012, council meeting were read.
The chair entertained a motion from councilmember Ada DeClark the
council approve the minutes as read.
Councilmember Matt Argyle seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the
council.
City Attorney, Adam McKenzie, was present for questions
regarding the collection of fees on
homes that are not currently occupied but will be charged the $35.00 sewer
fee per month. He stated that the city has three options to retain those fees.
The first option would be to sue them and take them to small claims court and
from the judgment would be the lien on the property. Option two is that before
services are rendered the account must be brought current. The third option
presented was to manually disconnect them from the main line and make them pay
the fee to reconnect to the main line. There was also lots of discussion about
how to go about condemning a home to make the home exempt from the $35.00 sewer
fee per month. There was a question about when to start charging the vacant
homes the $35.00 charge, if they should be charged starting August 1st
or after someone moves in and starts using the services any time after August 1st.
There was more debate about how to justify charging some properties the $35.00
charge but not every property. Councilmember Ada DeClark made the motion to
designate the turn on and off fees to be deposited into the sewer fund instead
of the water fund, until further notice. Councilmember Joe DeClark seconded the
motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
The Georgetown Irrigation Company would like to have a carport shed to park the backhoe under
and asked if the City would pay for 51% of the shed as they pay 51% for all
expenses for the backhoe. Councilmember Joe DeClark made the motion that the city
does not pay for any of the carport because the city will donate the land for
the carport to be put upon and wages for it to be built. Councilmember Matt
Argyle seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the
council.
A citizen brought to the attention of the Mayor a need
for someone to mow all of the right of
ways within the city to help beautify the city. Mayor Bob asked the council
how they felt about hiring a student to do the mowing. The council discussed
the issue and decided that there is not a need for it at this time.
The fire hydrant
located at the corner of 5th Street and Main Street is broken and
needs to be replaced. Councilmember Matt Argyle made the motion for Doug to
purchase a fire hydrant and to get the help he needs to put the hydrant in.
Councilmember Joe DeClark seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion
carried the council.
Reed Clark approached Mayor Bob and Doug about fencing on the north and east sides of their
property bordering the sewer ponds.
The Clark’s have said that they will provide the labor and fence it if the city
will provide the materials. Councilmember Joe DeClark made the motion to
reimburse the Clark’s for materials purchased to fence the properties.
Councilmember Matt Argyle seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion
carried the council.
Resolution
#2012-003 was brought forth before the council. It is a resolution setting
the fees for building permits. Clerk Smith read the resolution through in its
entirety to the council. Councilmember Joe DeClark made the motion to approve
the resolution as read. Councilmember Ada DeClark seconded the motion. A roll
call vote was taken and is as follows: Ada – yes, Joe – yes, Matt – yes. Resolution #2012-004 was also brought
forth to the council. It is a resolution designating June 2012 as a city wide
clean up month. Clerk Smith read the resolution through in its entirety to the
council. Councilmember Joe DeClark made the motion to approve the resolution as
read. Councilmember Matt Argyle seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken
and is as follows: Ada – yes, Joe – yes,
Matt – yes.
City Attorney, Adam McKenzie, recited the first reading
of Ordinance #82, an Ordinance for
citizens of Georgetown to have the county building inspector or the state
building inspector perform HVAC inspections. Councilmember Ada DeClark made the motion to
adopt as the first reading of the Ordinance and to set the second reading at
the June council meeting. Councilmember
Joe DeClark seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the
council.
Police report: Officer Skinner had 55 contacts.
Maintenance
report: Doug Thompson gave his report for the month stating that he has
been following his usual routines with the sewer and water maintenance. He is
looking for a generator to buy with the money we have saved up. He caught up
most of the delinquent accounts and sent his EPA letter for the month and met
with the surveyors again at the properties for the wastewater system. We
received a letter from Ron Parry stating that he will now be responsible for
his own septic tank and he will only be paying for water services from here on
out. He mowed the lawn, raked leaves, replaced lights, put out the swings and
cleaned up the park. He dug one grave in the cemetery this month and responded
to a DigLine request. He also delivered dog tags and approved 5 building
permits. He attended the Local Highway Project meeting with Forsgren Associates
and other committee members. He did some maintenance on the equipment and
changed the oil and tuned up the transmission on equipment and also had to
clean out the gas tanks before the new gas could be delivered.
Office report: Clerk Smith reported that there are 13
delinquent water and sewer accounts for the month. She asked about writing a
letter to the residents whom are on half month rates to notify them of the
upcoming changes and was told to hold off until closer to August in case there
are any more changes. She asked if we should still set aside $200.00 a month
from both the water and sewer accounts for a generator and was told to continue
saving in the water fund but to stop saving from the sewer fund because of Doug
being able to purchase a generator and to help lower costs in the sewer fund.
She asked about putting a RedBox DVD machine by the pop machine and was told to
look into it in more depth.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilmember Ada
DeClark the council approve checks and vouchers for the month of April 2012 in the amount of $9,352.62
in the general fund, $5,800.00 in the water fund, $9,263.90 in the sewer fund
with all funds totaling $24,416.52. Councilmember Matt Argyle seconded the
motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilmember Matt
Argyle that the council adjourn from the
May 2012 council meeting at 9:30 pm. Councilmember Joe DeClark seconded the
motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Respectfully submitted,
Lynette Smith, City Clerk