Council and Board of Works Minutes

December 28, 2011

City Council

January 3, 2012

The Board of Public Works and Safety met in regular session at the Knox City Hall on Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 9:30 AM CST with the following members present: Mayor, Rick Chambers; Clerk-Treasurer, Jeff Houston; Boardmembers Ed Blue and Jim Collins; City Attorney, Dave Matsey was absent.

Ed Blue made a motion, seconded by Jim Collins to add pay applications for Territorial Engineering as item 4-A and H & G Underground as item 4-B. Motion passed with Three (3) ayes and No (0) nays.

Minutes of the previous meeting were mailed to the board members prior to the meeting for their review. Jim Collins made a motion seconded by Ed Blue to accept the minutes as presented. Motion passed with Three (3) ayes and No (0) nays.

Van Janovic of Territorial Engineering presented pay application #1 for engineering services completed by Territorial on the Stormwater Project. It is for $8,850.00 and was sent to Kim Baker at K-IRPC by Territorial. Ed Blue made a motion, seconded by Jim Collins to approve pay application #1. Motion passed with Three (3) ayes and No (0) nays.

Van Janovic presented pay application #2 for H & G Underground Utilities for $129,108.54. Jim Collins made a motion, seconded by Ed Blue to approve pay application #2. Motion passed with Three (3) ayes and No (0) nays.

Van Janovic of Territorial gave an update on the progress of the Stormwater Project. Some complaints were received about access to peoples property, but those complaints have been taken care of.

The park has the old circular slide they would like to dispose of. The aluminum should be worth about $250.00. There is also scrap by the street department and there is a dumpster at the sewer plant that can be sold for scrap. The Mayor said the City may want to sell the slide on E-bay as a slide. He is waiting to complete a survey of what he wants to get rid of.

City Attorney Matsey is working on the property at 304 E. Delaware. We will have to get a search warrant through circuit court to confirm whether the basement was removed.

The City is about ready to take bids for the demolition of the property at 304 S. Main. The City Attorney has issued orders concerning this property.

MVH Superintendent, Jeff Borg, reported that his department did a practice run yesterday due to the small snow fall that helped train the workers on where the manholes are too high.

Chief of Police, Clint Norem, reported that there have been several burglaries, drug investigations, etc. Several arrests have been made and property recovered. The new annex building is still coming along. An electrician is coming tomorrow to do the upgrades that are necessary. The 09 car is in the shop from the damage incurred last month and the charger sustained about $6,000.00 worth of damage from the armed robbery. The K-9 and the state police were used and couldn't keep the trail.

Jim Eads, Water Superintendent, reported that the Reagent tap is complete. J.W. Hicks still needs to be plumbed.

Three quotes were given for back up systems for the water department control system. They were as follows: Superior Operating Solutions, $10,500.00; B.L. Anderson, $11,300.00 and Cook Electronics $41,250.00. Superintendent Eads recommended the B.L. Anderson bid because Superior is from Richmond, Indiana and would take considerably longer to respond to emergencies than B.L. Anderson that is out of Valparaiso. Also, B.L. Anderson is authorized to work on the present (Skadata) system.

Ed Blue made a motion, seconded by Jim Collins to accept the B.L. Anderson bid to be paid out of the "Water Improvement" fund. Motion passed with Three (3) ayes and No (0) nays.

Jeff Borg, MVH Superintendent said there is some corrugated metal behind City Hall that is left over from the Main Street Project. There is 3 1/2 tons of it at $160.00 a ton, the value of the scrap would be $560.00. The Mayor would like to sell it or the price of the scrap. Jim Collins made a motion, seconded by Ed Blue to sell the metal for the price of the scrap pending review by the City Attorney. Motion passed with Three (3) ayes and No (0) nays.

Kelly Clemons, Wastewater Superintendent, reported that the pump at one of the lift stations went down. The employees at the plant repaired it and it is fine now.

Risers were repaired and the drying beds are being worked on. The old beds had failed and as time permits they will be replacing pipes that run to them.

Superintendent Clemons noted that the river bank is washing away. Jeff Borg said he has some material to stabilize the bank that he will put down.

The Superintendent passed out a policy she would like to use for raises at the plant. The Mayor will show the department heads and see what they think.

The 8 X 10 foot shed that was being used for the K-9 officer may be moved to the Wastewater property for storage.

With no further business to come before the board, the meeting upon motion was duly adjourned.

The Common Council of the City of Knox met in regular session at the Knox City Hall January 3, 2012 at 7:00 P.M. CST with the following members present: Mayor, Rick Chambers; Clerk-Treasurer, Jeff Houston; Councilmembers, Linda Berndt, Jeff Berg, Ron Parker, Greg Matt and Don Kring, and City Attorney, Dave Matsey.

Ron Parker made a motion, seconded by Greg Matt to add the following items to the agenda: Item 4-A "Election of Council President"; Item 4-B "Approval to sign CADA Grant:, and Item 4-C "Jackson Township Fire Contract". Motion passed with Five (5) ayes and No (0) nays.

Minutes of the previous minutes were mailed to the Councilmembers prior to the meeting for their review. Greg Matt made a motion seconded by Linda Berndt to approve the minutes as presented. Motion passed with Five (5) ayes and No (0) nays.

Mayor Chambers opened the floor for nominations for President of the Council. Linda Berndt nominated Jeff Berg. Ron Parker seconded the nomination.

Hearing no further nominations, the Mayor closed the nominations. A vote was taken with all Five (5) members voting in favor of Jeff Berg being President and No (0) voting against.

Linda Berndt made a motion, seconded by Jeff Berg to approve the Mayor to sign the CADA Grant Contract. Motion passed with Five (5) ayes and No (0) nays. The Grant is for $424,620.00 and requires a match from CADA for $28,180.00.

Clerk-Treasurer Houston presented the proposed new Jackson Township Fire Contract to the Council. It raises the amount per call from $450.00 to $650.00 and lasts for Two (2) years.

The Mayor and Council want the Clerk-Treasurer to find out what North Judson pays for similar calls. They also asked him to find out if the fire department would answer calls for emergencies other than fires. Clerk-Treasurer Houston said he would check and get back to the Council. No official action was taken on the contract at this time.

Mayor Chambers passed out a list of the following appointments for the year.

Knox Redevelopment Commission Marcia Hayes, Vickie McDaniel, Margaret Neuberg

Mayor Chambers reported that Ed Risner filed a lawsuit against the City claiming a breach of verbal contract when the City refused to burn his house down as part of a training exercise. Risner is asking for $40,000.00 to cover the cost of tearing his house down. The City did not burn the house down because it is in a unsafe area and proper permits were never filed.

The City's liability insurance does not cove breach of contract so the City will need to hire legal Council out of it's own pocket. City Attorney Matsey said the company he works for, Osan and Patton has offered to handle the matter for $120.00 an hour, at a discount from their usual rate of $200.00 an hour. Mayor Chambers will also check with Attorney Kruz to see what his firm would charge.

A final decision will be made about representation at the next council meeting.

The City has been named as a defendant for a lawsuit against the parent company for Barber & Ross. Mr. Matsey has filed a response for our claim against the company who owes the City $2,226.79.

The City has also received a claim from an Attorney in Connecticut in regards to a drowning victim in the Yellow River. The claim will be handled through the City's insurance carrier. Mayor Chambers will also have a risk management inspector to inspect the bridge and make recommendations.

Mayor Chambers has asked Umbaugh and Associates to give the City a quote on doing a rate study for the Water Department and on the City's general finances.

A group has contacted the City and wants to do a historical was re-enactment in the park. This would include camping in the park. The Council would need to give permission to the group because the park closes at 11:00 PM. Presently there are no current ordinances prohibiting camping in the park.

Several complaints have been received concerning the placement of a fence on the Mark Shell property. The Mayor will look into what should be done to help the traffic situation in the area.

With the termination of the Water Superintendent, Bill Wakal and Ray Cowen will continue on as they have been and the old Superintendent will sign the needed paperwork.

Mayor Chambers told the Council he would like them to come up with a list of projects they would like to see worked on this year.

Jeff Berg said perhaps the City could have a work session on January 24th about the downtown project and planning to use TIF district money.

The following properly filed vouchers (see Voucher Docket #12, Page #767, Voucher #8885- #8913 inclusive) were presented and approved.

There being no further business to come before the Council at this time the meeting upon motion was duly adjourned.