Baldwin sworn in, city council begins new year
Beverly Baldwin was selected to replace Mark Slater as representative of the second ward for the city of Florence. She was sworn in by Mayor Jeanie Meirowsky at Monday's city council meeting.
The minutes of the meeting of Dec. 17, 2001, were corrected to include the purchase price of $3,500 for the building the council agreed to purchase south of the Ambulance building on Main. They were approved as corrected and the minutes of the Dec. 27, 2001 meeting were approved as read.
Bill Henricks, representative of the city's insurance company, Insurance Planning Center, met with council members to review the city's insurance policy which will be up for renewal in April.
He advised the council that the future of insurance for municipalities is going to become more troublesome because of the economy. Many carriers are canceling municipal policies or electing not to renew them.
He said the rating of the current city carrier, Northwest National, has plummeted in recent months and his advice to the city was to begin looking for a different company. He noted that the company is being monitored by the state and still has the ability to pay claims, but that they are "winding down" and will not be writing new policies or renewing existing policies.
Henricks offered the council a list of five companies he feels will be willing to carry the city's insurance, but warned that premiums would probably be increased by about 20%, possibly more. He noted that this increase is not a reflection on the city of Florence, but a sign of the times and economy. He said increased premiums for municipalities would be standard across the country. Henricks will return to a future council meeting and present the group with coverage information from the carriers he has contacted.
The council was presented with a resolution to approve the lease-purchase agreement, not exceed $100,000, to build a new city building at the 509 Main site in Florence. The resolution was approved 4-0. The resolution will set in motion the city's intent to pursue the demolition of the current structure and allow Dave Shupe to seek the most advantageous arrangement on bonds for the project. Shupe will return in February with information on length of bonds and interest rates.
Police Chief Howard Kahler summarized police activity for the year.
Stuart Funk, city superintendent, reported on repairs to the trash truck and the city tractor, noted that the water plant upgrades are moving forward and that the next step is for the engineer to take the plans to the KDHE for approval. He told the council that he and the representative from the water bottling company are still in contact and the proposal to bottle Florence water is still on the table. Funk also said that the Christmas lights would be coming down on Thursday.
Larry Timm informed the council that the order for playground equipment had been altered somewhat. By purchasing the lumber for the play area locally, the city could save several thousand dollars on shipping and could afford to purchase a larger play set. Instructions with the equipment kit would provide information needed to purchase the required lumber. Volunteer labor would be used to install the equipment and an inspection required after installation.
Mayor Meirowsky noted that the new street surface on 5th street appeared to be cracked. The work is under a one year warrantee and she asked Dan Ludwig to contact the company and let them know as soon as possible that the potential problem exists.
In final business, the council tabled a discussion of city employee wages until the next meeting to allow Baldwin time to review the information. Any wage increase for employees would be retroactive to the first of the year.
