City gets no satisfaction from meeting with engineer
By SUSAN MARSHALL
News editor
Peabody mayor and council were finally able Monday night to have Al Reiss of Reiss and Goodness Engineers present at the meeting. The group had requested his attendance at previous meetings in hopes of getting resolution to the project deficiencies that remain on the books as the sewer project drags on.
City administrator Jeff Benbrook reviewed the list of deficiencies, but Reiss side-stepped any commitment to offer the city resolution or completion. He said he would not comment on any project deficiencies until the mercury remediation project is complete and Kansas Department of Health and Environment issues its "finding of no significant impact" report.
Benbrook reminded him that the problems with the sewer lagoons and the lift station were miles from the site of mercury remediation and had nothing to do with KDHE's report.
Reiss stood firm and simply said he refused to comment on those issues at this time. He said he would address the project and the city's concerns as a whole, but not discuss them "piece meal."
He noted he did bring a copy of the "as built" plans and specs for the new sewer as requested by Benbrook.
The council moved on to an executive session with USD 398 superintendent Rex Watson and board president Doe Ann Hague for the purpose of discussing "trade secrets." School board member Bruce Burke and Benbrook were included in the executive session. No action was taken on return to open meeting.
In other business, the council:
- denied the property owner at 601 N. Maple permission to drill a well because the person he selected to do the work does not have a current license.
- discussed nuisance conditions at 202 N. Locust. The property has a new owner and Benbrook advised Whiteside that she would need to begin the abatement process all over again because of the change of ownership.
- reviewed additional nuisance properties and mowing violations with Whiteside. A letter was sent to Union Pacific Railroad to clarify some issues concerning their right-of-way adjacent to Plum Street. Council voted to move into the formal process of abatement on seven additional properties. Two properties with mowing violations will be mowed by the city and the charges assessed to the property owners.
- heard from city superintendent Darren Pickens that cleaning the storm drains at the railroad underpass on Ninth Street had been completed. He advised that an area south of Ninth also needed to be cleaned because it had not been done in 14 years. Council took no action.
- discussed the use of city barricades for downtown social events. Council decided not to deny the use of the barricades, but will look into a reservation procedure which would allow the city advance notice and city employees time to get them delivered.
- heard that Cunningham Paint and Sandblasting will begin work on the water tower after Labor Day, some pot holes had been filled, the utilities to the new city shop are almost all installed, creating an even water flow in the alley between the 300 blocks of Sycamore and Maple will be a complicated and expensive procedure.
- accepted a bid from Grabers for replacing an air conditioning coil at the city building, voted not to purchase snacks and drinks for council meetings, agreed to pay for training manuals for Firefighter One training at a cost of $190, agreed to spread gravel behind the duplex north of the city building if Peabody Housing Authority will purchase the gravel, and appointed Larry Larsen as the city's representative to Marion County Economic Development Council.
- agreed to send Benbrook and police chief Burke to training sessions.
- heard that a "request for service" letter had been sent to Kansas State University for help on the comprehensive plan.
- discussed annexation and reviewed procedures and regulations related to annexing property.
