Florence clear well deck to be repaired
Florence City Council was in receipt Monday night of a new amendment from Elliott Construction to do the dirt work in conjunction with final repairs to the clear well deck at the water plant.
City superintendent Ken Hoffman reported a conversation with city engineer Stuart Porter. Porter is willing to sit down with the council and go over its concerns if Hoffman will send him a list of problem areas.
Hoffman noted several trouble spots at the water plant are results of work by the construction company. Consequently, council approved the amended agreement for dirt work at the clear well that would allow Wray Roofing to cover the deck with protective material.
However, council members agreed unanimously that no bills will be paid to the contractor until full warranty details on the faulty water plant parts are established.
Councilman Ed Robinson reported representatives from Federal Emergency Management Agency were in Florence this past week to look over the log jam at Fifth Street bridge.
Robinson reported FEMA funds would be available to break the jam, but logs could not be cut loose and allowed to float downstream. Any funding would pay to remove logs from the water.
Robinson said the city needs to get quotes and present them to FEMA representatives to see how much the government will contribute to removing the jam.
He was instructed to seek companies capable of such work and get bids by the next meeting.
Leonard Ellis reported land south of the sewer ponds had been cleared of brush and trees. Ellis harvested eight walnut trees for a total of $483. He said there are 86 walnut trees left, most of which are four to 14 inches in diameter.
Ellis said with proper care the city could bring in revenue from harvested trees every 10 years or so for years to come.
Judy Creamer was sworn in as ambulance director by council president Dan Ludwig. She announced the ambulance staff had a meeting and decided to begin looking for a new ambulance.
Creamer said they will sell ambulance #2, but keep ambulance #1 for awhile to see if it is needed.
On a motion by Randy Mills council members agreed unanimously that the ambulance crew had council permission to begin looking for a new ambulance. The motion also stated funds from the sale of ambulance #2 would be applied to the cost of the new ambulance and the total cost will come from money on hand, that none would be borrowed.
The council also:
— heard from Ken Hoffman the pool is ready to be covered and winterized. He also is planning on winterizing and closing restrooms at Grandview Park.
— heard from Celia Kennedy of Burns about Burns Community Pantry. The pantry is a food distribution project that serves 200 people in five cities in three adjoining counties. Florence is one of the five cities. Kennedy said the need for food has outpaced the pantry's ability to provide it and volunteers helping with the project are in need of donations from area municipalities, organizations, and individuals. Florence council members took no action on the request.
— heard from Sarah Cope that Marion High School National Honor Society students were in Florence Sept. 23 to paint markers for Highland Cemetery as a community service project.
— instructed Cope to schedule a community meeting/dinner at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 16 to discuss additional goals and plans for the city. David Darling, economic development consultant, has agreed to act as keynote speaker once again. Cope also noted that Darling spoke at a recent Kansas Partnership Conference and used the successful Harvey House renovation and promotion as an example for other Kansas communities.
— heard from fire chief Tony Leeds that the alternator on the new fire truck is faulty and parts are no longer available. Williams Service at Florence will rewire the truck and put in a new system.
— Leeds also presented council with a plan to charge a fee for the fire department to attend automobile accidents. County residents will not be charged because their taxes support the fire departments, but out-of-county victims will be charged through their insurance companies. The cost will be $100 per truck and $10 per man. The cost is in keeping with what other departments charge.
— tabled a decision on purchasing street signs for intersections of Florence streets and U.S.-50 and U.S.-77. Currently these intersections are unmarked. Funds are not available for the signs.
— tabled again the acceptance of bids to replace the roof on City Springs building pending advice of legal council. Neither of the firms bidding on the project carried insurance or was bonded.
— approved a request by the ambulance director to pay for flu shots for ambulance and fire personnel. Council also approved expenditures by the ambulance department for a power washer, radio batteries, repairs to ambulance #1, and consumable supplies.
— instructed Hoffman to coordinate with Margo Yates in Marion an effort to make use of individuals needing to do community service work.
— approved creating and distributing an information flyer on the proposed sales tax increase. Flyers will go out this week and the last week of October.
— heard from Chuck and Cathy DeForest who are opposed to Kansas Department of Transportation's practice of dumping on Cottonwood River bank the concrete, earth, sand, and gravel from the highway project.
DeForests are adjacent land owners. They feel they should have been contacted about the plan to dump highway waste along the river bank. They are concerned that the course of the river will be altered.
The situation was discussed, but no decision was reached and no action taken.
— held a half-hour executive session for the purpose of discussing personnel with no action taken on return to open session.
