Peabody council postpones public hearings on nuisance properties
Two public hearings concerning nuisance properties were postponed at Monday night's Peabody City Council meeting and will be re-addressed at the Sept. 13 meeting.
City administrator/clerk Jeff Benbrook said the council decided to table decisions regarding properties at 411 Maple and 302 Elm until it could clarify proper legal procedures. The properties have deteriorated to the point that demolition is needed, he said.
In other matters, the council:
— Heard from merchant Pam Lamborn concerning comments made during a special city council meeting to discuss Peabody's future as reported in the Peabody Gazette-Bulletin.
Lamborn asked the council if they needed to be educated about the stores and goods currently available in the downtown business district.
Discussion at the special meeting noted that certain goods and services were no longer available in Peabody and only certain types of commodities were available.
Council members indicated the comments were "taken out of context" and local support of local merchants was paramount, but the city needed to be selective in seeking opportunities.
— Heard from Gene Schmill who explained the purpose of the Peabody Community Fund. He explained it was an entity developed in years past to be used for community enhancement. Schmill also requested that a flyer explaining the fund be mailed with utility bills in the next billing cycle. Council approved the request noting there will be no additional postage costs.
— Heard that the Peabody Development Corporation is the entity which "on paper" directs functions at Peabody's Industrial Park.
Council directed Benbrook to make sure platting for the industrial park had been completed and filed with the county and that the development had actually been annexed into the city.
"Once we make sure all items are in order we will be legally capable of letting people in," Benbrook said.
He indicated there was a party interested in the industrial park, but nothing could proceed until the park has passed all legal hurdles.
— Heard from Debra Buser, health and safety officer, who gave an update on current nuisance properties and suggested other properties where high weeds and grass were an issue. They also talked about an instance where an informal request had received no response and directed a formal response be given.
— Adjourned into a 15 minute executive session then returned to regular session and directed Benbrook to verify payroll records from Jan. 1, 2003, to establish a starting point for determining PTO (personal time off) time.
Current policy, under revision, allows employees to accumulate up to 90 days in a PTO bank which only be used in the event of long-term illness. However, since the policy was first established the city now provides disability insurance which kicks in after the seventh day, making the PTO bank unnecessary, Benbrook said.
After discussion, council decided not to abolish the PTO program totally. They allowed employees to keep whatever number of days was left in the PTO bank as of Jan. 1, 2003, to be used in reserve.
— Following two executive sessions each lasting 20 minutes, a work agreement was presented to the city administrator for review and approval upon returning to open session. Benbrook said the terms and conditions of the agreement are not public as yet but will be made public at the next meeting.
— Tabled a sidewalk repair and replacement project in order to obtain more information. The issue will be addressed during the next meeting.
— Heard from Benbrook during his administrator's report the following: EMT training is underway and he is working on securing grant money to pay for the training; a one-and-a-half hour power outage last week took three days for the city to regroup in terms of resetting fax machines, copy machines, phones, etc. It was suggested an auxiliary power source be considered.
Benbrook also commented on general personnel issues including a possible tuition reimbursement policy which was nixed, clarification on performance reviews, and the annual Christmas party.
He also reported it was discovered one full-time employee had not applied for KPERS (Kansas Public Employee Retirement System) and the city had to pay four months in arrears. The employee has since been enrolled as all city employees are required by law to be involved.
Benbrook also suggested the city re-codify its ordinances. The last time city ordinances were put into code was 1977.
Benbrook further noted he had been busy recertifying the budget, the city had $800 worth of special assessments, and he attended a meeting with Westar representatives regarding incomplete work orders.
— Tabled further discussion regarding city water issues pending further information from the City of Hillsboro.
— Heard street resurfacing projects have been completed for the year and that a meeting would be held with Fire District #4 Tuesday night to learn its plans for the future — specifically their plans for the current fire building.
— approved purchasing an advertisement in the 2005 Peabody-Burns High School yearbook.
