Peabody Main Street manager will resign
During reports from employees at Peabody City Council Monday night, council members heard Joanna Brazil will resign her position as Peabody Main Street manager effective May 19.
Discussion followed concerning the city's support for the Main Street program. Council members decided they would like to have a representative on the Main Street board of directors and a presence on a selection committee when a new manager is chosen.
To that end council appointed city administrator Jeff Benbrook as its representative to the board pending approval of the other directors.
Council also officially approved the appointment of three directors to Peabody Housing Authority. Shreves Avery, Sharon Schmill, and Mark Whitney were approved by a 4-0-1 vote with an abstention by councilman Gene Schmill.
In a report by Benbrook, members were told a plan to use "statepayment.com" for paying city and traffic fines has been abandoned based on a legal opinion by attorneys for Kansas League of Municipalities.
The city also will drop plans to offer a bill paying service for fees generated by local utility companies. Benbrook said further inquiries into the plan revealed liability issues the city should avoid.
In other business, the council:
— heard an update on sewer project issues. No progress has been made with a KDHE cleanup program for the former sewer plant or with a real estate purchase agreement for the former sewer plant land. Council heard some items on the final "punch list" for the lagoons have not been addressed.
— agreed to pay Middlecreek Corp. $14,368.86 and Reiss and Goodness Engineers $11,337.59 for work on the sewer plant project.
— approved a sewer charge credit for Peabody Township Library.
— heard a final proposal from Mel Flaming for a new municipal building to be built at Ninth and Olive streets. Before solidifying an agreement with Flaming, council opted to seek additional bids which will include lease-purchase arrangements.
— approved a proposal from Dennis Pickens to purchase the property at 607 Locust Street. Council approved a $5,000 price tag for the property.
— reviewed nuisance properties at 803 Olive Street and 513 East Second Street. The June 1 deadline for abating the nuisance on Olive will remain. Health and Safety officer Deb Buser will review the property at 513 East Second Street and report back to council on progress.
— reviewed the status of 16 properties on a list of nuisance properties compiled by Buser in the past year.
— received a "gold star" trophy for participation in Kansas Municipal Insurance Trust's safety program for workman's comp. The award also means a five percent reduction in workman's comp premiums.
— renewed participation in Firemen's Relief Association and heard the annual Peabody Firemen's Banquet will be Feb. 11 at the American Legion hall.
— approved seeking bids on a curb and gutter project for the city.
— heard there still are individuals who have not renewed pet tags and will be charged a late fee. Individuals with more than three dogs or three cats are reminded to present their kennel or cattery licenses when seeking to renew pet licenses.
— heard the road resurfacing project on Central and South Maple streets has been suspended until April 1 although a hole at the edge of the bridge will be repaired this week.
