Flemingsburg City Council held their regular monthly
meeting on Monday, March 13th at 7:00 p.m. in the City Annex. Council members present were Marty Voiers,
Carl Haight, Georgianna Sparks, Meredith Story, and Scott Manning. Councilwoman Nancy Suit was absent. Mayor Louie K. Flanery presided.
Councilman Manning led the Pledge of
Allegiance. Minutes of the February
meeting were presented. Councilman
Story noted the following corrections:
page 1, paragraph 1, insert -
Councilman Voiers chaired the meeting until Mayor Flanery arrived at 7:15p.m. ;
Page 2, paragraph 2 - correction to line 3, Customers that are unable to pay
the $300 gas deposit in full may pay $150 up front and $50 per month for the
next three months; correction to line 5 - Reconnect fees would be $40 during
business hours and $60 after business hours; correction to line 10 and 11 –
Salaries for city council members are the same as in 1976. Councilman Voiers moved to approve with the
noted corrections. Councilman Story
seconded the motion. All were in favor.
Mayor Flanery opened the lone bid for three new
police cruisers. Rudy Hollar of Cheap’s
Chevrolet submitted a bid of $17,863.95 per vehicle plus applicable taxes and
licenses. Mayor Flanery stated that the
state bid was $17,980.00. Grant funds
have been approved and will more than cover the costs of one cruiser. Additional grant funds may be used for
equipment such as lights and cages.
Councilwoman Sparks moved to accept the bid from Cheap’s Chevrolet. Councilman Manning seconded the motion. All were in favor. Mayor Flanery will confirm with BTADD that all paper work is in
order before proceeding.
Council discussed compensation for elected
officials. It was noted that the mayor
serves as CEO of the city, which has a $5,000,000 budget. If the mayor did not serve in this capacity,
costs to hire a City Manager would range $30,000 - $40,000. Councilman Story moved to set the mayor’s
salary at $18,000.00 for the next term and council salaries at $3,900. Councilman Manning seconded the motion. Councilman Voiers expressed concern about
the public’s perception of raising the mayor’s salary too much at one time,
noting that it was double the current salary.
Councilman Voiers suggested raising the mayor’s salary to $15,000. Councilman Haight agreed, stating that the
job is part-time. Council noted that
duties of the office require more hours now than in the past. Haight stated that the position was worth
more money, but public perception must be considered. Councilman Story offered to rescind his motion but, since the
motion had been made and seconded, it could not be rescinded so Mayor Flanery
called for a vote. Councilwoman Sparks
voted in favor of the motion. The
motion was defeated. Councilman Haight
moved to set the mayor’s salary at $15,000 and the council’s salary at
$3,900. Councilman Voiers seconded the
motion. All were in favor. Councilman Voiers asked to be excused from
the remainder of the meeting.
Rita Harris with the Buffalo Trace Narcotics Task
Force appeared before Council to request funding in the amount of $1,938.90 for
the upcoming fiscal year. Councilman
Haight moved to approve the funding to be included in the budget for fiscal
year 2006-2007. Councilwoman Sparks
seconded the motion. All were in favor.
City Attorney Tom MacDonald reviewed 3-13-6 draft of
the Codes Enforcement Ordinance.
MacDonald requested final input on the fines in Section 13 of page
7. Councilman Story suggested leaving
the fines as stated in the draft.
Councilwoman Sparks moved to accept the draft as a first reading. Councilman Haight seconded the motion. All were in favor.
Councilwoman Sparks questioned a request for a
donation made by the Tourism Committee at the February meeting. Council agreed that consideration would be
given in next year’s budget.
Mayor Flanery presented Resolution 6-03-01
authorizing the filing of a transportation enhancement program application for
an amount not to exceed $160,000.
Funding would be used for sidewalk improvements. Councilman Story moved to adopt Resolution
#6-03-01 and authorize the mayor to sign the required documents. Councilman Manning seconded the motion. All were in favor.
Mayor Flanery reported that Frazee Hart had resigned
from the Rec. Board and asked council for recommendations to fill the
vacancy. Councilman Haight suggested
Teddy Purcell. No action was taken.
Mayor Flanery reported that the street to the
hospital, Foundation Way, would have to be moved due to construction of the new
hospital. Relocation would be at the
hospital’s expense. The City would need
to abandon the street at this time.
After the facility is built and the street relocated, the City could
accept it again. Councilman Haight
moved to give the City Attorney approval to start procedures for abandonment. Councilwoman Sparks seconded the
motion. All were in favor.
City Clerk Joy Roark presented a brief review of the
community assessment recently completed.
Mayor Flanery, Councilwoman Sparks, Gene Schwartz, and Roark attended
the two-day meeting. Roark stated that
the Buildings and Grounds Committee had not met, but suggested they meet soon
to discuss improvements and possible uses for city buildings. Roark also stated that Mary Jo Litton was
obtaining a quote for brochures featuring the city and county from Ron Donahue.
Councilman Story reported on behalf of the Finance
Committee. It was recommended that all utility ordinances be combined into one
unified ordinance. Council discussed
adding a lesser fee for service on but with no usage. Councilman Story pointed out that the current minimum bill was
excessive when there was zero usage.
With gas prices fluctuating so much, customers needed to be treated
fairly. However, Council concluded that
the minimum bill was also for the privilege of having the service available to
you whether you used it or not.
Councilman Haight recommended that the minimum fee be left the same and
no new fees added. Councilman Story noted
that the ordinance requires a 3% penalty on delinquent accounts after the disconnect
date. The City does not currently
charge this penalty and City Clerk Joy Roark was unsure if the utility program
would accommodate the additional fee, but will check with the software company. Councilman Story suggested that, if the fee
could not be added to customer accounts it should be stricken from the
ordinance. Council agreed that all
utility ordinances should be unified into one ordinance.
City Clerk Joy Roark reported on the costs of
accepting credit cards. Equipment cost
is $485.00 and the monthly statement fee is $10.00. Fees range from 1.49% to 2.74% of the purchase price depending on
the transaction type and there is a $.25 per item fee. It was recommended that only Visa and
MasterCard be accepted. Other credit
cards offer rewards and have much higher fees.
Councilman Story moved to approve accepting credit cards with MC and
Visa through RBSlink. Councilman Haight
seconded the motion. All were in favor.
Police Chief Danny Carpenter reported on behalf of
the Safety Committee. It was
recommended that noise fines of $10, $25, and $50 be added to the Codes
Enforcement Ordinance. Council agreed
to rescind the first reading of the Codes Enforcement Ordinance. Councilwoman Sparks moved to approve the
Codes Enforcement Ordinance with the noise fines added. Councilman Manning seconded the motion. All were in favor.
City Clerk Joy Roark reported on natural gas
prices. Ken Magyar with Gasco suggested
that gas prices might be lower during April and May than during the late summer
months and recommended buying at least half of the winter storage for next year
during that time if possible.
Councilman
Story questioned what the cable franchise fees were used for. Roark stated that all franchise fees were
passed through to the cable board and the board reimbursed the City for payroll
expenses. It was recommended that the
cable board present a report to Council, since they had not done so in five
years.
Mayor Flanery reported on municipal aid funds. The City will be advertising for blacktopping
bids. The City received $42, 263 of
current year and carry over funds. An
additional $63,000 has been applied for, but not approved yet.
Utilities Superintendent Kenny Dearing reported that
he had not received any water complaints.
Mayor Flanery stated that they are trying to improve on water quality at
the well.
Councilman Story questioned Waste Water
Superintendent Dale Clary about the Valley View extension. Clary stated he would like to have it done
this calendar year, but the funding wasn’t approved. Mayor Flanery said the property was pending annexation. Councilman Story suggested including funding
in next year’s budget.
There being no further business, Councilman Manning
moved to adjourn at 8:55 p.m.
Councilman Haight seconded the motion.
All were in favor.
______________________________
Louie K. Flanery, Mayor
ATTESTED:
_____________________________
Joy
Story Roark, CKMC