Eminence Kentucky-Minutes

The City Council of the City of Eminence, Kentucky met in a regular session on November 10, 2008 at 6:15 p.m. at the Eminence City Hall Council Chambers with the following members present: Danny Meadows, Treva Browning, Shawn Bright, Drane Stephens, Richard Thomas, Jr. and George Armstrong. Absent was Mayor Jim Petitt. Several members of the public were also present.

Attorney William Brammell called the meeting to order at 6:17 p.m. Attorney Brammell explained that in the absence of the Mayor the procedures call for the council to elect one of themselves as chairperson to preside over the meeting. No other mayoral duties are included with this election to chair the meeting.

Member Meadows made the motion to nominate Drane Stephens, as senior council member, to serve as the chairperson. Motion seconded by Member Armstrong. On a call of vote by Clerk Doane, all members present voted “Yea”.

Chairperson Stephens expressed the City’s congratulations to all the newly elected council members and expressed thanks to the ones whose terms will be ending for their service to the community.

Subject: Community Center Grant and Rental Agreement – Eminence School Superintendent Don Aldridge was present to discuss their grant application and community center rental agreement with the city. Mr. Aldridge stated the school is applying for a grant to operate the community center with the City of Eminence as co-applicant. He reviewed an agreement between the City and the School which needs to be agreed to and sent in with the grant application. The current grant expired in September with the school continuing to provide the personnel with payment from their general funds. The grant is due December 3, 2008.

Mr. Aldridge reviewed an interlocal agreement between the City and the School for operations of the Community Center.

Member Thomas asked why the council is just now receiving these two documents with a vote expected tonight. Clerk Doane stated the documents were not made available to her until today.

Discussion held. Member Bright expressed his concern that the Board created by the interlocal agreement needs to have more authority and that it is very hard to accomplish anything when they have to go to the Mayor and/or Superintendent when questions arise. Mr. Aldridge suggested a copy of the interlocal agreement be given to the advisory board. Attorney Brammell stated that an interlocal agreement must include additional language which discusses jointly owned property among other things. Mr. Aldridge stated he used the previous document with only the dates being changed. It was the consensus to hold on the interlocal agreement until next month so that everyone has sufficient time to review it and Attorney Brammell can make changes if necessary. Mr. Aldridge stated he does need the other agreement tonight for inclusion with the grant application. Motion made by Member Armstrong and seconded by Member Meadows to authorize the Mayor to enter into the co-applicant agreement with the Eminence Board of Education to apply for the 21st Century Community Learning Center grant. On a call of vote by Clerk Doane, voting “Yea” were Members Armstrong, Meadows, Browning, Bright, and Stephens. Voting “Nay” was Member Thomas.

Subject: Minutes – The minutes of the previous regular session held on October 13, 2008 were reviewed. Chairperson Stephens asked for any additions or changes to the minutes and with none forthcoming, stated they would stand approved as presented.

Subject: Community Center Building Storm Damage Repairs – In the absence of Mayor Petitt, Clerk Doane reported that the City experienced storm damage to the Community Center building recently with an estimate being received to repair the building which involves mostly the roof. M & K Construction did emergency repairs to keep the roof from leaking. The only cost to the City will be the $1,000.00 deductible with the adjuster having already looked at the building and given his estimate on the repairs. Council requested a copy of the estimate on the cost to repair the building. Discussion held with Attorney Brammell stating he felt we must bid this out since the adjusters estimate is over the required $20,000.00. Motion made by Member Armstrong and seconded by Member Thomas to bid the repairs to the community center building. On a call for vote by Clerk Doane, all members present voted “Yea”. City Clerk Doane stated we will need to obtain an invoice from M & K Construction for the work they have already done to prevent further damage to the building, which will factor into the entire cost.

Subject: Pleasureville Contract Negotiations – In the absence of Mayor Petitt, Clerk Doane reported that she called Mayor Young this afternoon to see if Pleasureville has discussed the proposal on the Pleasureville contract for treatment of their sewage. Mayor Young stated that his council had discussed it briefly. Clerk Doane stated she responded that she needed to report the status of this agreement to her council tonight with Mayor Young responding to proceed with having Attorney Brammell draft a revised agreement using the increased amount of $1.83 per 1,000 gallons of sewage treatment if we are not able to lower this amount in any way. Mayor Young also stated he will have a change in council at the new year and hopes this will not create an issue. Council requested Attorney Brammell to proceed with drafting the new agreement. Attorney Brammell stated he would do so but pointed out that he would not be able to participate in any negotiations since he was the attorney for both cities.

Subject: Police Department Report – Major Kevin Kemper reviewed the monthly activity report with council which showed total contacts of 244. Major Kemper reported their total monthly gas costs were included in the report also.

Subject: Property Ordinance Enforcement Report – Member Stephens asked Major Kemper if he had contacted anyone about the property beside Todd Toole which needs mowing. Major Kemper stated he had not as he has been involved in a court case and simply forgot and that he would take care of it immediately.

Subject: Public Works Department Report – Public Works Director William Smith reviewed the public works department monthly activity report with council and asked for any questions.

Subject: Administrative Office Report - City Clerk Sandra Doane reviewed the monthly administrative office report with council. Clerk Doane reported that we have collected approximately 68% of the 2008 property tax bills which were mailed on September 30, 2008. Clerk Doane reported we have issued a Sunday retail drink license to Scriber’s Station. Clerk Doane reported we have received the $6,000.00 from AT & T for the utility easement discussed last month. Clerk Doane reported that she and Mayor Petitt are working on a project she started several years ago to get pictures of the previous Mayors for hanging in the council chambers.

City Clerk Doane reviewed the quarterly budget comparison with council stating that a few categories will need to be adjusted before the year end; however most of the expenses are pretty much on target. Clerk Doane stated that if anyone has questions to let her know. Member Bright asked if the occupational tax is down. Clerk Doane stated it is at 21% for the year which is down some and she feels certain this will continue to go down as the economy continues to fall. Member Bright asked if they could receive a monthly comparison. Clerk Doane stated she would talk with Robin Mullins who handles the occupational tax to see what we can provide.

Subject: Fire Department Report – Member Meadows reviewed the monthly Fire Department activity report with council pointing out that the annual pump testing certifications were performed last week with the department passing everything okay.

Subject: Community Center Report – No physical report was available. Member Bright stated he would like to present a question from one of the renters who teaches karate to 35 kids at the center. The instructor has purchased pads which weigh about 125 pounds each and would like to store them at the center as they are too difficult to move each week. Discussion held. Motion made by Member Meadows and seconded by member Armstrong to allow the storage of these pads in the empty office. On a call of vote by Clerk Doane, all members present voted “Yea”.

Member Bright stated he would like for the City to put a larger sign out front to promote the center, do more advertising, etc. He would also like to proceed with getting the new floor at the Center since we did budget for this expense. Member Thomas stated the floor is not on the agenda. Chairperson Stephens stated we were not going to argue about this as the community center is on the agenda and anything pertaining to it can be discussed if we choose. Member Bright stated he would like to specifically have this on the agenda next month and that he would drop it for now in an effort to keep the arguing down.

Subject: Halloween Activities Update - Member Bright stated we had 1,784 people participate in the Halloween activities at the Renaissance Faire with 1,300 cans of food being donated to the Food Pantry. He feels this event just keeps getting better each year and that it also helps to promote the Renaissance Faire. The Eminence senior class raised approximately $700.00 on their Haunted Forest, which surpassed their expectations. Member Bright stated he has had calls from others who want to participate next year. Member Bright stated that the Band was also great. Member Bright stated that Trick or Treat on Main was also very successful.

Subject: Parks Committee Update – Member Stephens stated the committee is still getting information together on the park upgrade. Member Stephens stated he will look into getting a grant written for tire mulch to put at the playground area.

Subject: Community Safe – Member Stephens presented brochures from a company called Community Safe which will let us automatically inform citizens of important information by making one call. This will call up to four phone numbers, one text mail number and one e-mail address per household. The cost for this service is $2.00 per household per year with unlimited use. Our approximate cost would be $1,800.00. Superintendent Aldridge was asked how the school likes this service. Mr. Aldridge stated they use it all the time with a report being given on who gets the message, etc. The information is put into an excel spreadsheet with administrative rights being assigned to those authorized to use the program.

Subject: Closing City Hall on December 26th – Clerk Doane asked for permission to close city hall on Friday, December 26th to allow the employees to have an extra day off and not have to come in for the one day after Christmas. Clerk Doane reported the County offices will be closed with some city halls being open and some being closed. The employees would either use a vacation day, personal day, or take a day without pay. Motion made by Member Browning and seconded by Member Bright to allow City Hall to be closed on December 26, 2008. On a call of vote by Clerk Doane, all members present voted “Yea”.

Subject: Warrants - The warrants presented for payment were reviewed. Motion made by Member Browning and seconded by Member Meadows to approve the warrants for payment as presented. On a call of vote by Clerk Doane, all members present voted “Yea”.

Subject: New Business/Council – Chairperson Stephens asked if any council member had anything they wanted to discuss.

Member Meadows asked when the city hall building repairs were going to start. Clerk Doane stated she did not know. Mr. Perry was told he could proceed after receiving the successful bid.

Member Bright stated the Festivals Update was not on the agenda so he would like to report that the Light Up Eminence activities are scheduled for December 6, 2008 with Santa to arrive at 6:00 p.m.

Member Stephens pointed out the information on the newly elected officials training available to the 2009/2010 council and recommended that anyone able should attend as they had all found it to be very beneficial. Clerk Doane stated she would let everyone know when the registration form is available.

Subject: Mayor’s Update – In the absence of Mayor Petitt, Clerk Doane reported that the training meeting for the transportation grant is Tuesday, November 18th in Frankfort which the City will attend.

Clerk Doane reported that we did not receive the fire appropriations grant for a new fire building.

Member Stephens asked if any action needed to be taken on the information from Insight Communications. Clerk Doane stated no, this is just for information purposes only and that it details some of the changes being made by Insight to their services.

With no further business to be discussed, motion made by Member Meadows and seconded by Member Armstrong to adjourn. All members present voted “Yea”. Meeting adjourned at 7:20 p.m.

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