Village of Rapids City Village Board met June 11.
Here is the minutes provided by the board:
This Regular Board meeting was called to order by President Mire at 7:00p.m. All present joined in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Roll Call: Present – Fiems, Clark, Fowler, Mire, Rankin, Robertson
Absent - Schnieder
Also Present – Attorney Scott, Treasurer Barber, Public Works Director Bump, Chris Cooper of MSA Profession Services, Clerk Housenga, Barb & Chris Gillman, Sarah Ford
A quorum was established.
CONSENT “Omnibus” Agenda: Fiems motioned to approve the Regular Meeting Minutes 05/01/2019, Monthly Bills 06/2019, Treasurers Final Report 04/2019, Treasurers Report 05/2019 Rankin seconded. All present voted yes. Motion carries. Mire thanked the Board and Staff for their fiscally responsible spending as most of the Village accounts have seen an increase of surplus.
PERSONS TO ADDRESS THE BOARD: Tianze Ma of Bi-State Regional Commission introduced himself to the Board as our new liaison for traffic engineering. Fiems inquired if Ma could research projected traffic volumes for Route 84 as there may need to be additional safety features added to ensure safe crossings.
Barb Gillman addressed the Board asking for a partial refund for her rental on May 26th, 2019 as the air conditioning was not working properly. The facility was 81 degrees the day of rental creating an uncomfortable experience for guests. Gillman stated Cordova does not charge as much for their rentals of their hall and it is a larger. Clerk Housenga confirmed the facility was warm when checking the facility on the Monday after the event, further elaborating the other party that rented the facility that weekend did not complain about the temperature. Young’s Heating and Air Conditioning has resolved the issue. Housenga also confirmed a notice to call the Police non-emergency number is posted in the closet if issues arise during an event. Since the issue was brought to the attention of the Office the contract for facility rentals has been modified to include the non-emergency number. Fiems motioned to refund the $120.00 rental fee paid by Mrs. Gillman. Rankin seconded. All present voted yes. Motion carries. Fiems requested it be noted this will take care of the situation in its entirety and he does not care what the Village of Cordova does. Gillman suggested the non- emergency number be added to the reminder slip given to ensure the deposit is refunded.
PRESIDENT –Mire: Mire continued the meeting with the matter of alerting residents of emergency matters. CivicReady and Nixle were researched to see what service may best fit the Village. Mire recommended CivicReady for the board to consider contracting with, the first year costs would be $1542.00 and annually thereafter at $542.00. The service would allow the Village to send unlimited SMS, voice calls, emails and social media notifications to unlimited subscribers. Emergency situation notifications would only be sent, the service would not be used to notify of Board Meetings. $3800.00 was budgeted for an alert system during budget discussions. Robertson motioned to enter into a contract with CivicReady to provide the emergency alert system at a cost not to exceed $1542.00 for the first year and annually thereafter at $542.00. Fowler seconded. Mire asked all Board Members to provide their opinions of what are appropriate uses of the service to draft a policy as guidance for the alert service.
POLICE REPORT – Chief Perley: April and May of 2019 reports were presented.
ATTORNEY – N. Mason: Nothing to report at this time. Attorney Lincoln Scott filled in for Attorney
Mason for the evening.
FIRE REPORT – Chief Carey: April and May of 2019 reports were presented.
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS REPORT – Bump: Report as presented. Mire once again thanked our Public Works Department for their work during the flood. Bump reported Hescos are still up, he is projecting to take them down by July 4th. Bump is going to look into the possibility of installing a small poured concrete wall to act as a permanent flood barrier around the 14th Street sewer lift station. In the long run a permanent barrier will carry a lesser expense than the Hescos. Mire verified the wall would need to be engineered to withstand water flow pressures and to satisfy the needs of the EPA. Mini-ex rental will be required take down the Hescos. Mire would like to check on options for a joint purchase of a mini-ex in the future.
BUILDING, ZONING & PLANNING – Fiems: Permits for roofing were issued and the new business being constructed along Route 84 is going up quickly.
PERSONNEL & FINANCE – Clark: Clark authorized a donation of $100.00 to Wounded Warrior Project.
ELECTIONS – Mire: Nothing to report at this time.
ORDINANCE & LICENSES – Schnieder: With the application of grants recently, the Village has identified it needs to create policies for purchasing and fraud. Rankin is currently working on developing these policies and is projecting to have them ready for passage at the July meeting.
COMMUNITY RELATIONS, EVENT PLANNING & PUBLIC SAFTEY – Fowler: Mire thanked Fowler for her work on getting the electronic sign working and donating her time to work on the landscaping at the Village Office. Fowler explained the Hampton/Rapids City General Federation of Women’s Clubs has inquired about the donation and placement of benches on Village property. Fowler will continue to work with the GFWC to get the project underway. 34 Active, Reserve and Veteran Military Personnel and First Responders enjoyed lunch at the Village sponsored luncheon on May 18th. Fowler provided two proposals for finishing the electronic sign base. Proposals were received from Five Star Masonry at $1,320.00 and from Uncommon Ground at $19,503.53. Although the proposal from Uncommon Ground is very nice it is beyond the scope the Village was looking for. Rankin motioned to approve Five Star Masonry to complete stone work for the digital sign board at the cost of $1320.00. Clark seconded. All present voted yes. Motion carries. Mire mentioned a complaint of the size of the actual digital sign being too small, if finances allow in the future a large sign may be purchased. Fowler will be asking Five Star Masonry to clarify the meaning of cover and heat in the proposal and if stone work could be moved to another location if the sign were to be moved.
OLD BUSINESS: INFRASTRUCTURE – Rankin: Rankin pointed out on the bill listing the cost of sewer processing for the past two months. Rankin suspects sump pumps maybe being discharged into the sewer system again. Further research may be required to identify the source of the additional flow of sewage. Flow meters may need to be installed in manholes to meter to see if the added usage is from sump pumps. Chris Cooper of MSA Professional Services gave an update on the Water Loop Project, Evaluation of 1st Avenue, Survey of Sulpher Creek and 14th Street Box Culvert. During soil boring bedrock was discovered where the main would be installed, this discovery could possible increase the cost of the project. Another option to keep costs low is to move the main crossing location. Cooper then touched base on the condition of 1st Avenue. After this week large capacity vehicles will be able to resume normal travel on 1st Avenue. The parking area and road near the boat dock have signs of sub base failure, determination of the damage time frame but the flood probably didn’t help the situation. Sulphur Creek survey has been completed from 14th and 13th Street. In the future a survey will be completed from 13th and 12th Street. The box culvert installation estimates have come in at $4,000.00 over what preliminary costs were projected at. A contract for the updated costs was presented. Mire inquired the material used to construct the box culvert, Cooper speculated concrete. Mire also asked Cooper if a metal X type of grate could be installed with the culvert to catch large pieces of debris. Rankin motioned to accept the MSA Services Agreement Amendment # 1 in the amount of $33,100.00. Clark seconded. All present voted yes. Motion carries.
NEW BUSINESS: PARKS, RECREATIONS & CEMETERY – Robertson: Revised costs for the exercise equipment to be placed at Shuler’s Shady Grove have been received, costs have gone up about 10%. The Village cannot move on the purchase of the equipment until the finalized OSLAD Grant Agreement has been executed. At this time the project is on hold. A proposal has been presented for equipment to add a bicycle repair station near the boat dock bathrooms. Fixit and Air Kit 2 are proposed for purchase. Clerk Housenga will email a colored copy of equipment specs to Board Members as a action will be the next Board Meeting.
PUBLIC DISCUSSION: Fiems has been confronted with the question of reserved boater parking at Shuler’s Shady Grove. Clerk Housenga reminded the OSLAD Grant restricts the Village to keeping the area to an open public space for everyone.
Mire added a final note of the placement of port-a-potties at River Bend Park and Shadow Hill Park. Users of the parks have complimented to addition. Mire would like to look at the possibility of adding permanent bathrooms at each park.
With nothing further to be discussed, Fiems motioned to adjourn this Regular Board Meeting; Fowler seconded. All members of the Board concurred. President Mire adjourned this June 11th, 2019 meeting at 8:18pm.
http://www.rapidscity.us/minutes/20190611.pdf
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