MINNEOLA CITY COUNCIL MEETS                                    January 16, 2024

The Minneola City Council met in regular session on January 16, 2024, in the Civic Connection. The meeting was called to order at 7:04 p.m., with the following Council members present: Marvin Jensen, Chad Kirk, Debbie Buckley, and Dustin Laudick. Mayor Carol Sibley presided. Also present were Tyler Knox, City Manager and Brenda Stewart, City Clerk.

Lance Custer, USD 219 Superintendent, discussed the school bond that passed and showed a proposed plan. They hope to have the final plans completed by May, bid in June, and break ground in July. The current plan has the school drop off entering from Locust Street and exiting onto Poplar Street. Poplar Street south of Locust is currently a rock road. Discussion took place about how to get Poplar (Locust to the park) or part of Poplar (Locust to helipad) finished, who covers the cost, and the ditch that runs north to south. Lance will ask the architect if it is a feasible option to have the company doing the rest of the concrete work to do the street also.

Debbie made a motion to approve the minutes from December 18, 2023, Dustin seconded, motion passed 4/0.

Computer printouts showing the financial status for the month of November were reviewed. There were no questions.

Tyler updated the Council on several projects:

• The transfer switch is installed on the City Hall/Civic Connection generator, but it is not working. Stegman Brothers Electric is in contact with the company and will continue to work on it.
• We have pricing for the Hwy 54/Front Street guardrail that was damaged. We just received the police report and will forward it onto insurance. We have not done anymore follow-up on adding additional guardrail.
• Tyler will follow-up with Kirk Esplund about the federal grant that was previously discussed.
• Tyler has been in contact numerous times with Mammoth Materials about the demolition at 103 Maple that was to start on December 18, 2023. The property owner continues to remove items off this property and relocating them to another location in Minneola. Mammoth Materials told Tyler today, that they will start next week.
• We have two people so far interested in the pool manager position. Ads for the pool manager and lifeguards will go up tomorrow.

The lot at 100 S Main Street is zoned Central Business District which is for retail shopping and offices. This zone does not allow storage containers.

The blizzard from January 8 was reviewed. Tyler reached out to Clark County Emergency Management the morning before the storm hit and told her our game plan and that we needed cots, blankets, and food. This did not transpire, and the Emergency Manager called people late Monday night, during the blizzard, trying to get help for Minneola. The Council stated the Emergency Manager should have been tracking the storm and had plenty of time to get supplies to Minneola before the blizzard hit. There was a meeting today, and the Emergency Manager stated she will bring 15 cots, pillows, blankets, and food to be stored in Minneola. We are going to work on a contact list for future closures. It was also noted that the ambulance barn does not have a generator for when the power is out. The Council talked about scheduling a meeting with the City, hospital, and clergy to make a plan on how to help citizens.

After the blizzard, when electricity was restored on Tuesday, we shut off the City Hall/Civic Connection generator and the tornado siren started going off. We had to cut power to the siren to get it to turn off. Millie Fudge agreed to let Stegman Brothers Electric look at it and send the bill to the County.

Tyler reviewed our snow removal process. The City cleans the sidewalk south of the Civic Connection to the front of City Hall, then we make a path down to the post office and library. We also make a path on the sidewalk at City Hall park. We then make sure the ambulance, fire truck, and helipad areas are cleared. Then we make sure access to the hospital is available. Last, we clear other streets, help the grocery store and pharmacy, and the school and hospital if needed.

The main computer at City Hall is old and no longer wants to turn on if shut off. It took several days of persuasion and talking to it, after the blizzard, for us to get it back on. Marvin made a motion to purchase a new computer if less than $3500, Debbie seconded, motion passed 4/0.

The Council asked that we research what it takes to incorporate our land purchases into City limits and to confirm the ground purchased on the Norton deed.

Jerry Curry Jr went to class preparing him for water testing in March. We will send him for two more days prior to testing.

The Council reviewed the letter received from Attorney Love on the property at 113/115 Cypress. This property is still in court and is supposed to go to trial on March 4. The Council asked that Attorney Love be contacted and see if he would attend our February 20 Council meeting. The Council understands there is a problem and needs advice on how to resolve it.

Several properties were discussed, and the information will be passed on to our Code Enforcement officer for review.

Marvin made a motion to approve the bills as presented, Chad seconded, motion passed 4/0.     

Dan Bartel closed the meeting in prayer.

Dustin made a motion to adjourn the meeting, Marvin seconded, motion passed 4/0. The meeting adjourned at 9:25 pm.

City Clerk