Guest Annette Anderson came before the council to get the ok for the Butler alumni parade this Saturday, approved.
The planning commission met recently to work toward being prepared for medical marijuana. Needed changes include zoning and policies, drafts on these should be complete by the next council meeting. There will be a hearing required before any changes can be adopted and the council is being cautious to make sure we're in compliance with all state laws. During the meeting last night, amendments were made to the city code regarding medical marijuana as well.
A hazard mitigation plan (designed to eliminate or reduce long term risk from natural disasters) is due, the plan must be updated every five years. The city is working with Kaysinger to make sure everything is in place. Kaysinger does the plan for us, which helps immensely.
On May 10th, the city had a pre construction meeting the Little Joe's Asphalt, and while the start date for repaving Mechanic, Dakota and Fulton streets has been delayed a little, good news is that there was an overage in estimated material cost, meaning that possibly another street can be paved as well.
A discussion was held regarding grant money available for Project Lemonade. Currently, about $139,000 is budgeted for this project but it appears it will not require the full amount. The grant money matches dollar for dollar, so at this point only about $20,000 of city money will be needed, since the total project can be done for about $40,000 which would include grass, benches, top soil, etc. This is an ongoing discussion, more coming soon.
The city is hoping to sign a right-of-way agreement with CenturyLink soon. In short, there is an issue with getting fiber speed internet connections to key areas around town which can be a huge problem with keeping businesses happy, specifically on the square.
There has been an ongoing issue with dissolved oxygen levels in Mound Branch Creek on the south edge of town. Missouri DNR has raised concerns about this since the sewage treatment facility is nearby... at this point it doesn't look like an issue directly related to the plant, possibly more related to an ecological problem partially due to the fact Mound Branch is a low flow tributary. Allgeier Martin Engineering of Joplin has drafted a letter to DNR about this, and mostly likely a meeting will be held soon to resolve the issue.
The Town Hall meeting is all set for June 3rd, 7 pm at the Butler high school auditorium. This will be a golden opportunity for residents to come forward with concerns and ideas for our city. Please help spread the word, a big turnout would be greatly appreciated and would show that folks are truly vested in our town.
A check from Charles Rush was presented, in the amount of $2,898.00, which was overpayment for insurance.
A review will be conducted regarding travel expenses for city employees, one concern was that the meals amount was a little on the light side, however all expenses will be reviewed.
There were two bids submitted to hay 10 acres of city property on south Main street. Low bid of $10 per acre was accepted, the other bid was $20 per acre.
A bid of $6,685.25 was accepted to purchase a monitor (deck gun) for one of the Butler fire trucks. The monitor allows firefighters to attack fire from a distance, which is much safer. Also a bid of $1,680.00 was accepted for the purchase of a tracking device for firefighters to be located inside a burning structure.
A pay adjustment was approved for dispatchers at the police department. Currently pay is $10.80 an hour to start, and that has been bumped to $12.30. Dispatchers serve a very important role and keeping the positions filled is vital. Also discussed was having city departments share the expense of dispatch, which equates to the fire department putting $5,000 per year, and other city departments putting $2,500 per year towards dispatch costs. Currently, those costs are covered by the general fund.
It was approved to make an offer to a candidate that has applied for the position of economic developer. Details to follow in the upcoming council meeting.
Butler city council meetings are held on the first and third Tuesdays of each month. The public is highly encouraged to attend!