Jackie Fischer, representing Quality Home Health Care on north Orange street in Butler appeared before the council with husband Barry Fischer regarding high electric bills at the facility.
Fischer pointed out that even during the fairest months (i.e., April, doors open) they were presented with an 'on demand' charge of about $300 additionally in the their monthly electric bill. With ongoing concerns about high utility bills, the Fischer's installed a ground source heat pump, which in turn only dropped their rates around $100 at times, but overall, despite their conservation are still being charged at the on demand rate.
The question arose of exactly how on demand rates are figured, and is the electric meter being reset after a previous on demand period. The council agreed to meet with the utilities supervisor to make a resolution to include a refund or credit.
Prior to the regular meeting, the council met with a Kaysinger representative to discuss grants available to the city- more info coming soon. Also a $150,000 grant is available for airport improvements at a cost of just 10% of that to the city. The council and airport commission are looking at long term improvements to the airport in an effort to make Butler as attractable as possible for new businesses and other entities that will use the airport.
A brief discussion was led by Linn Nitsche about trying to bring a COE program back to Butler in order to keep students from having to travel to Nevada. More details on this are forthcoming.
It sounds like Parks and Rec will go back to monthly meetings, as the 'every other month' thing may have caused attendance to go down. More about what Parks and Recreation has to offer is available HERE.
It was reported that the dog swim at the Butler Aquatic Center went off without a hitch. Upwards of 20 pups and their owners enjoyed cooling in the pool.
A hearing was held and the tax levy was approved at .6654 for the 2019 fiscal year. The new rate is comparable to last years.
A proposed general sales tax increase of 1% was approved by the council and now is at the fate of Butler voters. Benefits of the proposed tax are forthcoming; it will be decided November 4th at the Old Butler High School gym.
The previously postponed town hall meeting will be rescheduled hopefully within the next couple of weeks.
A wireless internet provider has requested permission to put antennas on the Butler water towers. Since there are many concerns about safety, access and what to charge the provider, the council will discuss further and provide more details along with a yes-or-no to the provider in the near future.
A hot topic was insurance costs for city owned property. Councilmen Nitsche and Newkirk agreed that the insured value of older vehicles and buildings are too high, by the tune of tens of thousands of dollars. Note that the insurance company does not set these values; the values are set by the city and it looks like a full review is in order. Based on dollar figures put forth, savings to the city will be quite substantial after adjustments are made.
A review will be done along with further discussion about the operation of the senior taxi service in Butler. Concerns have been raised about liability issues of volunteer drivers and just who (city or Senior Center) would be liable in the event a major accident.
The Butler City Wide Cleanup is set to begin October 7th for those north of Fort Scott street, and October 14th for those south. Residents are asked to have items at the curb by the 7th and 14th to insure pick up.
Regarding the tragedy that claimed two lives on the north edge of Butler on August 9th, it was noted that the highway patrol did not do a formal investigation as required in the event of traffic fatalities. While they were summoned, they did not dispatch personnel to do the recreation/investigation which drew the ire of those in charge of the scene. In turn, a professional investigative team from Cass county was summoned instead. An official report is expected soon.
As an added note, many thanks were paid to first responders and others who remained on the scene over six hours. Our community as a whole will feel the pain of this tragedy for a very long time to come- it's good to know that our police, fire and medical emergency folks are available when we need them and are always very professional in every case.
