Four guests were on the agenda including Layne Anderson, who approached the council regarding concerns at the Butler airport. His concerns center around about the fuel pump not shutting down automatically as well as skydivers sitting at picnic tables too close to spinning props as other aircraft taxi in and out of the facility. Those, with other concerns, have been put into a citizen's audit that he is forwarding to city officials as well as the city attorney. Mayor Pro Tem Liggins replied that the city is aware of the issues and has been working on them and will take his report to the Airport Commission and City Owned Facilities Committee for their review as well.
Guest Mason Coffman spoke to the council regarding concerns about Jaycee Park becoming a homeless encampment, saying a portion of the park is in the backyard of five houses and only has one entrance. He thought it has little functional value as it has a small swing set and is rarely used, thus questioning the need for the park at all. His suggestion was for the city to consider selling the property and was told that his advice will be taken to committee for further discussion.
Ashley Swartz came before Council as a representative of the Kaysinger Basin RPC to ask if she should proceed with applying for a Community Development grant due by July 31. The city would need to have a public hearing and pass a resolution of approval. Mayor Pro Tem Liggins suggested she meet with council before the next meeting to discuss in detail what the grant was for and the process needed. City Clerk Alexander will schedule a work session with council before the next regular council meeting.
Guest Teresa Heckenlively Presented the Kaysinger Basin RPC Safe Streets for All project. They are collecting information on behalf of their seven-county region through a survey for each county. With the information they collect, the top priority areas of concerns will be used to create a plan to achieve zero roadway fatalities and serious injuries. They hope to create a 20-year Safety Action Plan that has well defined strategies and a comprehensive approach that can be utilized by municipalities and counties as a tool to secure funding opportunities for project implementation. The survey will be available on the Mid-America News and City of Butler websites.
The council continues to work with the Student Advisory Committee, as reported by Denny Rich a meeting was held on May 4th where they had discussed the requirements needed for membership and updating the application, plus appointing the lead person in charge for each event. They voted on a banner design to be made for the committee and decided to hold a Pickleball Tournament on June 27. Other ideas were to have a Back to School Bash, a Membership Drive, a Basketball tournament and a 5K run. Their next meeting is to be held June 1.
A public hearing was held where attorney James Newell spoke of Hertzog Meat Co, who has proposed the use of Chapter 100 incentives for the redevelopment of the former Wal-Mart building as a food processing, storage, distribution, and retail facility and includes the associated parking, landscaping, and infrastructure improvements. The proposed incentive includes real property tax abatement, personal property tax abatement, sales tax reimbursement, and the issuance of bonds.
The Plan proposes the issuance of industrial development revenue bonds in the amount of $11,462,000.00 to finance costs for Hertzog Meats. The Grand Opening was held last week so there is no worry about start-up costs.
Chapter 100 is a section of the Missouri Constitution that authorizes the issuance of industrial revenue bonds to help projects like this acquire financing. Their bond financing will come at a later date. During the term of the bonds, the City owns the property but leases it back to the company under a lease-purchase agreement for tax abatement purposes. The term of the bonds is expected to be ten years. The company will be responsible for making payments that are sufficient to pay the principal and interest on the bonds as they come due and will be paid to the City. After the term of the bonds has ended, the company resumes ownership of the bond-financed property.
The most recent equalized assessed valuation of the Project site is $246,820.00. The estimated total equalized assessed valuation of the Project site after development of the Project is $1,760,000.00.
Payments in lieu of taxes are expected to be made to the affected taxing jurisdictions in accordance with the Chapter 100 Plan and bond issuance documents. There is also a Cost-Benefit Analysis attached to the Plan in accordance with State Statutes and shows the costs and benefits to the City and to other taxing jurisdictions affected by the Project.
If there are any future changes in ownership, they must come to the City Council again. This takes away a lot of the risk and requires Hertzog to comply with state requirements.
Following the public hearing, council unanimously approved the ordinance (agreement) between the City and Hertzog Meat Co.
Another ordinance approved was for the city of Butler to take ownership of a portion of Rice Road from Mount Pleasant township, as well as a portion of Elks Drive. In return, the township will assume ownership of a portion of county road NE 5004.
City Clerk Gayle Alexander reported that only one bid was received for mowing hay at the Butler city lake. Eric Gaylord was the winning bidder at $37.50 per acre.
Police Chief Jarrett Wheatley expressed frustration regarding adjudications and continuances for citations regarding code violations. It has been decided to go the route of the abatement process which will take two to three times longer and has more documentation, but there will be consequences for not adhering to the City codes. They will issue the citation, hold a hearing, give them fifteen days to comply, if not, file a search warrant, clean up the property, send them a bill, and if not paid, place a tax lien on it. The purpose is to fix the lack of fines caused by the current court.
Last week, Butler water users were asked to conserve, as an issue with sludge in the settling basin of the water plant caused a malfunction in the filtering system. Danny Lewis of Alliance Water said he was aware this could be a problem but the fix will require some substantial changes. Currently, he is making a plan on what to improve for the plant and will meet with the mayor next week when they will make a list. They will also talk about where and how to dispose of the sludge produced.
Scott Bitner, on behalf of the Butler Parks & Rec department received approval to replace a diving board at the Aquatic Center for $5,990.00. The old board is worn away along one side, making it a potential hazard.
Remember, the Butler city council meets on the first and third Tuesdays, 7 pm, at city hall. The public is highly encouraged to get involved.
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