The Elma City Council meeting was opened at 7:00 P.M. by Mayor Pro-tem Jerry Haar in the former school building gym. Meeting was opened with roll call: Randy Thoren, present, Emily Ptacek, present, Laura Zenner, present, Jerry Haar, present, Tom Platte, present.
Tom moved the agenda be approved, second Randy, carried.
Randy moved the minutes of the August 13th meeting be approved, second Tom, carried.
Randy moved the building permit for Tony Roethler be approved, second Tom, carried. The Council had a couple of questions on the building permit for Kathy Whitinger. The Council decided to table the permit while Dennis called Joe and Kathy to see if they were able to attend the meeting. Tom moved the claims be approved, second Laura, carried.
Brady Norman from EMS Association of Howard County discussed a tax levy that will be on the ballot in November. The levy has been approved by the Howard County Supervisors and should it pass, will be used toward training and equipment for emergency medical responders, formally known as first responders, in Howard County. The levy would allow for Howard County to collect taxes for EMS funding not to exceed $50,000 per year for 5 years. The reasoning for the levy is that Howard County has a shortage of emergency medical responders. Training for EMS is around $1,500 and equipment can be $3,500 to $4,000. Emergency medical responders are strictly volunteers. They are not reimbursed for the use of their own vehicle, time, training or equipment and are often going to be the first to arrive to the scene of an emergency. By being able to collect these funds and pay for EMS training and equipment, they are hoping to recruit more EMS volunteers. Brady asked that those in attendance pass along the levy information to their friends and families and please vote to pass the levy in November.
Joe Whitinger was able to come to the meeting to answer the building permit questions for the Council, mainly that the houses would face the north and that they would have separate water and sewer connections. Tom moved the building permit for Kathy Whitinger be approved, second Laura, carried.
There was little new to discuss on the school building. One question that was brought up was why doesn’t Regional Health Services build near Afton Oaks and the Colonial Manor. Kyle Teeling from Regional Health Services was unable to attend this meeting to speak on behalf of the clinic. Another concern with the clinic coming into town was that there would not be pharmacy services. Brady Norman spoke up on this subject stating that clinic and hospital staff meet weekly to discuss these concerns dealing with clinics in the outlying areas and the pharmacy support is a topic that they are looking into how to make that work.
John from Murphey John Deere was in attendance to answer questions on the loader lease agreement that he put together for the Council. The lease is for 4 years with 100% warranty, service included. The City would have the option to purchase after 4 years. Discussion was that the broom attachment would be ideal to have to be able to sweep our own streets as well as the viaduct. The lease payments would be a little over $20,000 a year. The reason for looking at leasing the loader is to replace the backhoe that the City currently owns. It is not running at this time and is costly to repair. There is also the option to trade or to sell the backhoe. Randy moved to lease the loader with the broom attachment for 4 years, second Tom, carried.
Randy brought up that there was a letter from the DNR stating that there are not to be flow tube in the pond at the sewer plant. Dennis will look into this. Dennis may also be changing companies that test the water samples due to time sensitive issues recently.
There were no further comments.
Randy moved to adjourn the meeting, second Laura, meeting adjourned.