CITY COUNCIL

A regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Louisville was held on Wednesday, March 14, 2001, at 7:00 p.m. at the City Hall. Present was Mayor Henry, Council Members: Rod Petersen, Don Harris, Dave Pankonin and Greg Manley. Also present: Attorney Roger Johnson and several guests.

Notice of the regular meeting was given in advance thereof by publication in the Plattsmouth Journal and by posting in three (3) public places as shown by the certificate attached to these minutes. Notice was simultaneously given to all council members. Their acknowledgement of receipt of notice and the agenda is attached to these minutes. All proceedings thereafter were taken while the convened meeting was open to the public. 

Motion by Pankonin, second by Petersen to approve the consent agenda, which includes: city minutes of February 28, 2001, city and care center warrants, clerk's report, treasurer's report, investments & transactions and Planning Commission minutes of March 5, 2001. Ayes: Harris, Manley, Pankonin and Petersen. Nays: none. Motion carried.

Motion by Manley, second by Pankonin to temporarily adjourn as City Council and open public hearing on South Ridge Subdivision at 7:05 p.m. Ayes: Harris, Manley, Pankonin and Petersen. Nays: none. Motion carried.

Ron Ross of Ross Engineering gave a brief overview of the preliminary plat for the South Ridge Subdivision. Retention Pond at entrance will be a dry cell. Retention Pond in future phase will be a wet cell. Paving will be extended a little further due to realignment of the lots in Phase IA. There are 40 lots in Phase IA; which is the urban area. The rural acreage lots will be in Phase IB and there are 17 lots. At the end of the asphalt road there will be a temporary turn around. The developer is working on an easement for emergency access to the east. The urban area will be concrete paving at 26' wide. Public water, sanitary and storm sewer will be installed. Retention cells are on private property and will be privately maintained and owned. Storm sewer will be public, along with water and sanitary. A lift station will be needed which will be public and maintained by the city. Future development calls for an additional 9 single family lots and 16 townhouses. A sidewalk system will also be in place. In the official preliminary plat there are 160 lots, which includes all four phases and the urban section. Storm sewer was pointed out on the drawing presented. From the lift station will be a 2 ½ to 3" force main, from there on down will be gravity sewer. The pumps will be dual pumps with standby and everything will be sized to handle the entire development. The single family lots will be served by gravity sewer, the acreage lots, because of street slope will be gravity back to the sanitary sewer lift station, then it pumps through a force main back to the manhole. There will be covenants and the developer will negotiate with OPPD on using an ornamental pole instead of the standard light pole. The fire department expressed concern regarding the spacing of fire hydrants. Hydrants are currently spaced at 500'. Other communities are going to 300 to 350 feet apart. Ninety percent of the hydrants in Louisville are 300-400 ft apart. Ross Engineering will work on adding more hydrants. The State Fire Marshal's office recommends 300' between hydrants. Some concern was noted over the street width and parking on both sides of the street. Mr. Ross noted the developer would have no problem posting parking only on one side of the street. The fire department recommended parking allowed only on one side to accommodate emergency vehicles. Once the development is annexed the City will determine where parking will be allowed. There was discussion on additional entrances in to the development for emergency purposes. No further public discussion. Motion by Manley, second by Petersen to close public hearing at 7:22 p.m. on South Ridge Subdivision. Ayes: Harris, Manley, Pankonin and Petersen. Nays: none. Motion carried

Motion by Manley, second by Pankonin to reconvene as City Council at 7:22 p.m. Ayes: Harris, Manley, Pankonin and Petersen. Nays: none. Motion carried. 

Motion by Manley, second by Petersen to approve the preliminary plat of the South Ridge Subdivision. Ayes: Manley and Petersen. Nay: Harris. Abstain: Pankonin. Motion carried. 

Mr. Ross of Ross Engineering noted they are working on the final plat for the South Ridge Subdivision. They have a concern on the water main project and the extension of it to the east to provide water to the subdivision. They would like to see two feeds into their water system. Mayor Henry noted he has discussed a 10" main possibility with Eric Obert of JEO in case there would be a need for an additional water tower in that area. 

Motion by Petersen, second by Harris to introduce Ordinance 698, Code of Ordinances and to suspend the statutory three required readings. Ayes: Harris, Manley, Pankonin and Petersen. Nays: none. Motion carried. 

Motion to adopt Ordinance 698 by reading caption only by Pankonin, second by Manley. Ayes: Harris, Manley, Pankonin and Petersen. Nays: none. Motion carried. 

Motion by Pankonin, second by Manley to introduce Ordinance 705, City Council; Selection; Duties and suspend the three required statutory readings. Ayes: Harris, Manley, Pankonin, and Petersen. Nays: none. Motion carried. 

Motion to adopt Ordinance 705 by reading caption only by Harris, second by Petersen. Ayes: Harris, Manley, Pankonin and Petersen. Nays: none. Motion carried.

Motion by Petersen, second by Harris to introduce Ordinance 706, Wages Paid to Appointed Officials and City Employees, and suspend the three required statutory readings. Ayes: Harris, Manley, Pankonin and Petersen. Nays: none. Motion carried.

Motion by Petersen, second by Pankonin to adopt Ordinance 706 by reading caption only. Ayes: Harris, Manley, Pankonin and Petersen. Nays: none. Motion carried.

Motion by Manley, second by Harris to approve Resolution 01-09, DED Drawdown #12. Roll call vote: Pankonin, aye; Harris, aye; Manley, aye; Petersen, aye. Motion carried.

Motion by Manley, second by Pankonin to approve Resolution 01-10, rollover warrants on Main Street and Prairie Hills. Roll call vote: Pankonin, aye; Harris, aye; Manley, aye; Petersen, aye. Motion carried. 

Attorney Johnson noted he has sent copies of an ordinance regarding City Mayor; Selection of Duties and a resolution regarding mileage reimbursement for review for the April council meeting. 

Eric Obert of JEO discussed the change order on Well #3 for $8,985. This change order adds the price of the pump to the original contract for drilling the well. It does not affect final price, but just moves the pump from Phase II of the project to Phase I. Eric Obert briefed the audience of the progress of Well #3. Phase II will include the discharge piping and building, which they will be advertising for bid next week. The new well is pumping to the capacity of both the wells right now. This is a temporary well. Motion by Petersen, second by Harris to approve the change order for $8,985. Roll call vote: Pankonin, aye; Harris, aye; Manley, aye; Petersen, aye. Motion carried. 

Eric Obert gave a progress report on well #3. Phase I is nearly complete. The well casing has been installed, pump testing complete and water analysis test submitted. It will take approximately 5 more weeks to receive the test results. The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services has approved Phase II plans which contain the pump building and discharge piping. Eric will present bids at the April council meeting. 

Eric has still not received any confirmation on the review process from either the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality or the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services on the Prairie Hills project. Eric recommends that the City proceed with the advertisement of this project. If changes are required, we will make adjustments with an addendum or negotiation with the contractor. 

Eric noted he had talked with the Nebraska Department of Roads concerning the Eastwood Drive extension and Highway 66 access. The state wants a definite decision on time frame for this project to proceed. A decision does not need to be made right away, but within the next couple of months. Dave Pankonin and Greg Manley will work on this. 

Motion by Petersen, second by Manley to approve Sarah Stovall to fill vacancy on Library Board. Ayes: Harris, Manley, Pankonin and Petersen. Nays: none. Motion carried.

Motion by Pankonin, second by Manley to approve purchase of Summit Graphical Screen Management System from Data Technologies for $1,512.50. Roll call vote: Petersen, aye; Manley, aye; Harris, aye; Pankonin, aye. Motion carried.

Paul Piotrowski of F. W. Paul Realty gave a brief presentation regarding the possibility of the City purchasing the Oak Ridge Apartments. It is USDA Rural Development Housing for elderly, handicapped and disabled. A housing authority was formed approximately one year ago and equity funding through USDA Rural Development was looked into for the housing authority to buy the apartments without any money out of pocket for the City. An application was made for the funds but the USDA ran out of funds. Funds are now available again. Mr. Piotrowski felt the City should definitely be involved. There is funding available on top of an assumable loan. Mr. Piotrowski stated the housing authority would not be part of the city financial statement, but would stand on it's own. The loan is a thirty-year loan with a fifty-year amortization. The interest rate is 6.875%, but is subsidized as long as it is in a qualified program so that it is a 1% loan. There are management companies available to mange the property and Mr. Piotrowski furnished a list of these companies. Payments for the management company would come out of the cash flow for the apartments. The project is supervised by USDA Rural Development and is a cash flow operation. They make sure rents and subsidies cover all the expenses, this would include the management company fee. USDA Rural Development required an appraisal as part of their funding, the appraisal last July was at $615,846. Asking price a year ago was $408,500 for the building. Dave Pankonin asked why they wanted to sell the property? Lack of time was given as the main reason. A management company would do all of your budget work and tenant certification. Mr. Piotrowski will sell the property commercially if the City does not purchase it. This could jeopardize those tenants currently receiving rental assistance. A non-profit agency can take the project over and still qualify for the program, however, an individual cannot. The housing authority would qualify as a non-profit. Mr. Piotrowski explained the cash flow operation. Rents are based on the cash flow needs. In order to make loan payments, you would include this. Equity funding provided by USDA Rural Development, will qualify for the increases, whereas other equity funding would not. If the funding did not go through and the City wanted to borrow $220,000, the rent could not be increased enough to cover that cash flow. USDA would not allow it, if you go through the equity funding they will allow it. Rent generally runs 30% of the tenant's income after medical expenses. USDA picks up the additional as subsidized rental assistance. Rod Petersen asked about a major repair expense, such as the elevator. The housing authority isn't buying just the building, but is buying the project. The project would include the building at $408,000, plus it would include the cash reserves and all the cash they have in the project, which is about $60 - $70,000. A lot of that is required reserve money and this reserve is set aside for expenses such as the elevator. You are required to keep a certain amount in your reserve fund. If you had a major expense and you had to cut your reserve in half, you would be allowed a rent increase to get your reserve back up. It was asked if an individual could get into a program like this. Mr. Piotrowski stated they could, but in order to qualify for the equity funding, they need to be a non-profit entity. The project has satisfied the 20 year requirement for low-income housing, so if an individual bought it they would not have to keep it low-income housing. Mr. Piotrowski was asked why he did not hire a management company to run this for him. He stated the only profit he makes is the management. He gets 8% of his original investment as a return on investment. Carl Schliefert who is on the housing authority stated they had applied for the funding last year before the USDA ran out of funds. He asked if application would have to be made again. Mr. Piotrowski felt a lot of the paperwork done in the past would still be valid. Carl said they were working under the premise that it was probably a facility that the community continues to need and since it would be basically a no cost deal for the City they should do it since a private investor could not. Mr. Piotrowski felt he had an oral agreement between Paul McManis and himself for the housing authority to purchase the property. There were no formal agreements signed. Dave Pankonin expressed concern over the fact the City does need this property and the financial impact it has on the City. Mr. Piotrowski stated it would be the responsibility of the housing authority to run and manage the property. A management company would charge approximately the same fee as Mr. Piotrowski was taking. The management company would do the books, budget and recertification. Further discussion followed regarding the equity loan and assumable loan and vacancies in the building. Mayor Henry advised Mr. Piotrowski that the council would like to discuss the legal implications of this project with the city attorney in executive session. The council will get back to Mr. Piotrowski. August 31, 2001 was noted in the applications as a possible closing date. 

Motion by Petersen, second by Harris to award CDBG contract to "A Better Way Construction Company" in the amount of $17,115. Roll call vote: Petersen, aye; Manley, aye; Harris, aye; Pankonin, aye. Motion carried.

Motion by Pankonin, second by Manley to award CDBG funds in the amount of $1,449.85 to applicant #11 for self-help. Roll call vote: Petersen, aye; Manley, aye; Pankonin, aye; Harris, aye. Motion carried. 

A request was made by the Style Shoppe to provide a handicap-parking stall. Maintenance has looked into this and advised the first stall on Second Street off of Main would be the best place. This would give access to the beauty and barbershop, grocery store and doctor's office. The request is for one stall. Discussion followed on whether it would be better to have the stall on Main or Second on the diagonal parking or would a parallel stall on the south side of Second be better. Motion by Petersen, second by Manley to place a handicap-parking stall in the first stall on the north side of Second Street, west of Main. Ayes: Harris, Manley, Pankonin and Petersen. Nays: none. Motion carried.

Randy Payne stated Maintenance had been contacted by two residents on Third Street regarding parking on both sides of the streets by the school during activities. A suggestion was made to put no parking signs up along the curb line on the north side of the street. There are currently two signs on the north side. There are no parking signs on both sides of Third Street. It was noted the no parking signs needed to be enforced by the deputies. It was decided to put up more no parking signs and visit with the deputies regarding enforcing the signs. 

The Fire Department has been contacted regarding the possibility of purchasing a used rescue squad from Gretna. Gretna has a 1991 Ford squad that is very well taken care. It is a diesel with 33,000 miles on it. Gretna has purchased a new squad and would like to sell this one. The second squad the department has now is in need of replacing and is requiring a lot of repairs. Gretna is asking $25,000 but will take offers. Other prices on used squads range from $19,000 for a 1989 with 42,000 to a 1992 with 18,421 miles with only lights on it for $13,000. The Gretna squad will come equipped with O2 bottles, lights, etc. The only items Louisville will need to furnish is the high-band radio and name change on the door. The County supplies $2,500 per year per squad for funding. There are CD's for purchase of the squad. There is some concern over whether the state will pass the second squad due to the mechanical problems it has. There were 112 transported calls last year and calls are going up at a rate of about 6% per year. A new squad would cost about $86,000. Motion by Petersen, second by Harris for the Fire Department to pursue negotiations for purchase of a used rescue squad from Gretna not to exceed $25,000. Roll call vote: Manley, aye; Harris, aye; Pankonin, aye; Petersen, aye. Motion carried. 

Karen Schliefert addressed the council regarding contracting with EMS Billing Services for the rescue squad billing. EMS Billing Services charges 15% of billings collected as a fee and will write for grant funds for the Rescue Department. Last year there were 112 billable calls that brought in $16,500. This averages about $147 per call. The average should be closer to $180 to $200 per call. The City does not spend the time to go after the people who are not paying their rescue bill and is not current on the billable amounts allowed by insurance companies. The Fire Department is requesting to try this service for one year on a trial basis. The department is currently paying the city about $3,000 to do the billing service, based on last year's dollars would cost the department $2,500 to use EMS Billing Services. The contract would be forwarded to Roger Johnson for review before signing. Motion by Pankonin, second by Manley to contract with EMS Billing Services on a one-year trail basis for rescue squad billing. Roll call vote: Petersen, aye; Manley, aye; Harris, aye; Pankonin, aye. Motion carried. 

Mike Keyes reported there are three fire hydrants that are buried in dirt and unusable, two on Third Street Circle and one on Third and Vine. Mike has talked to Larry Wittrock regarding this and Larry will take care of it. 

Larry Gulizia asked why the rural board would not be helping to pay for the new rescue squad. He felt they should kick in something. Discussion followed regarding the agreement with the rural board. It was noted the City had bought the squad that needs to be replaced. The rural board bought the newer squad because the City could not afford it. Discussion followed regarding agreements made in the past with the rural board regarding who would buy what and who would maintain the equipment. It was decided to try to meet with the rural board to discuss this agreement.

Mayor Henry asked for comments from the audience regarding the housing authority purchasing Oak Ridge Apartments. Comments were: if it was such a good deal, why is he getting out of it? A comment was made that the 20 years allowed for depreciation of the building had run out. The consensus was to look out after the best interests of those who are living there and the City's best interest. It was decided to talk with the USDA regarding this also.

Cass County Sheriff's Department gave the police report. 

Gary Read of Good Times addressed the council regarding an incident at the bar with a Cass County Deputy. Gary feels the deputies are parking too close and watching people too closely. Mayor Henry noted complaints he had received regarding the noise from the bar at 10:30 at night. Members of the audience noted the volume level for the bands was extreme even at 1:00 a.m. Discussion was held regarding an ordinance for noise control. It was decided the residents should call the sheriff's department if they are disturbed by the noise and let the sheriff's department try to work things out. 

Randy Payne asked the sheriff's department to start watching the stop sign at 2nd and Elm street closer for violations. Parking violations at the school were also discussed. 

Mayor Henry and Rod Petersen attended the Care Center meeting. They reported the Care Center has no interest in purchasing Oak Ridge Apartments. It would not be feasible as an assisted living facility. Mayor Henry also noted he advised the Care Center Board that the City needs to start getting a return on their initial investment for the services provided by the City. This should be worked into their next budget year as a monthly amount. The suggested amount was $2,000 per month. 

Larry Wittrock reported on water samples taken on the old wells. There was no detection of bacteria on one well. Larry called on the other well test and there is no detection on that well, however he will not turn well #1 back on until he receives the paperwork. Don Harris asked what the arsenic level was. Larry was not sure, but will check on it for Don. Larry felt the test on the new well should come back good because it is the same water as the other wells. Darlene Petrizilka asked if we were still under a water restriction. Mayor Henry said no. There are no problems with well #1 and hopefully well #3 will be on line within the next 90 days. 

Jack Faubion and Randy Payne reported they have been busy working on Sandhill Road and some of the alleys in town. They have also been working on projects at the City Shop. Randy Payne asked about purchasing some white crushed rock for the alleys to have on hand. Mayor Henry felt it would be possible to reuse some of the rock used up in Prairie Hills after the paving project was done for the alleys, but they should go ahead and get rock if they feel they need it to maintain the alleys now. It will be about 3 weeks before the black patch material can be used to fix some of the potholes. Randy and Jack have put some of the asphalt grindings in some of the bad holes. This is not a permanent fix but will help for the time being. Larry noted the road in to the sewer plant was going to need rock on it. Some of the guardrails are going to need repairing after the snow removal season is over. 

The Louisville Jaycees would like to do a clean-up project in the City Park on April 21, 2001. This would include repairing the fireplace and grate in the shelter. They would also like permission to install some horseshoe pits. They would like to add a horseshoe tournament to Louisville Daz this year. The City purchased and installed two charcoal grills in the shelter last year. The grill the Jaycees are wanting to replace has been nothing but a trash collector and is no longer needed. It may be in the best interest of the City to not have the grills in there because of the vandalism. The Jaycees will get together with Don Harris since he is on the Parks and Recreation Committee. Don will also check with the City's insurance carrier regarding the chimney and fencing the horseshoe pit. The chimney structure may need to be removed. The City can furnish paint. 

Motion by Pankonin, second by Petersen to enter executive session at 9:25 p.m to discuss the housing authority and the Oak Ridge Apartments. Ayes: Harris, Manley, Pankonin and Petersen. Nays: none. Motion carried.

Motion by Petersen, second by Manley to exit executive session at 9:45 p.m. Ayes: Harris, Manley, Pankonin and Petersen. Nays: none. Motion carried.

Motion by Pankonin, second by Harris to adjourn at 9:45 p.m. Ayes: Harris, Manley, Pankonin and Petersen. Nays: none. Motion carried.

I, the undersigned deputy clerk, hereby certify that the foregoing is a true and correct copy of the proceedings had and done by the Mayor and City Council of Louisville to the best of my knowledge, that the agenda was kept continually current and available for public inspection; and that the minutes were in written form and available for public inspection within 10 working days; the minutes are published in summary form, upon request a complete copy is available at the City Hall.

Cheryl Knutson
Deputy City Clerk

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