Architect paid $364.75 by Tampa council years ago
Contributing writer
Tampa City Council met June 9, having postponed the session from the previous Monday.
Rose Mary Saunders, grant coordinator, had been scheduled to appear but canceled due to another commitment. She sent a request for payment of $364.75 to William Morris, architect from the grant funds. Wilbert Backhus moved and Paul Backhus seconded the motion to pay that amount. The motion carried.
Mayor Jim Clemmer reminded the council that the city must supply either 150 hours of volunteer labor or $1,500 for landscaping at the site of the razed high school building.
The council reviewed the plans for work on the city streets. The sidewalk and curb and guttering project on Main Street will get underway some time in July. Hett Construction bid in the job for $24,596.
Hi-Plains Sand will repair any damage done to the street by that project and also chip and seal all streets west of Main at a cost of $14,816.50. There also is $32,000 in notes to be paid off, so the total amount needed for street work is $64,751. The city plans to borrow $55,000 and pay most of the rest from the special highway fund.
"We need to be making arrangements with the property owners to get their part of the sidewalk payment," said Clemmer.
The mayor said that the person who had expressed interest in buying the porch posts from the demolished houses had decided they were not large enough for his purposes. The council still wishes to sell them at $10 each if a buyer can be found.
Clemmer read a letter from Tom Leihy in which he resigned as head council member, although he will remain on the council. Leihy, along with Reuben Kerbs, was not present at the meeting. The rest of the council chose Tim Svoboda to replace Leihy as head council member. Kerbs will preside at meetings in the absence of the mayor.
"I was approached the other day about limiting the speed of trains through town," said Clemmer. He had done some research of city ordinances and found one passed in 1913, which made it illegal to drive a train, car, bicycle, or any other vehicle faster than 15 miles per hour. The consensus of the council was that reviewing and updating ordinances is a task overdue, but no action was taken.
Svoboda reported being approached by someone who wanted modern rest rooms built at the ball field. The mayor estimated such a project would cost around $10,000. There was a consensus that those funds simply are not available at this time. The council then discussed ways to minimize the odor in the ball field's toilets.
Some of the bills approved for payment were $55 for repair of the wheels on the city's tractor, $80 for repairing the tractor's fuel tank, $148.02 for a battery for the siren, $207.48 for highway rock, $119.68 for hauling it, and $360 for chemicals used in the sewer system.
