Durham City Council moves to new location
Contributing writer
Durham City Council met March 7 in the city's newly acquired building, which formerly housed the bank. Mayor Glennon Crowther told the council he had registered the deed for the building at the courthouse and applied to have the property removed from the tax rolls.
The mayor announced Rollin Schmidt will be in Durham from 9 a.m. to noon April 8 to pick up hazardous waste. This will come at the end of the city's annual cleanup week.
Gary Unruh suggested the mayor was not being paid adequately. He moved to start paying him $50 per month. On a second from Tom Harmon, the motion carried.
Crowther reported receiving a request from Galaxy Cablevision to renew their cable television franchise. Unruh moved to renew, Mike Sorenson seconded the motion, and it carried.
Several other matters were discussed without a motion coming before the council. The mayor and city clerk had received complaints from one or two citizens about having to mail in their utility fees, which were taken to the bank before it closed. "We now have access to the drop box at the bank building," said Crowther. "Should we let them drop them off?"
Joyce Medley expressed some concern about the payments being left in an empty building unsupervised, raising the possibility of theft. Since only a couple of residents had objected to mailing payments, the council decided by consensus to leave the method of payment as it is for now.
Both Crowther and Sorenson had spoken with contractors about submitting bids for the sidewalk project. The council discussed what needs to be done to support the awning in front of Main Street Cafe and the community building.
Verlin Sommerfeld, water supervisor, reported 394,000 gallons of water were pumped in February, and the lift pumps ran 37 hours. Comparing the amount of water pumped to the amount registered on meters shows a loss of 31.6 percent. "I don't know that we used any extra water," said Sommerfeld. "There must be a leak somewhere."
"I suppose we should shut down sections of the line and try to find the leak," Unruh said. Sommerfeld agreed.
The water supervisor also brought up the subject of water rates. "We haven't raised rates since 1998. Is it time to think about doing that?"
"We are way behind everybody else," the mayor remarked. Although the water system is operating in the black, there was a concern that not enough funds are in reserve if major repairs should be needed. However, no action was taken.
"Yesterday I went down to the lift station and took that cracked cover and turned it around," Sommerfeld reported. "I think it should be all right for awhile."
"Do we want to consider using the bank vault for a community storm shelter?" Unruh asked.
"If we did," said Sommerfeld, "we'd have to decide who would open it up. If the weather was that bad, I'd want to head for my own basement, not come open up this building." Since nobody offered to be in charge of opening the proposed shelter, the matter was dropped.
Unruh also called the council's attention to some rather large potholes on Sixth Street. Crowther offered to check with the county to see if filler is available. "We need to get together and trim some trees," Unruh added. There was apparent agreement on this matter, although no immediate plans were made to do the trimming.
Among the bills approved for payment were $489 for a metal detector, $101.35 for chairs for the community building, $175 to Jim's Plumbing for digging and labor in replacing a defective water meter, and $118.16 for fittings for the water system.
Donations sought for Lincolnville Community Center
The City of Lincolnville is looking for monetary donations for the purchase of equipment for the new community center. Furnishings for the building cannot be purchased with grant money.
Donations will be used to purchase kitchen appliances — stove, refrigerator, freezer — and tables and chairs.
Checks may be made to Lincolnville Community Building Fund and sent to PO Box 96, Lincolnville KS 66858.
For more information, contact Lincolnville City Hall at 620-924-5208.
