Council hears update on event center roof, awards Keno funds

The Kimball city council received an update on the event center roof at its Nov. 18 meeting.

After the meeting was called to order the current business included Keno grant applications from both the chamber of commerce as well as Shop with a Cop.

Chamber director Jennifer Provance was present to request funds for the Kimball Banner County Chamber of Commerce.

“The funding we are requesting will go toward promoting the holiday season in Kimball. So the parade of lights, prizes for different contests and promotions, ads in the paper, that kind of thing,” Provance said.

The council asked of Provance whether or not the chamber had spoken to its different members for donations concerning the requested funding, which totaled $650.

“We aren’t requesting as much as we have in the past and that’s because we aren’t doing some of the events we have in the past. Also, since we aren’t asking for that much, we figured that this would be an opportunity to give our members a break and just allow them to enjoy the events,” Provance said.

Councilwoman Kim Christensen spoke in favor of awarding the Keno funds to the chamber.

“I think that this is the kind of thing that is the very epitome of what the Keno funds are here for. So I move that we approve the chamber’s request for $650 in Keno funds,” Christensen said.

The motion was seconded and the council approved the request from the Kimball Banner County Chamber of Commerce.

Kimball Police Chief Darren Huff requested Keno funds for the Shop with a Cop program. It is a seasonal program which helps less fortunate children and families.

“We feed the kids a pancake breakfast at the fire hall with the police, firemen and EMS crew. We head over to Shopko in the emergency vehicles with the sirens and lights on, that’s exciting for the kids. Santa will pass out gift cards for the kids to use and each officer, fireman or EMS crew member will have one or two kids they’ll help the child shop,” Chief Huff said.

Shop with a Cop allows children to buy gifts for themselves or their family with the assistance of an officer. The children selected are ones whose families might not be able to afford gifts for Christmas.

“This year we are requesting $4,500, in Keno funds for this. We will be helping 60 children, and paying the utilities for six families,” Huff said.

Children are selected for the Shop with a Cop program through their respective school. The school counselor, who is has more knowledgeable concerning each child’s home situation, provides a list of children who may be in need.

“Santa will be there, as will Giga-Byte. This year we reached out to the Federal Agents at the Air Force base and asked them if they would be interested in attending the event as well. They seemed like they were excited about it and expressed that they would love to attend and be a part of this. These are the agents we see locally driving the vehicles that say federal agent on them,” Huff said.

This year, Shop with a Cop is extending its generosity to the Dix school in order to reach more children within the county. The tentative date for the Shop with a Cop program is Saturday, Dec. 13.

“We are just waiting for the fire department to confirm they are available on that day and when I spoke with Fire Chief (Rick) Wynne, he didn’t see a reason why the 13th would be a problem,” Huff said.

Shop with a Cop hopes to raise $10,000, so with the $4,500 in Keno funds there is still a need for the remaining $5,500.

“I don’t have the exact figures that are in the account for Shop with a Cop right now, but if anyone wants to donate to this cause they can go to FirstTier Bank and make a deposit into the Shop with a Cop Fund. There is an account set up for that there,” Huff said.

The city council approved the funds request for the Shop with a Cop program.

City Administrator Daniel Ortiz provided the council with an update concerning the event center. With the grant being awarded to remodel the event center, the roofing issues the building is experiencing has been called into question. Fisher Roofing has already checked over the roof, and several issues must be addressed.

When the roof was previously repaired, it was not done so properly, especially in regards to the hail damage it suffered. Fisher Roofing also recommended that a gutter system be installed when the roof is repaired in the near future.

Fisher Roofing already offered a discount on any work it performs for the City of Kimball on this particular project due to the nature of which it was previously handled. Since areas of the roof are rusting through, a new roof is required entirely.

“I spoke with B & C Steel and they would be able to accomplish this new roof for under one hundred thousand. This would eliminate the need for an engineer to be hired, and cut down costs there,” Ortiz said.

However, due to the condition of the current roof, some council members have reservations about going with the same kind of roof again.

“Aren’t we just setting ourselves up for the same problems in a few years? I really want us to get this right. I don’t want to see us fixing the problem the same way as before and being in this same situation in a few years,” Christensen said.

Ortiz said the reason for the current roof’s disrepair is that it was not properly maintained over the years.

“The current roof was basically ignored for several years and then with the hail damage it just started deteriorating quicker. If we get this new roof up and keep up with regular maintenance we should be able to avoid the problems we are having now,” Ortiz said.

The council authorized the request for bids on the event center roof.

The next city council meeting will be at 7 p.m. on Tuesday Dec. 2. The current council and mayor will sit in for the beginning of the meeting, after which the new mayor and council members will be brought in for the official switch to the newly elected officials.