Negotiations at a stand still for KKB

Negotiations between the City of Kimball and Keep Kimball Beautiful were finished at the latest council meeting, Tuesday, Nov. 3, following the Oct. 13 committee meeting that ended without consensus between the two boards.

City administrator Daniel Ortiz provided a timeline of interactions between the two boards, including the final meeting, Oct. 13.

“We went through it line by line and there was some stuff that was changed. There was also some requests that couldn’t be granted,” Ortiz said. “Subsequently the agreement was revised and distributed to them. I believe they had a board meeting that evening, but we did not hear a response from them until Oct. 27 requesting a follow-up meeting.”

Ortiz added that the committee was unable to meet the request for a follow-up meeting but that he asked the organization to submit a list of questions and concerns to his office for further review.

“The agreement before you was the agreement based off the revisions discussed at the Oct. 13 meeting, at Kent’s review,” Ortiz said. “As far as I understand, based off the last communication I received, it does not appear that we have an agreement between the two parties.”

Though Larissa Binod, Director of Keep Kimball Beautiful, was not present at the committee meeting, she addressed council stating that revisions necessary for the organization needed to be addressed again. Binod, along with Spud Rowley, asked for additional committee meetings to continue hammering out the details. They further reiterated that the organization is seeking a pledged amount from which she can base grants.

“No, we do not have an agreement at this time,” Binod said. “There are still considerations that need to be considered.”

“When we left the last meeting that you weren’t present at Larissa, I thought it was a consensus of the group that we had reached everything that needed to be discussed. It was my understanding that we were finished. I don’t know what has happened since then,” council and committee member James Shields said.

Binod answered that KKB still needs to know a committed amount of funds, within a timeframe that works for their grant-writing purposes.

“That was agreed upon, but it hasn’t made it into the agreement. I don’t understand that at the last meeting that was something that couldn’t be granted,” she said. “If we come to you in June and say that in order to sustain the project with no development, this is what the budget is. We were already told we are not going to receive that amount.”

Council member John Morrison asked why Binod would say that and added that until he sees the request in June, he could not tell the organization if they would receive the requested amount.

“Daniel said that twice in the meeting I was not at,” Binod said.

“We are not going to sit here and calculate each month based on how many accounts we have each month. The number was going to be projected into the budget year and that budget number in the line item for the landfill budget was going to be disbursed over twelve months,” Ortiz said.

“Even when you write a grant, you are never guaranteed those items. It is pretty basic that there is no way we can commit, with a 100 percent guarantee to you, that in June we can meet the request until we have gone through the budget process in September,” council member Christy Warner said. “I understand your frustration with that. Just like you need to have that information, we need to have all of the information in our budget to be able to decide how much we can give to each department.”

Warner added that her hope is that any reasonable request from the organization can be met annually.

Council member James Schnell reminded Binod that since 2011 the city has granted KKB more than $160,000. He added because sales tax fluctuates, there can be no guarantee, and that the city’s other departments are going without needed additions as well.

“Are we going to actually be allowed another committee meeting so we can review the things we still need to discuss to finalize the agreement so we can all be on the same page?” Rowley asked.

“We were told everything would be done and wrapped up by the end of November,” Schnell said. “You guys set the deadline at the last meeting.”

“Keep Kimball Beautiful is willing to provide a community service and we asked the City of Kimball to take on recycling for our community because of the liability, the responsibility and the cash flow that is needed to maintain the program. The City of Kimball said that they cannot afford to take on the recycling program but they could afford to give KKB funds to write grants to fulfill these services,” Binod said. “The Board of Public Works agreed to put $2 on the utility for Keep Kimball Beautiful and that didn’t happen. The city administration didn’t fulfill that and it was approved by the City Council too,”

On behalf of Keep Kimball Beautiful, Binod again requested a follow-up committee meeting this month to complete the negotiations within the November timeline. Instead, Schnell encouraged the KKB board to sign the agreement as is with no amount determined and no written guarantee that the city will allocate any funds.

“I’m telling what the real world operates like. I keep trying to tell you, you guys act like you are the only ones in the world operating this way,” Schnell said. “The whole system, in government, works that way. You are asking an amount, that is not the way governments operate.”

Morrison suggested the committee continue working towards a mutually beneficial agreement with the caveat that no disbursements be given until one is signed, however, council member Christy Warner moved that the council approve the agreement as-is pending the signature and fulfillment of Keep Kimball Beautiful.

The board passed the motion unanimously to present the contract, without further reviews or negotiations between the parties.

“If they don’t want to sign it then that is on them,” Warner said. “We’ve all looked it over. We’ve given them until the date.”

Council moved on to consider a resolution that would set prices for equipment rental to the private sector. Equipment rental comes with a one hour minimum charge and would include at least one operator at additional cost.

Mayor Keith Prunty suggested the proposed resolution include that each increment of an hour would be billed as a complete hour. Therefore, one hour and fifteen minutes of rental would be billed at two hours.

After some discussion, the council chose to table the matter for further consideration at the next meeting.

Council refunded the Kimball Main Street Design and Improvement Program with economic development funds and voted unanimously to increase that amount from $10,000 to $15,000.