Council sets a new deadline

The Kimball City Council met on Tuesday, March 15 with a full agenda after previously voting to meet just once a month.

Prior to the council meeting, the Board of Public Works met to consider a recommendation for the Z & S change order. That board recommending payment for the total that exceeded the original bid, more than $58,000.

Council subsequently heard the Board of Public Works’ recommendation to issue payment for the additional charges from Z & S Construction for closure of the landfill cell and ultimately approved the expenditure.

“The reason for the change order is really a combination of factors, some that date back to past practices and events that occurred,” City Administrator Daniel Ortiz said. “One of the first things that attributed to that was the southwest corner of the cell. It was off from the original permit design.”

Ortiz continued that the deviation led to the bales of waste being stacked in such a way that more cover dirt was needed than originally anticipated.

Additionally, at various points throughout the life of the cell the baler was non-operational and waste was not satisfactorily compacted.

“The dirt was starting to settle and it required additional amounts of foundation layer as well as additional amounts of some liner,” Ortiz said.

Council then considered action on the agreement between the City and Keep Kimball Beautiful which was signed and presented to the City last month.

A condition of remaining at the present location, owned by the City of Kimball, is that KKB will provide documentation on demand, but according to Ortiz the 2015 financial records have been requested but were not made available.

“I did email Larissa (Binod, KKB director) requesting the documents required as part of the agreement. We have not received the financials yet. The financials were with their accountant and they will not be received until their taxes are prepared,” Ortiz said. “About a week ago we received insurance certificates and yesterday Dawn Moeser dropped by a binder with application materials for some of the grants they applied for and received through NDEQ. But obviously the financials is certainly something we have not received yet and no word on when we will get that.”

“As soon as I get the financials for 2015 we can have that meeting,” Binod said.

Ortiz continued that the scrap metal bin is full and overflowing, a violation to maintain the property nuisance-free. Ortiz stated that he and Kimball Police Chief Darren Huff planned to explore the property and possibly cite the organization for nuisance violations.

Jim Cederburg, chairman of the Kimball Board of Public Works addressed the concern during the meeting as well, who commended council board members for their patience.

“It seems that any time we mention that it seems, both in private conversations and in public, we get resistance to anyone looking at their expenses individually,” Cederburg said. “To me that is a big red flag. That resistance is not typical.”

Mayor Keith Prunty suggested providing as much financial information as possible by the end of the very same week, to which Ortiz said he would rather have the information in its entirety.

Council member Christy Warner asked city attorney Kent Hadenfeldt if the council could move forward with a termination of the agreement with a stipulation that if the requested information is provided a stay will be granted.

“We can do many things with a termination. We don’t have to go through with it even if you give them notice,” Hadenfeldt said. “The agreement has been signed for a total of 30 days. I’m not sure if you actually want to move to terminate the agreement already since it has only been signed for 30 days, but it is up to you. Yes, to answer your question, you can send a notice if you want to.”

Ultimately the board voted to require full financial disclosure by the date of the next meeting, April 19, with the motion stating that if the requirement is not met they will issue an order to vacate.

Other actions taken by the board:

*Review fiscal year 2014-15 – full story will follow next week

*Discussed current staffing requirements and future possibilities – full story will follow next week

*Granted $250.00 in Keno funds to the Nebraska Extension for water safety program

*Granted $2,000 in Keno funds to the Kimball Youth Baseball/Softball program

*Approved a $1,289 reimbursement to Norberg Automotive from the Kimball Main Street Design and Improvement funds

*Granted a waiver to Michael Moehr for removing trees from the landfill in bulk

*Considered amending the nuisance code to include IPMC components

*Considered limiting tree removal/replacement funds per property owner