Goodbye and welcome back at City Council

Kimball City Council said goodbye to council member John Morrison at the regular council meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 20, ending 18 years of public service.

Morrison's four-year term on the council was up, and following the election on November 8, former council member Kim Baliman and James Shields each won a seat on the board.

Morrison began his public service on the Kimball Economic Development Committee in September of 1998. In April 2003 he sat on the Planning Commission and in September of 2007 he added the Board of Adjustment.

Service on each of those boards was completed in April 2012 and the following month he began serving on the City Council.

Mayor Keith Prunty thanked Morrison for his service and presented Morrison with a plaque in appreciation of that service. Following Morrison's departure, City Clerk Rosie Russell presented Shields and Baliman with their Oath of Office.

Baliman then nominated council member Christy Warner as council president and Shields offered to be the same.

James Schnell, past council president, reminded both Warner and Shields that the obligation of running a meeting falls on the council president in the Mayor's absence.

"I'm looking back at my experiences when I was in that position. The other position that fell into my lap was that I was president of the council when the mayor resigned," Schnell said. "If a mayor resigns or has health issues, you have two choices – you accept it or you don't."

If the council president does not accept appointment as mayor in that case, Schnell said the Attorney General's office would be notified and would in turn order a special election at the City's cost.

"I know how that felt, and it changes your game plan when that happens," Schnell concluded.

Warner then got the second and was voted in as board president unanimously.

Baliman brought before the board a request to change council meeting times to 5 p.m and to revert back to two meetings per month.

"I just had people ask me about it," Baliman said. "Once people go home at five there is less chance that they come back out at six. That came to me from the public, probably six or seven different people asked."

Meetings were changed to just once each month, beginning at 6 p.m., effective in March 2016 following Morrison's initial motion and after a lengthy discussion.

"When I was first appointed to the council we did this twice a month starting at 7 p.m. It seems like our agendas were fairly reasonable, not real heavy because we met twice a month. But they were not well attended either," Shields said. "Which is why we moved it to once a month to be able to build that agenda and it seems like we get a lot more participation from our residents. In my opinion, I am not in favor of changing."

Schnell and Warner added that neither of them were in favor of changing the meetings to once a month in the beginning, but they both agree that the change had a positive impact on attendance at the meetings.

"I voted no originally, but it has been a lot better than I thought it was going to be. I did get a lot of negative input from citizens that seemed to be upset," Warner said. "My biggest concern is that we are meeting the needs of the citizens when they are putting in the requests – it will always be my issue."

The matter did not receive a motion.

Andy Bremer was appointed as the Chief of Police for Kimball. Bremer has been serving as chief since former Police Chief Darren Huff resigned on October 7, 2016.

Regan Hinton was officially hired as the Event Center Manager, as one had to be hired to satisfy liquor licensing requirements. Hinton has been overseeing operations at the event center since October 2016.

Special Projects Coordinator Amy Sapp sought, and was granted, the council's approval to increase the Main Street Design and Improvement grant amount to $4,000 from the previous amount of $3,000 following approval by the Economic Development board.

"In the past two years we have had four (businesses) that could have easily used that extra $1,000 and we had one that came in today that could easily use that $4,000 as well," Sapp said. "So I think it would be beneficial to increase the amount we are granting to people."

Rates at the fitness center will change slightly as the council approved a 90-day rate at Sapp's urging as well. The rate will be consistent in price. Those amounts can be found at the City Office.

"I think it will increase some of the memberships we have with students that come home in the summer and residents that travel in the winter," Sapp said. "I think it is an additional source of revenue for the fitness center."

Also before the board:

*Council approved Mayor Prunty's appointments to each of the city boards.

*Waived fees for City of Kimball events at the Kimball Event Center.

*Placed two items, a 2007 Ford Crown Victoria in poor condition and a 17.5 x 25 Firestone loader tire, on the City surplus list.

*Ratified the Kimball Volunteer Fire Department officers for 2016/2017.

*Approved the interlocal agreement between the City of Kimball and Kimball County for the City of Kimball Landfill with a change in rates to $17.25 each month.