Vickie Zelenka was appointed to fill the vacancy created by Bruce Haughton’s passing. She was recommended by Mayor Hatfield. With this appointment Zelenka will be filling the remainder of this term which ends in 2024. With Zelenka accepting this appointment she will be withdrawing her name from the general election in November where two council spots will be voted on. The contenders for that race will be incumbents Susan Eisenhauer and Rickie Helms. The other challenger will be Laura Poskochil whom also put her name in consideration for the vacancy.
In other council business, councilmembers voted to install a stop sign headed North at the intersection of 4 th and F Street. Foreman Cumley said the sign will go up as soon as possible. During the first meeting in June Monique Owens, who lives in the area, had brought up concerns about the intersection.
Sheriff Lang gave his monthly report to the city council. He stated its budget season and has been focused on that. He stated that the county Sheriffs office is in compliance with the agreement between the city and county.
The Council reviewed a letter from Nanette Smith about a potential request for a donation from the city towards the construction of the new buildings at the fairgrounds. Council member Eisenhauer made a motion to donate $5,000 from ARPA funds to the Pawnee County Ag Society. The motion carried.
City foreman Cumley gave a brief update to the council. He stated that the repairs to the Grasshopper mower were complete and city employees have had no issue with the machine. The previous damage was from a rollover. The council discussed potential estimates for duct cleaning in city Hall. At the time of the meeting the city had only received one estimate. The council decided to wait to reach out to more companies to see what options were available.
Council member Helms had brought up the idea of purchasing a new water tank for the city employees. The current tank is 300 gallons. With the work the city crews have been doing, Helms brought up the idea of new one to save time and labor to reduce the number of refills required to complete tasks. He proposed the purchase of a 525 gallon tank from Schneider Industries. He proposed the approximate cost of $750 be split between the roads, sewer, and water budgets. The motion to purchase the tank passed with a vote of 2-1 with Council member Eisenhauer voting no.