Council OKs shop concept

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN DON RATZLAFF
by Don Ratzlaff

The Hillsboro City Council approved the general concept for the design of a new city electrical shop during the March 19 meeting.

City Manager Steve Garrett asked for council feedback to a preliminary design for a new steel building that would replace and expand the electrical shop area that was lost in a lightning-ignited fire in July.

The proposed building, which would be 45 feet by 90 feet, will be built on the city-owned property along North Adams. Preliminary cost estimates were figured at $20 per square foot, or between $91,000 and $97,000, depending on how the building would be outfitted.

Garrett said the project could be paid for with the $60,000 insurance payment received for the old building and its contents, plus money from the city’s capital-improvements fund.

Councilor Mike Padgett said he wasn’t opposed to the concept for the building, but wanted firmer financial figures before approving a specific design. The council followed his lead.

The council also approved a six-year capital-improvement plan for the city (see sidebar). The plan, which is to be reviewed and possibly updated each February, lists major projects from the current year through 2007.

Included in the plan is the three-part improvement project for Main Street. The first and largest phase of the project, which targets the Main-and-Grand intersection, is slated to begin in 2003 at a cost of $610,000.

The entire project is projected to cost almost $1 million, with the third and final phase to be completed during summer 2005.

Garrett said the project would be affordable if spread over the next three years.

“Three hundred thousand dollars a year for improvements doesn’t go very far when you’re trying to do a bang-up job,” he said.

In other business, the council:

approved, with some anticipated adjustments, the city’s insurance proposal that was presented by Richard Nickel of the Insurance Center in Hillsboro. The cost of the premium was projected to be around $35,000.

To save money, the council discussed the possibility of reducing coverage on some of its older vehicles, and Councilor Len Coryea suggested that for the following year the city explore the feasibility of getting more than one bid for the package.

approved a new and open-ended financial agreement with Gold Capital Management of Wichita to act as the city’s official financial advisers.

Jerry D. Rayl, who presented the agreement, noted that it would extend for one year, but will automatically be renewed for periods of one year unless terminated by either party. The previous contract called for a vote of the council each year.

approved an 11-page demolition plan for the city’s housing rehabilitation program. The plan, a requirement for participating in the 2001 Community Development Block Grant program, allows for the demolition of up to two homes within the designated target area on the city’s north side.

Also as a requirement of the program, the council authorized Mayor Delores Dalke to sign a proclamation making April “Fair Housing Month” in Hillsboro.

heard from city engineer Bob Previtera that equipment was to be on site the following Monday to begin repairs on the damaged under drains at the city’s water treatment plant.

heard from Garrett that the city is “no where closer to an agreement than when we started” in regard to solid-waste issues with the Marion County Commission and KC Development, the county’s transfer station

affirmed Garrett’s proposal to reduce the number of minutes allowed for the city’s airport cell phone because the number of minutes currently available are never used.

“We’re trying to watch the pennies so the dollars take care of themselves,” Garrett said.

Council members asked if the phone could be removed, but Garrett said it is needed in case of an emergency.

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