The council expressed appreciation to the McGuires for their work. The council also discussed replacing the cemetery fence. Options were considered, but no decision was made.
Goertzen pointed out that this is the oldest cemetery in the Goessel community and belongs to the southern district of the Mennonite Brethren Church.
On another matter, the council discussed the public works position, which is currently open and is being filled with temporary help.
Jesse Goertzen and Lyle Christ have started mowing for the city, and Arlen Goertzen has been maintaining the streets.
The council reviewed the public works director job description, which states, ?This employee performs manual labor for the city?s public works department including water, sewer, streets, park maintenance, mowing, and a variety of other duties as they are needed.?
Duties would include water line and sewer infrastructure maintenance, water and sewer testing, certification in water and wastewater within the required time frame, maintaining the city?s streets, assisting the animal control officer, carrying communications provided by the city, maintaining landscaping and mowing city property, maintaining city equipment, and reading water meters.
The job description also lists ?as-needed? duties and position requirements that relate to experience, education, technical skills, problem solving, decision making, financial accountability, personal relations, working conditions, and physical requirements.
It was noted that much of the public works employee?s time is spent outside. The employee is expected to use small machinery and large equipment.
Emergency situations are addressed, including on-call rotation. The job description also states that the employee must live within 10 minutes of Goessel.
Those interested in applying for the job can obtain a copy of the entire detailed job description from the city clerk.
In other business, the council:
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listened to Norman Schmidt, representing the school, explain drainage concerns. He said water backs up onto the track and beside the track. He said that when the ground north of the athletic stadium was farmed, it soaked up water.
However, in recent years since the baseball diamonds have been built, the water funnels right through the high school property.
In addition to water standing on the track, some cedar trees in the shelter belt had drowned and had to be replaced. The city will obtain a quote for alleviating the situation.
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heard that reserve officer Tim Boese would like to remind drivers to slow down to 30 mph in front of Bethesda Home.
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heard the police report from Police Chief Joe Base. In the past month, the following warnings had been issued: eight for speed, one for a brake light that was out, one for a head light that was out, three for stop sign violations, and two for parking violations.
The police department also issued four citations for speed, investigated one theft and one trespassing complaint, and picked up one dog and returned it to its owner.
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heard that Base had attended the Marion County peace officer training in Hillsboro on racial profiling. He also attended a week of tactical training in Newton. Four people earned a marksmanship award, including Base.
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heard that court clerk Paula Flaming has completed testing with the state court software and received high remarks. As of July 1, every court in Kansas will be required to report online. All the courts must test their software with the state?s software.
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voted to retain the following city appointments: judge, Bryson Mills; attorney, J. Robert Brookens; treasurer, Jodi Unruh; city clerk and deputy court clerk, Anita Goertzen; court clerk and deputy city clerk, Paula Flaming; and police chief, Joe Base.
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heard from councilor Larry Lindeman that he has received appreciative comments about the city?s streets.
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voted to remove the shingles from the shelter house roof at the park and replace them with a metal roof. The council also voted to install additional sidewalks at the shelter house.
The council agreed to try leaving the restroom doors unlocked during day-time hours. Councilor Larry Schmidt commented that the park gets used a lot.
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listened to Jessie Knight of Kansas Rural Water explain the city?s mapping system.
Lindeman asked how valves and lines are placed on the aerial picture. Knight said all shots are done with a global positioning system unit from satellites, and data is then ?dropped? onto the map.
?Projection is a tedious thing,? he said.
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heard Goertzen say the county?s official map of Goessel dates from 1963. She said it would be helpful to have all the city?s plats together on one map.
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discussed purchasing a dump truck for the city and decided to begin looking for a truck for up to $15,000.
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voted to make a contribution to the Greensburg tornado fund. Councilor Rick Freeman asked about Goessel?s emergency plan. Base suggested that a copy of disaster plans should be kept outside the city.
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briefly reviewed the Pine Edge Golf Course discussion from the previous month. It was noted there was no representation from the golf course at that meeting, and no action was taken.
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heard from Duane Unruh: ?Streets are going in,? referring to the Harvest Meadow housing development. ?The streets are a week from being completed, depending on the weather,? he said.
One street was paved the day of the meeting. Pins will be set after the streets are in, followed by utilities.
Unruh also talked about water issues: ?I think we?re getting the drainage figured out,? he said, adding that the area drained pretty well with the recent rains.
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talked about the Saturday evening of Threshing Days and the need for a contact person. The task force has suggested a street dance.
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heard Goertzen suggest that garage sale ads and other sale item ads could be sold for the city?s newsletter.
