After a call to order made by Mayor Hendricks, the Pledge of Allegiance was said by the room full of people on July 11. Excess chairs were needed in last nights meeting due to the large amount of people in attendance. All aldermen answered present to the roll call and no time was wasted before issues were being addressed.

Ferdinand addressing his issues.

Mayor Hendricks had no discussion for executive session, and after the approval of board minutes from the previous meeting, the action quickly began. First on the agenda: recognize guests. Many guests had no issues, but a few did.

• Tom Hubert addressed the board of the constant mess at the drop off clothing site. For several weeks now, the collection box has turned into a trash disposal for many citizens of the community and it is beginning to turn into an eye sore. “I get no reason to have the box there,” said Hubert, “I would like to see it disappear.” With the approval of Mayor Hendricks, the city will make contact with the company and file a formal complaint.
• Ferdinand Girardi had many issues to bring before the council tonight, so many that he was briefed from his presentation. Ferdinand was mainly concerned about that clothing box, that Hubert had already addressed, and also the water meter issues as well as the Trolley Street problem and numerous trash compiled yards. “We might as well change the name Trolley Street to Holey Street,” said Girardi, “because that is what it has turned into. The water does not even drain because it is setting in the holes on the street!” Ferdinand also complained of many residents who have trash in their front yard, and offered a solution by fining the residents and then offering the city to pick up for a price as well.
• Tom Pollard, local business owner, presented an application for a business license for the city to consider. The proposed business would be an internet café with free internet access, live music, ice cream, beverages, and many other services for local citizens looking for a place to socialize. With none opposed, the license was approved 6-0.

Next on the agenda were reports.

• The police report was accepted 6-0.
• The treasurer’s report was approved 5-1, opposed by Robinson, but the motion was still carried.
• Micky Robinson went on to give the city property report. Robinson named many issues in regards to the city, mainly in location at the Benld City Park. The ladies’ restroom has a bad bell, the gutters are leaking and need to be resealed, the roof is leaking in the concession stand, and there are 7 invoices without addresses or pertaining to other problems that have not been paid. Robinson will wait on information to approve invoices.
• The finance committee requested audits report for the next board meeting.
• All police, maintenance, and sewer approved all bills.
• The water committee upgraded to a “much needed” continental billing system. The system is now operating under the newest version on the market. In further action, all warrants were approved by the council.

Bernot explaining his new recommendation for the water crisis.

Peyton Bernot, water committee, then addressed the council on a new water meter proposal. The city has lost 10,744,102 gallons of water during fiscal year 2007-2010. This amount of water tallies to $45,984.76. To conquer this problem, and to free city maintenance workers from checking meters on a daily basis, Bernot has offered a plan. Bernot’s plan is to replace the meters with brand new, state of the art water meters that will be able to be read directly from a handheld device. The only thing the worker would have to do is drive the road, which would require very little time. All meters would be purchased under a grant, but the grant does cover meters that would span the whole city. Bernot offered three different options for the council to consider, mainly discussing which routes are high priority and which ones are not. The council voted 6-0 to accept option 3 of Bernot’s plan, which is to replace route 1, 3, and 4 with the mobile based meters. The plan would also replace route 2 with Trident 10 meters. Without registers (direct read), the approximate cost would be $16,317.30. The approximate cost to upgrade route 1, 3, and 4 to mobile based reads is $64,778.40 plus $3,995.00 for the handheld device. The total cost of option 3 is $86,090.70.

In old business, the council heard from library members about the foundation and parking lot problems. Contractors saw problems in the parking were mainly due to a backed up drain and the drain was unclogged and there has been no flooding since. As for the building, the next contractor is set to come this Wednesday at Noon to present their bid for strengthening the foundation.

In new business, the council approved the resignation of police officer Scott Patterson and accepted the motion to hire Wade Hendricks to full time officer. The council also carried a motion 6-0 to hire Midwest Environmental to read the cities meters. The company quoted the city $1.10 per meter read. The city is to prepare a list of meters wanted checked and submit it to the company. The company will then send out a crew to read the meters (approximately 788). The plan will take roughly 2-3 days for completion.