Bob Foos
Two public hearings will be held Monday, Aug. 25, at Oronogo City Hall.
The first, at 6 p.m., will be in regard to a proposed 2% increase in the municipal sewer rates. It was first discussed by the Board of Aldermen during the July 14 meeting.
An ordinance to approve the increase is expected to be on the board’s Sept. 8 agenda.
Immediately following the public hearing on the sewer rate increase will be the annual public hearing for setting the tax levy.
At Monday’s meeting, City Clerk Cyndi Jennings reported on the problems with the gWorks municipal accounting program, which started when it was moved online. Those problems with the “broken system,” as she refers to it, required her and Utility Clerk Sasqua Crawford to work Saturdays as they corrected mistakes in calculating customer usage.
They logged 97.5 hours of overtime in June and 77 overtime hours in July. And yet, monthly bills to customers weren’t mailed until Aug. 7.
The city is now waiting on a conversion in order to adopt a new system.
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Police Chief Steven Weaver reported that the tornado siren at Grant Street and Highway 96 is beyond repair at a reasonable cost.
That’s not a problem, though, because the city is covered by three new sirens, and the one near Christ’s Church of Oronogo overlaps the coverage area of the old one.
Weaver also updated the board on the overgrown property at 319 E. Central St. If the owner doesn’t comply with notices, the city will hire someone to clean up the property outside the fence and place a tax lein on the property.
He also said he’s keeping an eye on the house at 773 Howe St., which he deemed unlivable and is supposed to be demolished by the owner.
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Tony Cantrell, superintendent of public works, reported that all of the boring is finished for Sparklight’s fiber-optic cable installation.
The board approved a bid of $26,400 from Haynes Equipment, Olathe, Kan., to repair the pump on sewer Lift Station B.
A contract to pave Sadie Lane and an alley was won by Springfield Striping with a bid of $42,136.
Wet wipes – that aren’t flushable as advertised – continue to be a problem. Cantrell reported that the pump for the lift station at Jason’s Place had to be pulled because a wet wipe was obstructing it.