Rains reveal drainage issues in Uniontown

With around 15 inches of rain in the last few weeks, Uniontown is dealing with drainage issues throughout the town.

At Tuesday night's monthly Uniontown City Council meeting Mayor Larry Jurgensen said he and City Maintenance Supervisor Bob Rich have been working on the issues.

"Bob and I met with Marty Pearson and Jim Harris. They are going to come out next week and clean out the culvert on the north end," Jurgensen said. Pearson is the road and bridge foreman for Bourbon County, Harris is the newly hired public works director.

One problem culvert runs east and west on the north side of Seventh Street, in the northern part of town.

"We'll have to pay for the culvert and the road," Jurgensen said.

Councilwoman Danae Esslinger said after the recent storms, large pools of water formed on her property, located on the north side of Seventh and Wall streets.

Jurgensen said he believes that most of the water is coming from the Uniontown High School football field, just to the east of the site.

The hope is clearing the ditches will alleviate the problem.

Two other ditches south of Seventh Street are also problems the city has been working on.

Two bids were received at the meeting for removal of 16 trees located in the ditch between Sherman and Wall streets and Fifth and Sixth streets.

Miller's Tree Service and Stump Removal, Fort Scott, had the low bid of $1,100. The only other bid was Pilgrim's Tree Service of Redfield, which bid $2,700. The council approved the lower bid from Miller's.

The culvert on Union Street on the south side of the town continues to be a problem area as well.

"That thing is going to have to be torn down and replaced again. We had to close the road down," Jurgensen said. Last year the council spent about $6,000 on the culvert, and installed a 48-inch "smashed" tube.

"The county suggested getting the water stopped (from) going into the culvert....building it up 2 to 3 feet. It would take 20 loads of rock," he said.

"I don't think the city can justify spending 6 to 10 thousand dollars a year on that one spot," City Clerk Sally Johnson said.

Jurgensen said he would meet with Marberry Concrete Construction of Fort Scott about specifications on a concrete box culvert.

Sewer rate increase

Other infrastructure issues were addressed also at the meeting. Sewer rates were raised slightly by the council.

The flat fee of $22 will remain the same, but the first thousand gallons will increase 25 cents; and will be 25 cents for each 1,000 gallons used after that.

Citizens should see a $1.06 increase per meter, per year, according to the clerk.

The increase is to set aside a repair and maintenance fund for the sewer department and lagoon, Johnson said.

In another matter, the council decided to "grandfather in" the change in deposit requirements for utility hook-ups in the town.

"We'll grant the grandfathering of the voluntary shut off done prior to the ordinance published on July 13 in the Tribune, Ordinance No. 159," Johnson said.

According to the ordinance, there is a required $100 water deposit and a $200 natural gas deposit now. In addition, any water or gas disconnected due to non-payment will have $25 reconnect fee for water and one also for gas. Any person who fails to make prompt payment of water or gas bills may be required to provide a deposit of $250 for water and $250 for gas services. Any person who wishes a voluntary seasonal shut-off, will be charged a re-connect fee of $75 for water and $125 for gas. No minimum charges will accrue.

Budget hearing

The annual public budget hearing was held at the monthly meeting with no residents in attendance.

The city's mill levy rate went up two mills in the proposed budget, to 40.655.

"This got Uniontown $642 more than last year," Johnson told the Tribune.

The budget authority for spending for 2014 is $961,923.

"We can always spend less, but we can't spend more without re-publishing," City Treasurer Larry Neville told the council.

In another matter, the city clerk, was asked to send letters out to nuisance yard owners and nuisance dog owners.

The city is in motion to set up a city court to deal with these stray dogs and unkempt yards that are an on-going issue.

Councilman Dustin Goalden, along with Jurgensen, spoke with Judge Patty Boyd.

"She and Attorney Justin Meeks have agreed to be our judge and prosecutor. We will need to get a neutral party as codes enforcement,"Jurgensen said. "And there are things we need to adopt."

The judge fee is $150 per court date regardless of the number of cases on the docket. The prosecutor fee is $100 per hour, Jurgensen said.

In other business the council:

* Approved to collect an annual fee of $75 from the Bunco Girls club for rental of the community building. Bunco members Becky Shinn and Janice Ramsey came to ask the council about usage of the building.

* Agreed to rotate the weekend daily water sample testing duties amongst the council to relieve the maintenance supervisor of weekend duties. The testing must be done 365 days a year.

* Approved Rich attending the KCC Kansas Pipeline Safety seminar, Oct. 22-23 in Salina; the KRWA's Wastewater Lagoon Operation and Maintenance seminar on Aug. 15; and a water and waste water workshop on Aug. 20.

* Approved the request of the Old Settler's Committee for a dumpster to be provided downtown for the annual Labor Day weekend events. Approval was also given to move the port-a-potties to the northwest corner of the town square for the event.

* Has not heard from the City Attorney Jeff Clark regarding the opinion needed for legal questions about the special all-school reunion planned for 2015 around Independence Day. The event would involve lifting the ordinance for drinking in the town for the event.

* Reviewed updates in the employee policy manual.

* Tabled the replacement of the sign in front of City Hall due to lack of bids. The council is going to ask Uniontown High School personnel if a class would agree to make the sign.

* Heard from the treasurer that the city is in good financial condition for the year, with a year-to-date income of $94,636.

* Went into two executive sessions to discuss non-elected personnel, both 10 minutes in duration. The last session included Rich. No action was taken following the sessions.

* Announced City Hall will be closed Friday, Aug. 23, due to the clerk attending a training workshop.