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A Committee Meeting of the Johnstown Common Council was held on March 3, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers, City Hall.
PRESENT:
ABSENT: Mayor Slingerland called the meeting to order and asked Travis Bevington, a student in the Johnstown High School’s Participation in Government Class, to lead in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL – four member present, one absent. APPROVE MINUTES – the minutes of the Business Meeting held on February 19, 2008 were approved with a motion from Council Member Cole and seconded by Council Member Preston. Motion carried. CITY OFFICIAL REPORTS CITY ENGINEER, CHARLES R. KORTZ – reported they are still working on cleaning up the industrial buildings owned by the City. Asbestos bids are out and he hopes to start demolition in April. Still having trouble getting salt for the roads and asked that residents take extra care when driving on the City’s streets. He is still taking suggestions for street resurfacing. Brownfield’s Opportunity Grant for the Karg Bros. property– the State will have a recommendation to move forward soon. The environmental restoration program for that site should be ready also. SENIOR CENTER, MICHELLE JONES – March 13th at 11 a.m. will address the “Winter Blues”. A nurse from St. Mary’s Hospital will talk about handling depression. Later that day, the Irish Troubadours will perform. The Office for Aging meal-site at the center will be serving a ham and cabbage lunch on March 17th. CITY ASSESSOR, LEAMON STEELE - the City’s RAR is down to 60%. This compares sales to assessments. Johnstown sales have the highest percentage. Last year it was at 73%. Today was the last day to submit applications for property exemption. The County plans to discuss raising the low-income senior exemption at the County level and we will probably follow next year. Mr. Steele has information about ethics for the assessor and will pass that on to Attorney Johnson for a resolution. FIRE CHIEF, BRUCE HEBERER – the roof is on the new Microtel hotel. The fire department will be training next week, using an abandoned house on Hoosac St. that is owned by the City of Johnstown. POLICE CHIEF, GREGORY HORNING – nothing new to report. CITY TREASURER, MICHAEL GIFFORD – reported we would need to present resolutions for budget amendments to handle the donations for the 250th celebration and the gain of approximately $30,000 from a lot sale in the Industrial Park. We need to upgrade our computers and this would be a good use for the lot sale money. We will also have a resolution for budget transfers for 2007. Equipment – when the 2008 Budget was prepared, a couple of things did not make the cut. One of the garbage trucks is in very poor condition and should be replaced. We also are in need of a sweeper and loader. This could be done in one of three ways; 1) purchase the garbage truck at an interest rate of 4% for 5 years (would have to go out to bid) 2) purchase the garbage truck and sweeper, or 3) purchase the garbage truck, sweeper and loader. Mr. Gifford distributed a spreadsheet to Council Members, showing the payment schedules for each. Mr. Kortz will need to begin preparing the bid specs. The present garbage truck was purchased in 1999 and shortly after there was a fire inside the truck. This caused more damage than was first realized. The repairs have been very costly. Mayor Slingerland suggested we sometimes buy the Federal surplus equipment. Mr. Kortz said this is ok for purchasing pick-up trucks but not for heavy equipment. The surplus is used equipment. LIBRARY, BARBARA GERMAIN – the Storybook Sundae will be April 6, 2008 at F.M.C.C. They have, so far, received 18 baskets for the raffle. Tickets are available at the library. DISCUSSION Citywide Clean Up – Mr. Kortz would like to hold two separate clean-ups this year, one in the spring and again in the fall. The spring dates are June 6 & 7 and the fall is tentatively set for October. The citywide garage sale would be held the prior weekend; May 30th , 31st and June 1st. The Council agreed these dates would be good. The cleanup is a good service to offer our residents. A motion was made at 7:32p.m., by Council Member Foss and seconded by Council Member Preston to enter into executive session for a contract discussion. Motion carried. A motion was made at 8:16 p.m. by Council Member Lakata and seconded by Council Member Foss to come out of executive session. Motion carried. A motion to adjourn was made at 8:17p.m. by Council Member Cole and seconded by Council Member Preston. Respectfully submitted,
Cathy A. VanAlstyne
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