The Arkansas City City Commission revised its water bill rules Tuesday night.
The reversed the earlier move of charging people $100 to get their water turned back in if it had been turned off due to nonpayment. They were also going to shut people off five days after the past-due date.
The new rules call for a $35 fee if your water is shut off for nonpayment. There will also be a 10-day period between the past-due date and the shutoff date.
If a non-profit group pays to have someone's water turned back on, the non-profit won't be charged the $35 fee.
That seemed to be what people wanted.
They are considering refunding the $100 fees that were assessed.
They tabled the skateboader rules after a long discussion. The rules would ban skating - and bicycles - from sidewalks in the downtown area.
The discussion revolved around the penalties.
The hospital board restructuring was also tabled without much discussion. That was discussed at length Monday.
Also at the meeting, City Manager Steve Archer made available a list of all of Mayor Mell Kuhn's jobs with the city. Also included are what bids were from other companies. This lists all of the jobs since 2007.
I had a long interview with Kuhn Tuesday afternoon. I will be putting all of this into a story very soon.
The live blogging is going well. Lots of people are reading it. Im still getting comfortable with it. Learn a little more each time out.
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36 comments:
How exciting the live blog is. By, James you have done! Quite an invention.
Once in a while you can catch someone look over at James to see if he is typing.
I know that we are entering into a place economically that very few of us have ever been in or lived through. But I recently talked a few friends that are 80+ and they said 'this too shall pass' sometime WHEW! they should know.
What are the sources of revenue that the city uses to make their money? Can you list them by greastest source of revenue to least?
Here is a link to city revenues for last year.
http://arkcity.org/DocumentView.aspx?DID=862
Just wondering about the kids skating in school parking lots...doesn't the school already have liability insurance to cover kids in the parking lots? Don't our taxes pay for the lots & insurance coverage? Why can't the skateboarders be included on evenings & weekends WHEN THERE ARE NO SCHOOL ACTIVITIES GOING ON? Certain schools and/or areas in the lots could be designated for skating, and if the kids want to keep skating there, they have to go by the rules that I'm sure the school district/city could come up with in conjunction with the skaters. Just a thought.
Here's something to consider, would you be bothered if inside the envelope that contains your water bill advertising fliers were also in there.
For many years advertising have seen the value of piggybacking a mailer. Meaning to share the cost of getting information directly into the hands of the consumer.
Well Commissioer Scott M introduced an idea at the last worksession.
It is thinking outside the box. And I like it. It has no inital cost for startup from the taxpayers and could generate money maybe enough to pay for the cost of bulk mailing the 5400 water bills every month or more.
Because they get to directly reach potential buyers without us having our names and addresses released to the masses.
I have done a little survey and kept tally I asked 43 people
'Would allowing an advertiser to pay a fee and have an advertisiment placed in the same envelope as your water bill offend you or bother you in anyway.
Would you like to see if this could maybe help offset expenses the city (taxpayers) incurr monthly.
29 said wouldn't bother them at all.
4 said great idea
9 had no opinio if good idea but wouldn't bother them
1 didn't like it at all
I think that it is worth looking into
Did you Watch the replay of the meeting? Scott is one to talk about throwing away money! His own skate board ordinance he wanted he voted against! What a waste of the city attourny fees and time. Complete waste of the city staff time because of his whims! Who is the ring leader of the circus I watched?
I'm glad the city isn't just adopting the first ordinance dropped in their lap. I have a feeling city staff is getting paid either way
The news story on the front page of the two men shooting deer insde city limits just goes through me. Okay- Yes, I'm against hunting... But if you do it the LEGAL way then so be it, It's your right! But this was going way too far, It's not okay to shoot your gun off in city limits and it's not okay to go around killing deer that are roaming around the city. What if that bullet went else where and hit someone? There's news stories ALL the time about hunters shooting someone... All I'm saying is they better get more than a slap on the hand and in this redneck town, I'm sure that's all they will get. Oh and yes, They should be charged with animal cruelty!!!!!
As a parent I am glad that Scott and Mel considered the court cost which had not been part of the discussion.
If you were at the same meeting I was at then you would have seen that it was not the ordinance but once again the fees that the ordinance contained.
I heard Scott say repeatly that he knew that something had to be done and that he agreed that there needed to be action what he stated was the fines and added court cost were to high.
And Mell also agreed that something needed to be done taking the skateboards and having parents go down and pick them up was the what they were hoping for, as well as a pick up fee but when the numbers came in it was going to be over $100. Now there's a magic number we have heard before.
Steve Archer refered to the damage that was done o the library, I think I heard that it was over $4,000 in damage to the air conditioning system. I asked if they got that on video, and Steve said yes they know who it was. Then charge them with a crime.
to lump all skaters, is like saying all of anything is one way. That is not the way it is, there is no such thing as all.
There needs to be a separation, when you say the skaters did this public opinion is that every child on a skate board going to be a problem. That is not the case. We need to stop lumping
I would be curious to know what Mayor Kuhn's bid was, and what the actual bill was once it was paid. I have heard from many people that they would get a bid and the final bill was actually 30% to 50% more than the bid.
Yes, stop lumping and labeling. I think with the skateboarding issue you are facing two issues. The first is that people have a misconception that skateboarding leads to drug issues, graffiti, vandalism, etc. I doubt this is true. The second is that skateboarders will tear stuff up: the sidewalks, the handrails, steps, etc. and that they will injure themselves and then some yahoo will sue the city. I really really hope that the city and or community gets a really nice and accessable skate park built soon. I saw an article a while back in the eagle where they are teaching skateboarding in the Wichita public schools now for balance, body control, etc. I remember back in the 80s or 90s some teenagers came around and asked me for a donation to help build the now closed skate park down by Paris park. I would gladly donate what I can for them to build one. again.
Drew and Kanyon,
Amen this is what I have been saying all along. As Joel stated the interesting thing about this is if the kids are skating uptown then the public eye is on them. Isn't that a good thing? Doesn't that cut down on the drug use and vandalism? The only property damage they can seem to come up with is that which was attributed to vandalism and not skateboarding. There isn't a single case where a hurt skater has sued this city. There also is no case of anyone being hurt by a skateboarder that I can seem to find. And finally the "they" business owners appear to be in the minority seeing as I have yet to find any that think this is this drastic of an issue. If we are going to start making laws off what might happen then we should ban all sports due to the fact that someone could die in any of them or become seriously hurt. No more driving because there are numerous cases where people become hurt do to this every year. No more walking on the sidewalks because you may trip and sue the city or bump into someone causing them pain. I mean come on where is the merit behind these ordinances? It seems that those for skateboarding are the ones showing at the meetings, getting on the live blog and attending work sessions. To the commission it seems as though the people have spoken maybe it is time to forget about passing laws against the kids and have the police start looking once again for real crimes. Last night a man climbed a fence of a local salvage yard. The owner told him to leave and called the police. The owner was told the man had a right to be there. Wouldn't that be an actual case of tresspassing to go after? This town seems to have it's priorities backwards.
Did you Watch the replay of the meeting? Scott is one to talk about throwing away money! His own skate board ordinance he wanted he voted against!
There was no vote last on the skate board ordinance. The matter was tabled not voted down.
What a waste of the city attourny fees and time.
Does the city attorney have set fees for reviewing and rewriting ordinances. How much of an increase do you think last night cost in fees from the city attorney. Maybe the Skate Col. would gladly pay the additional fee that was charged to keep from fines and court cost being leveled at them from now on.
Complete waste of the city staff time because of his whims!
I don't think wanting the best possible outcome for every citizen is a whim. I dare to say that the young people of this community already feel that they are being told that they don't matter to authority.
Who is the ring leader of the circus I watched?
We the citizens are the ring leader of this circus. This is our town, our community, our ordinance, that is our commission, our staff, this is our colorful, zany, happy, stressful, wonderful Arkansas City.
There was no vote last on the skate board ordinance. The matter was tabled not voted down.
@ Kanyon
No offense but that is the dumbest idea I have ever heard. Junk mail already pisses me off and junk mail in my water bill is going to really piss me off.
Also, do you not think that would create some sort of conflict of interest for the city. Is the city endorsing a business it includes? How would the city determine which business flier is inserted verses those who are not? Who pays for the printing of the fliers?
I do not see how this would be cost effective for any local business and this is akin to city endorsed littering.
bytedaily
No offense taken. And nothing has been looked at past the comment that was made.
But thinking along lines that offer up converstion and different ideas as we head deeper into this d/r what ever the national media wants to call it today is that we have to develope clever ideas with the stuff we have. Things that we can get from with out putting out on.
As for the printing and such all of that is done and paid for by the advertiser. Not endorsing a product and guildlines can be established that advestisers must operate within. You can tell them that everything has to be printed on a peice of neon orange paper to get in if they want in they have to comply.
So while none of like getting junk mail the truth is it is a billion dollar business. And almost all use direct mail approach. I just though it was interesting, and to me not much different that the signs on the side of city buses that city is not endorsing they are renting space to an approved advertiser.
But i glad you responded. See YA
What if instead of advertising in the water bills, we made the skate punks wear sandwich boards and skate up and down the street advertising?
Is it true the rumor that Mel Kuhn is resigning from the commission and letting Donlinger take his place?
Anonymous said...
Is it true the rumor that Mel Kuhn is resigning from the commission and letting Donlinger take his place?
May as well cut out the middleman and let Donlinger have their way....
The way you guys are piling on mel.
you're making me start to feel sorry for him.
Does anyone deserve these attacks?
Anonymous said...
The way you guys are piling on mel.
you're making me start to feel sorry for him.
Does anyone deserve these attacks?
You mean other than Mel?
I wouldn't really want the extra trees cut down to provide more junk mail in my water bill envelope, but really don't want to pay any extra on postage for heavier water bills either (depending on what all is added to the envelope). As long as they save trees & postage, I guess I can throw away one more piece of junk. Wish the other "billers" would stop this practice.
@ Kanyon
I understand the revenue appeal for the city and the possible exposure for businesses but it seems wasteful to me. Perhaps I am dejected because A.C. doesn't have curbside recycling available for its residents.
Thinking outside the box should be encouraged but I think the ideas need to be progressive and beneficial to the residents.
I guess I missed something along the way but I thought it was already illegal to ride bikes and skateboards down town.
"The way you guys are piling on mel.
you're making me start to feel sorry for him."
"Does anyone deserve these attacks?"
You just don't get the point. The issue is not that maybe Mell Kuhn has over-charged the city, or has done poor work or that he changed his price or something he could be accused of. The issue isn't something that could be researched and discovered to be right or wrong and he is found out to be a great guy or a bad person; a cheat or a hero. It is not that kind of thing at all.
The issue is that because of the following reason: (you fill in the blank here), the City has never enforced State laws concerning conflict of interest for elected officials.
Because Kuhn is a "get with it", Foghorn Leghorn kind of character, he has done a lot to move forward his business and couple it with the needs of the city. You would think that is a good thing, no?
Well, no. It is not a good thing. He has done a number of illegal actions and for a number of reasons it should be immediately stopped.
Not only for Mell Kuhn, but for anyone who is a governmental elected official or governmental employee (city, county or state).
As an elected official:
He cannot perform services for the city while he participates in the "decision making process" for those services.
He cannot take on jobs for his company outside of the (published)"public notice, competitive bidding" process. No odd jobs. No "emergency" jobs.
And he damned sure cannot be in a position to be one of the votes which determines if a competitor receives a TIF for his business venture. Nor can he debate with the competitor as a representative of the city.
He can certainly not put himself into a position to select the winning bidder for a project that he then gets a contract working for.
None of this means that I'm saying Mell Kuhn is a good or a bad guy. It is just the law.
If there is any need for the City Attorney to need interpretation, the State Attorney General can and will cheerfully do this for Ark City, just like they have for 50 towns across Kansas.
If Kuhn or anyone else wants to do business with the city, then they should not be an elected official with authority over budgets and proposals pertaining to their own contracts.
I know I've pi##ed off a lot of people by bringing this up, but the only way to fix this is to fix it. And it needs to be done.
According to the State Attorney General, the method to deal with this is to file a complaint with the county attorney who then files a misdemeanor complaint and starts removal from office.
Wouldn't it just be a lot easier to stop officials from violating ethic laws, instead?
Where are you Tamara?
K.S.A. 75-4300
http://kansasstatutes.lesterama.org/Chapter_75/Article_43/
I guess I missed something along the way but I thought it was already illegal to ride bikes and skateboards down town.
March 4, 2009 7:55 PM
You didn't miss a thing you are right.
There is an email going around sent by a person running for election about watch the commission meeting and see what they did. Well I watched and listened. I don't know about anyone else but I didn't vote for everyone up there so I am happy when they are not robotingly passing things just because it is handed to them.
The sk8ers are there everyyime anything comes up about them. They somtimes have strong numbers and they sometimes are only one but they come and they don't stop trying to be heard.
Where are the business people that want these kids fined. Where are the police to come and state on camera that they have never charged a child with the trespassing thing. They can't do it because they have and they have not dropped it.
I just hope we get Pat back in there along with Jay and Gene so we can be guaranteed a lowe's and a applebee's. That's all that matters. If I can't have that I'm moving to Arizona to play golf with my rich buddies.
I think that ship has sailed.
I wonder how many sub-dvisions of sub-prime real estate your rich buddies are sitting on in Arizona?
Not to be showing disrespect for out police force, but I think they should set a better example for the kids about following rules and laws. I happened to notice recently that a officer did not come to a complete stop at a red traffic light before turning and another was going a bit over the speed limit. Now someone please enlighten me if they are or are not suppose to follow the same rules as everyone else that drives if they don't have lights or sirens on.
otice recently that a officer did not come to a complete stop at a red traffic light before turning and anoth
>>
They should be following the same rules unless they have their emergency lights flashing and are on a call.
I got a ticket for that very thing early one sunday morning and there were absolutely no other cars around ....
grrrrr
"They should be following the same rules unless they have their emergency lights flashing and are on a call."
Witnessed the very same thing just the other day! Cop car flew through a red light and the ambulance behind the cop car stopped at the red light with lights and sirens going. What up with that? Is there differant rules for cops and ambulances?
The rules are that the officers must obey all traffic laws the same as we do UNLESS they are running the lights AND sirens. Unfortunately, that is not always the case, as many officers figure who's gonna write them a ticket?
They should be setting an example by following the letter of the law.
JJ - Had you been more biased toward the PD you would not have gotten that ticket.
UHOH! You went there!
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