Commission approves action items
CITY COMMISSION
Additional construction inspection fees paid to Campbell & Johnston PA, and the sale of the City's 1989 Gomaco GT 6200 Commander curb and gutter slip form paving machine, were two of the Action Items discussed and approved during the regular meeting of the Concordia City Commission on Wednesday, January 19.
As a result of project delays by private utilities and additional work reflected in Change Orders No. 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the Downtown Alley Project, Campbell & Johnson incurred additional costs for construction inspection services. Ken Johnson of Campbell & Johnson and city manager Amy Lange discussed the additional costs and agreed on an additional fee of $24,000.
Lange reported that even with the inclusion of the additional expense, the overall project remains under budget: the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) of $561,660.00 (54.39% of cost), and the Local Match of $471,025.00 (45.61%) is $1,032,686.00. The Total Project Expense to date is: $974,659.04
The City’s 1989 Gomaco GT 6200 Commander curb and gutter slip form paving machine has sat idle for over ten years. Lange reported that most of the curb and gutter work performed by City staff is of small enough scope to be done by hand. Larger projects are contracted out, which keeps City staff available and focused on other necessary maintenance work. It was determined that the equipment is no longer needed by the City.
Bids were solicited on January 5, 2022 via advertisement in the Concordia Blade-Empire. Sealed bids were opened at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 13, 2022. The commission accepted the bid of $4,400 from ProCon Construction, LLC for the City's curb and gutter machine. The equipment and associated components must be hauled away by February 28, 2022.
In other action taken, the Concordia Fire Department will increase EMS fees for the purpose of keeping up with the increase in EMS supplies. In the past several years the cost of EMS supplies has increased, and supplies are harder to come by. Lange stated that the City needs to keep up with this increase to continue to give the best EMS service to citizens. On EMS runs, the supplies and personal hours are factored into the cost of the run. The mileage is to cover the fuel and service for the trucks. The fee schedule shows an increase in all the levels to help offset the cost of replacing supplies.
For example: the Base Rate Basic Life Support Non-Emergency fee will increase to $700; the Base Rate Emergency fee will increase to $750; the Base Rate Advance Life Support Emergency fee will be $850; Rescue Truck per call $400.
A notable change is the standby time. The current Standby Service, ambulance, is $35 per hour; the current Standby Service, rescue truck, is $20 per hour. The per hour charge will stay the same, but there is now a Contract Standby fee that would be used at the school and race track, as well as other locations and events. The Contract would be set at $350 for 5 events. The average event lasts about 3 hours, so there could be a savings to those groups of about $125.
The city commission approved the appointment of Mark Paul to another term on the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA). Paul has served on the BZA for the better part of 20 years and is the current chairperson.
The Board of Zoning Appeals is responsible for hearing and deciding on appeals, variances and exceptions to the zoning and subdivision regulations, as well as floodplain development. The Board of Zoning Appeals decision is final and any appeal to their decision must be filed in District Court within 30 days of their decision.
The City Commission also voted to approve the request to lift development requirements for Lot 3B, Block A, College Drive Park.
On December 19, 2018, the City entered into a development agreement with Ridge Investment Group for the sale of Lot 3, Block A, College Drive Park. At that point in time, the developer had plans to develop half the property immediately. Thus the development agreement included a reversion clause if no development occurred within 18 months. It also contained a reversion clause if the remainder of the property was not developed within five years. The College Drive Park Land Pricing Policy estab- lished by the City Commission via Resolution No. 2017-2057 and effective June 7, 2017 was used to determine the sale price of this property from the City to Ridge Investment Group, which was ultimately $0.
Ridge Investment Group proceeded to split Lot 3 into Lot 3A and Lot 3B, following the established process. A building was constructed on Lot 3A which is now occupied by Dollar Tree. Lot 3B remains vacant, with the reversion clause deadline on December 19, 2023.
Ridge Investment Group recently sold Lot 3B to Cloud County Health Center (CCHC). The development agreement allows Ridge Investment Group to sell or assign the property without the City’s consent, and the agreement is binding to all heirs, legal representative, successors, and assigns. Therefore, the reversion clause for lack of development of the original development agreement between the City and Ridge Investment Group is binding to CCHC.
CCHC is currently developing Lots 5 and 6 nearby, only separated by Lot 4 which is a permanent drainage easement. CCHC does not have definite plans to develop Lot 3B at this point in time, and requested that the City Commission lift the requirement for development of Lot 3B by December 19, 2023 or risk reversion of property ownership back to the City.