Environmental issues focus of council

From right, Jan McElwrath, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce, listens as Robert E. Presley of Eagle Environmental Management gives an update on the grant proposal that was presented to the Environmental Proctection Agency on behalf of the City of Kennett. Staff photo by Lecia Forester

Kennett City Council members focused their attention on environmental issues at last night's meeting.

Robert E Presley of Eagle Environmental Management gave an update to the council, informing members that his firm has submitted a grant proposal on behalf of the City of Kennett to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for Brown Field assessments. He went on to say that a Brown Field is an underutilized piece of property that is perceived or suspected of having unknown contamination. The money that the city would receive with this assessment grant would aid in gathering a list of properties like this for redevelopment. Assessing the property for contamination would take the unknown out of real estate development, according to the report.

Presley stressed that the people of the community, as a city, need to help him help them achieve their goals. According to Presley, the community needs to be involved, including conducting community meetings, letters of support, and passing out flyers. Presley explained the reason for encouraging community involvement is that residents need to demonstrate to the EPA that the entire city of Kennett is on board with this idea. The proposals for this year will go back to the EPA around the middle of October.

The grant would be for $ 400,000. Of that figure, $ 200,000 would be for assessment of petroleum contaminated sites and the additional $ 200,000 would support the assessment of other potentially hazardous waste sites.

It was mentioned that the former Emerson facility may have other contaminants other than just petroleum present.

City officials were also given an update by Sara Graves, executive director of the Downtown Kennett Coalition. Graves reported that all but one downtown merchant is on board with the removal of the awnings. She went on to say that specific awning notes have been made for every store that's included in the bid. Courthouse awnings are not included in this bid. The reason for this was to save as much money as possible for the sidewalks and the actual awnings of the courthouse are not connected to the sidewalks, according to Graves who added that this is the reason they were not included in the bid.

The information presented by Graves has been submitted to Metz Skelton, city engineer.

Other matters of discussion was the formation of the DKC. Graves reiterated how it was the first goal in the strategic plan to revitalize the downtown area. The DKC will meet every second Tuesday of the month. Next month's meeting will be at 6 p.m., Aug.10, 2010 at the Southern Bank meeting room.

In other business presented to the council, Jan McElwrath, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce showed members a new Kennett postcard featuring Sheryl Crow. She said that several times during the course of a week, people will come by the Chamber of Commerce requesting Sheryl Crow memorabilia. The Chamber has received permission from the artist to use her name on the artwork and approval as to what is printed on the card. The Chamber would like to see the cards ready by Aug. 21, 2010 when Crow performs in Sedalia at the Missouri State Fair.

McElwrath went on to say that the Chamber continues to work with industry in town. She reminded the council that the Delta Fair parade will be held September 28, 2010. McElwrath also encouraged citizens to be mindful of trash issues and reminded them that the trash they create along the parade route is their responsibility to clean up.

Fire Chief John Mallott said in his report that the dumpster at the compost facility will remain in place as long as it is cost effective

The ladder on one of the fire trucks is in need of repair. It was bent when it hit some water pipes, according to Mallott. The department is working with a machine shop on getting an estimate on how much it will cost to repair.

There were 108 total calls in June, including 94 in the city, 14 out of the city. There were 57 medical calls, 5 vehicle accidents, two structure fires, two vehicle fires, and four trash fires. 14 total grass fires were reported, five within the city, nine outside the city limits.

17 property owners were cited for code violations, seven of whom did not show up for court.

Council member Jake Crafton inquired about McDaniel Firestone's collection of tires outside their business. Chief Mallott replied that two letters have already been sent to the business owners and if they don't comply, the next letter sent will be a summons to court. Mallott went on to say that in addition to the visible issues, the tires also collect water when it rains and this could contribute to mosquito larvae.

According to Police Chief Barry Tate, the Humane Department received 263 calls in June.

School starts on August 13, 2010 and calls from concerned teachers and council members have been coming in to the Police Department concerning children who are not properly constrained in their seats. Police officers will be working with local schools to educate parents about the safety of making sure the children are properly buckled in.

Street Commissioner, Randy Carter, said the department would advertise for two employees.

Culvert replacement on Starnes Street has been completed. The department has yet to lay the blacktop. Officials are trying to tie this in with Floyd and Russell Streets. The department is planning on using asphalt instead of concrete in hopes to reduce costs. Storm drains repair also continues, according to the report.

The compost facility got its first load on Thursday of last week. Four loads total have been received. Anything taller than the dumpster boxes, people will have to unload themselves, Carter said.

Concerning old business, an ordinance request was made by Semo Health Network to rezone the property located at Russell and Compress Roads. It was approved by the City Council. It shall be changed from R-2 multi-family residential to B-2 General Business.

The next City Council meeting will be at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 3, 2010.