Betley to negotiate purchase of Town Hall

The Fleming Town Council held their regular monthly meeting on Wednesday, June 14. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Stefan Betley at 6:34 p.m. The following council members were present: Andrew Muller, Bill Langridge, Bonnie Jackson, Alex Gapter joined the meeting via conference call, Cathy Castillo arrived at 6:40 p.m. Suzanne Wales was absent.

Also present were: Scott Szabo (left at 7 p.m.), Jeff Schiel (left at 8 p.m.), Tom Goss (left at 7:14 p.m.), Joelle Gapter, Grace Rossignol, Michelle Asfeld, Keith Beck (left at 8:15 p.m.) and Lewis Frank (left at 8:40 p.m.).

Additions/Corrections to the Agenda: Betley asked if there were any additions or corrections to the agenda. Hearing none, it was moved and seconded to accept the agenda as printed. All voted and the motion passed.

Audit Report: Szabo reviewed with the Council the audit report that he prepared following his audit on May 24-25. He stated, “the Town of Fleming remains in good financial condition.” A motion was made and seconded to approve the Audit Report. All voted and the motion passed.

Public Comment: Betley read the correspondence from Henry Beteta (a former Fleming resident) regarding the residency requirement for a person to be the mayor. Beteta feels that it shouldn’t be a requirement to be a resident of Fleming to be the mayor but to extend it to a 15-mile perimeter around Fleming. Betley thanked Beteta for his comment and went on to say the State Statues require the mayor and council members to be residents of the town.

Rossignol updated the Council on the summer reading program. She also said that the book box has been finished by the FFA students and is ready to be placed in the park. She will work with Beck on the exact location.

Goss shared with the Council his concerns about various town infrastructure issues; parks, streets, snow removal, drainage, etc.

Media Relations Coordinator Grant Report: Schiel had taken a look around the town hall building and shared with the Council his findings and thoughts about the possibility of remodeling and/or adding onto to the building. He would like more information about what the Council would like as well as a budget before investing any further time. When questioned as to the cost to develop a set of plans, he estimated the cost to be $2,500. Following additional discussion on this issue, the Council decided to pause any further action until they have met with the Library Association.

J. Gaptor updated the Council on continuing efforts to update the website, specifically, town history interviews. She will be putting a podcast of the Fleming history documents on the website. She also spoke about possible Council participation in the July 4th town celebration by serving pop floats at the Heritage Park from 5- 7 p.m. to coincide with the Museum being open and the Fleming Market. J. Gaptor and Muller will set up a meeting for the Town Project Committee.

Consent Agenda: It was moved and seconded to approve the Consent Agenda All voted and the motion passed.

Maintenance Report: Beck shared with the Council that a power pole had been hit by a pickup and trailer. Luckily, no serious issues resulted. Maguire Iron began work two weeks ago on refurbishing the water tower at Heritage Park. Both exterior and interior surfaces will be stripped to the base metal, any necessary maintenance will be done, and then new finishes will be applied. It is estimated the work will take a month to complete. The maintenance staff will also continue to work on the streets as the weather permits. Beck reminded the Council that streets are done first, then the alleys will be done.

Clerk’s Report: No Report.

Treasurer’s Report: Frank presented the Treasurer’s Report. It was moved and seconded to approve the Treasurer’s Report. All voted and the motion passed.

Health and Safety: Beck reported that the fire hydrant at the CHS location is scheduled to arrive in two weeks. Installation of the new hydrant may not be done immediately; it will depend on wheat harvest and truck traffic around the location site.

Parks and Recreation: No Report.

Action Items: Betley asked for any discussion concerning Ordinance #2-2023-Updating the Election Cancelation Date. Hearing none, it was moved and seconded to approve the final reading of said Ordinance. All voted and the motion passed.

The Council discussed updates to the employee policy regarding the probation period of new hires. It was moved and seconded to change the policy wording to read “Normally, the probation period is 30 days for full-time and 60 days for part-time; however, the Town Council may extend or shorten the probation period for any employee.” All voted and the motion passed.

The Council discussed the purchase of the Town Hall from the Library Association and the need to appoint a council member to negotiate with the Association. It was moved and seconded that Mayor Betley be the negotiator. All voted and the motion passed.

No communication was received from the Logan County Chamber of Commerce, so this action item was tabled.

Discussion Items: Cemetery Policy. Due to the lengthy meeting, the council members were asked to read over the Cemetery Policy on their own, make changes and bring up the changes at the July council meeting.

The July meeting will be Wednesday, July 26. Please note the regular meeting date has been changed.

The Council will be doing drive-arounds on June 23 and June 30 starting at 7 p.m. both nights.

Adjournment: A motion was made and seconded to adjourn at 9 p.m. Motion passed unanimously.