In their regular monthly meeting June 12, 2007, the Thayer City Council met in the council room of Thayer city hall at 7:00 PM. All Aldermen and Mayor Merle Williams were present, as well as Thayer city clerk Melissa Webber.
In routine, procedural matters, the council
1. Approved minutes of the May 8th regular meeting.
2. Approved paying bills for the month of May 2207.
3. Approved the minutes of the Fire Department meeting.
4. Accepted the Financial Statement.
5. Accepted the April report of the Municipal Court, which collected $4709.15.
In new business,
1. Under public participation, a citizen reported damage to her retaining wall from a city crew and asked about the procedure for getting it repaired.
2. BNSF Railroad gave a presentation in support of closing the road by the police station. Questions arose about the only other access to Warm Fork Park being across private property. BNSF estimated that in the near future, as many as 50 trains a day will be going through Thayer, some with as many as 175 cars. Closing the crossing would be a safety issue and would end the requirement that the trains blow their horns in town. The railroad would build a small bridge allowing access to businesses that already use that road, and would put up a fence to stop pedestrians from crossing the tracks. Some people in town walk wherever they go, and use the crossing to go to Town & Country grocery store, so that they don’t have to walk on the highway. Closing the crossing will be an inconvenience to them, but with 50 trains a day, some of them 175 cars long, many of which remain stopped for a long time, blocking the crossing, it is unlikely there would be much opportunity to cross the tracks anyway. Alderman Mike Harber said he would like to look over the private property issues and suggested tabling any action until a special meeting next week. The council agreed.
3. The council agreed to have the city provide the labor for Air Evac to install a helipad at the Industrial Park. Air Evac agreed to provide the materials.
4. The mileage rate for travel expenses for city employees was raised to 45 cents a mile.
5. Police Chief Frank Bernard reported the police department policy on seat belt use by officers.
6. Kenny Moore’s dumping contract was renewed.
7. The council agreed to seek bids for a city audit.
8. The council agreed to erect No Parking signs for a problem section of Green Avenue.
9. The council passed two ordinances that will allow the city to continue with grants for the sidewalk project.
In old business, the council agreed to seek bids on surplus equipment, including a dump truck and bucket truck.
Departmental Supplies were approved, with the exception of $495 for three loads of road base rock for the water department. Alderman Steve Alford reported his department has mountains of similar materia, and would like the water department to take a look at it and see if it would make an adequate substitute. If acceptable, this would save the city almost $500.
The council then voted to go into closed session.
Labels: City Council, city work crews
These pictures of the Monument to the Previous Administration's Corruption and Incompetence were taken yesterday. Note the top.
Labels: Allen Deckard, city work crews, electric shed, Gary Barton, Thayer Arch
I have in my possession an audiotape of a city council meeting, where bids are opened and Bobby Ryan's is accepted, for the erection of the electric shed, described in
an article in the West Plains Daily Quill earlier this week about city work crews doing the work on a project which an outside person was contracted to do.
The sound quality is terrible, but some important details are clear.
Here is a transcript of the relevant portion:
TRANSCRIPT
Deckard: Okay . . . Old business . . . [garbled] . . . got some quotes on construction, putting up that building out there, don't we Rosie?
Simpson: Yeah.
[unintelligible]
Deckard: Okay, Bobby Ryan, labor on installing the building for the electric shed and rental on the scissor lift. That's just labor on installing it . . . $3800.
[unintelligible]
Rogers: . . . that's not the ends?
Deckard: No. No. This one sounds like it's the same way . . . Elmer Russell, labor to erect building at industrial park, $8340, labor only, no material.
[unintelligible]
Deckard: James Pace, bid on the metal building, city of Thayer construction of metal building [unintelligible] metal building, $10,000.
Harber: I think before we uh before we have somebody else do that we ought to see our . . . let our crews try it. Van says he can get it . . .
[unintelligible]
Deckard: Van's been busy. . . I'm gonna get this . . . How long we been trying to do this, two years? Is that not right? $3800 is not that bad, guys. [unintelligible] ...scissor lift.Alford or Grimes: [unintelligible] . . . pretty cheap.
Deckard: It is. . . What do you think about this?
Rogers: Well, [unintelligible] our guys can't do the [work?] let somebody else.
Deckard: The parks guys is NOT going to do this, I'm just telling you that right now. The parks are NOT doing it . . . It's NOT going to save us money. We're going to have . . . $3800 is 3800, a lot of money but that is still . . . The building has cost us twenty something thousand. What did we put in the, uh, concrete?
[unknown]: Eighteen.
Deckard: Eighteen? So I mean [that's still not the best thing we can do on it?]
Alford or Rogers: [unintelligible] Is this right, this is to get it erected?
Deckard: This is to get it erected; that's what all of this says, price of erection.
Alford or Rogers: [unintelligible] ... I know awhile ago . . . [unintelligible] . . . to get the ends on it . . .
Deckard: Well, at least we get the building done. And THEN we can worry about [unintelligible] other things.
[unintelligible]
Alford: . . . [Are you going to let?] keep the doors to unlock it with? Whatever . . .
Deckard: Right, right. . . . Right.
Alford: Is that the bolts, bolting it down and everything? They're going to bolt the building down to the ground?
Deckard: They'd have to do that.
Alford: Because there is no bolts there.
[unintelligible]
Deckard: What do you think?
[unintelligible]
unknown: I don't think so.
Deckard: All right, moving right along . . .
...
Sounds pretty clear to me; Bobby Ryan was awarded $3800 to erect the building himself, without the help of city crews.
UPDATE: I am trying to send a sample WAV of a copy of the recording to the
Quill and the
Hill 'n Holler to prove I indeed have it and that it is authentic. Even with the terrible sound quality, the voice is unmistakably Allen Deckard's.
For some reason, it's not going through. Maybe it's too big.
Labels: Alford, Allen Deckard, Bob Grimes, Buddy Rogers, City Council, city work crews, Grimes
Go read it
here. As always, look quickly, because they take the stories down every day.
They even printed one of Doris' color pictures.
Labels: Alford, Allen Deckard, Bob Grimes, City Council, city work crews, Gary Barton, Thayer City Council
I got my hands on some very raw versions of the pictures of city workers putting up the electric shed. These are black and white photocopies, so some of the detail is lost. The originals are in color and will hopefully be in one of the newspapers in the coming days.
This is Gary Barton's city truck at the work site:
This is the beginnings of actual construction.
These last two are pictures of Gary Barton himself.
There are more pictures, and I will work on getting them posted on this blog.
UPDATE: Here are some more:
3/27/07 UPDATE: Here are a couple of pictures I snapped this morning of the lack of progress at what I have dubbed the "Thayer Arch."
Labels: city work crews, Gary Barton
