The Haxtun-Fleming Herald - What can we reason but from what we know? -Alexander Pope

The Fleming Town Council met for their regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 11 at the Fleming Community Center. The meeting was called to order by Mayor, Susan Einspahr at 6:50 p.m. The following council members were present: Stefan Betley, DeeAnn Christopher, Nancy Glaspie, John Stone, Levi Lowe and Ken MacCrone. Also present were Sandy Kinzie (left at 7:14 p.m.), Zander Marshall and Matt White with Colonial Life Supplemental Insurance Company (left at 7:07 p.m.), Clay Gorman and Keith Beck.

Additions/corrections to the agenda: Stone asked to add Farmer’s Market to Parks and Recreation, a motion was made and seconded to approve the Agenda as amended, all voted and the motion passed.

Public comment: Marshall and White gave a presentation to the Council concerning supplemental insurance benefits for town employees and council members.

Kinzie gave a presentation about the Summer Reading Program. She said the program went well, though the numbers were down due to the Coronavirus restrictions.

Consent agenda: A motion was made and seconded to approve the Consent Agenda, all voted and the motion passed.

Treasurer’s report: Gorman said all accounts balanced. The General Fund contains $116,856.72, Electric Fund $228,048.45, Water Fund $53,852.12 Sewer Fund $-3,957.70 for a NOW Account total of $394,799.59. The MMA balance is $2,539.46 and the CTF balance is $9,459.38 for a total of $406,798.43 in all accounts. Gorman told the Council that the Electric Fund increase was due to moving funds from the Sewer Construction Account to the Electric Account to make up for the funds previously moved to help pay for the sewer project. He said when the remainder of the funds from the different agencies is reimbursed; he will transfer the funds to a Certificate of Deposit. The Council was informed that the third quarter budget to date will be presented in September so the Council can decide what the budget for 2021 will look like. A motion was made and seconded to approve the Treasurer’s Report, all voted and the motion passed.

Electric report: Beck said the CIRSA Engineer will submit his report about the skunk in the transformer. At this time, the street lights should all be functioning. Beck is still working on safety equipment quotes for employees.

Water report: Beck told the Council that a major repair was done south of the Highway 6 and a meter will soon be installed at that location. Beck said water pressure is down because there hasn’t been much rain and people are watering so the well pump is having a hard time keeping up with the demand.

Sewer report: Beck will put a gate up at the sewer lagoons when he has a chance.

Streets: Beck will start working on repairing potholes as soon as all of the equipment is repaired and ready.

Health and Safety: Copies of ordinance violation forms were presented to the Council for their review and discussion. Beck and his crew are working aggressively on killing weeds.

Parks and recreation: Stone discussed having a Farmer’s Market in the park. The Council will talk to community members to get their input.

Action items: A motion was made and seconded to approve Planning and Zoning Ordinance #5-2020 on the second reading, all voted and the motion passed. The Council will research the Mobile Home Ordinance to determine if any upgrades are needed.

Ordinance #1-1993 concerning trees was tabled until the next meeting.

Ordinance #3-1993 concerning burning was discussed and no change was deemed necessary.

A motion was made and seconded to accept the update on the Employee Handbook, all voted and the motion passed.

Discussion Items: Betley discussed the town website and its progress.

Gorman asked the Council to go through the ordinances and work on those that need to be updated.

The Council decided to get rid of the tree pile created by the storm earlier this summer.

Beck asked for the Council to consider addressing water meter obstruction. Einspahr told Beck the Council will work on the problem.

Einspahr told the Council that if any councilmember would like to put together a pro/con statement concerning the ballot questions, they should prepare a statement and turn it into Asfeld so she can get the statement to the Logan County Clerk and Recorder in a timely matter.

A motion was made and seconded to allow Colonial Life to offer supplemental insurance to town employees and council members, all voted and the motion passed.

Adjournment: A motion was made and seconded to adjourn at 9:15 p.m., all voted and the motion passed.