The Wykoff City Council met in regular session on March 8. All council members were in attendance (Lyle Morey, Richard Gleason, Mayor Al Williams, Ryan Breckenridge, and Barbara Fate). City Clerk Becky Schmidt and Deputy Clerk Luann Hare also attended.
The council discussed the condition of the parking lot, and Schmidt shared pictures of the lot. She said a few spots in the lot have “sunk down” noticeably and that the problem is getting worse. She summarized, “In the last three years, it’s gotten significantly bigger. It could get very expensive.” Schmidt said she’s heard there had once been a house in that area, and it’s possible the problem is due to a basement that wasn’t properly filled in.
Wade Baker pointed out that when the area was previously used as a tennis court, there was very little weight on the ground, but now that cars are driving and parked on the lot, it’s much more weight, so it’s not surprising the issue has gotten worse. He suggested having someone dig in and see what’s happening underneath. Mayor Williams agreed. The city will look into pricing for having crushed rock added to fill-in any problem areas found.
The council heard an annual audit presentation given by Andrew Forliti, from the accounting firm of Smith Schafer & Associates. He said the audit resulted in an unmodified “clean” opinion. Property taxes collected totaled $182,876, which is 27.5% of total governmental revenues in 2020. Local government aid, which is based on state formula, totaled $135,277, or 20% of total governmental revenues.
Forliti pointed out that for 2020, Wykoff’s Unassigned Fund Balance is around $385,000. This represents 113% of annual expenditures, and he said this means that Wykoff “still has a healthy reserve.” His handouts noted that “Water Funds rates are sufficient to cover operating expenses and debt service requirements. Sewer Fund received transfer from General Fund of $19,675 and continued operating at a deficit.”
The council discussed a request from Alcon regarding a situation in which the fire department responded. Schmidt said Alcon is asking for a reduction in billing, since the incident happened so close to the fire department. Schmidt explained, “They had a gas line rupture. Our guys responded, but it was right out front of the fire hall. So they pulled the fire truck out, and they sat there for 45 minutes. But our base rate is $750 so that’s what I billed them.”
Rich Gleason stated, “The distance has nothing to do with it.” Wade Baker added, “That fee, I guess, is just what we set, regardless of where it’s at. If we get called, we get called. And it is unfortunate when you don’t have to do much, but when we do extra, we don’t charge accordingly, we just charge the flat rate.” After discussion, the council voted to make no change to the billing.
The council considered a contract option from Maguire Iron. Schmidt explained that Maguire has done the annual cleaning and inspection of the water tower. They are now offering a five-year contract, at a price of $1,850 per year. Schmidt pointed out that if Wykoff signs the contract, it would lock-in that price, and she noted that in the past, Wykoff used Maguire because they offered the best price. The council voted to sign the five-year contract.
Wade Baker asked the council if perhaps a committee should be formed to start looking into pricing for a pumper truck which the fire department expects to purchase in 2022. No formal action was taken, but the council consensus was to begin looking at pricing, so an approximate amount could be known when 2022 budgeting happens this fall. The council’s next regular meeting will be Monday, April 12, at 7 p.m.
Leave a Reply