Seligman Council moves on equipment purchases, new hours
December 18, 2019
Vinnie Roberts
At the Seligman City Council meeting on Monday, December 9, the board of aldermen moved forward on several items that will resolve several long-running issues for city officials.
The first issue ruled on by the council changed the hours for Seligman City Hall from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. to 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. According to Seligman city clerk Brian Nichols, this was to maximize City Hall’s efficiency and prevent city employees from working the front desk during dead time.
“Prior to this year, we’ve been open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.,” explained Nichols. “It’s been very dead in the morning, and there’s hardly anyone in after 4:30 wanting to get stuff done.”
The new hours will be effective as of January 1. To keep the public informed on the matter, an explanation of the change will be posted on this month’s water bills.
City council also moved forward on pursuing deals with local vendors to acquire new equipment. The first of the equipment is a new tractor the public works department will use for both mowing and hauling.
“We’re looking to either replace or upgrade the mower,” explained Nichols. “We’ve been using a batwing brush hog that we purchased two years ago to take some of the burden off our lawn mowing equipment.”
According to Nichols, the city’s reliance on the tractor, as well as its multiple uses, led the council to conclude budgeting originally set aside for new mowing equipment would be better put to use purchasing a new tractor.
“Our current tractor is undersized for the brush hog,” explained Nichols. “We have multiple uses for the city tractor aside from that. It makes more sense to invest the money into another tractor rather than a new mower.”
According to Nichols, the new tractor will come from LS Tractors, of Stark City. The city will trade in their current tractor, lowering the cost of the new model to fall to $19,800.
The second major equipment purchase authorized by the board of aldermen begins what Nichols hopes will be the end of an ongoing saga regarding police vehicles.
“We’ve had horrible luck with Dodge Chargers,” said Nichols. “Out of the two 2014 Chargers that we’ve had, both have spent more than a year at a time at the dealership with warranty work on the motors.”
Currently, only one of the two police Chargers in Seligman is in service. Acknowledging the need for more than one police vehicle for their department, the council authorized city representatives to move forward with the purchase of a new vehicle.
“We’re moving forward with purchasing a Chevy Tahoe,” explained Nichols. “I’m currently awaiting the lease agreement paperwork. We’ll either finish that all up in January or with a special session later this month, provided we can get it quicker.”
In order to keep costs on the new vehicle low, the non-operational vehicle in the Seligman fleet will be traded in. In another cost-saving maneuver, all special equipment for the Tahoe will be installed by police chief Matt Phillips and city clerk Brian Nichols.
The expected costs of the new vehicle, after trade-in and equipment, will be approximately $36,493 over the life of the lease agreement.
The final major action taken by the board of aldermen on December 9 authorized city officials to close the books on a piece of land within city limits, the ownership of which was previously the matter of some dispute.
“When the railroad decided that they were going to abandon a chunk of property that they owned, they offered it up to the local municipalities,” explained Nichols. “They deeded one chunk of property to the Sugar Creek Road District and then turned around and accidentally deeded the same property to the city.”
According to Nichols, a paperwork error led to the city being the technical owner of a piece of property operated by the rural road district. In order to resolve this issue, the board of aldermen authorized Nichols to work with city attorney Darlene Parrigon, at cost, to the city, to draw up a deed agreement that will formally put the property under correct ownership.
Vinnie Roberts
At the Seligman City Council meeting on Monday, December 9, the board of aldermen moved forward on several items that will resolve several long-running issues for city officials.
The first issue ruled on by the council changed the hours for Seligman City Hall from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. to 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. According to Seligman city clerk Brian Nichols, this was to maximize City Hall’s efficiency and prevent city employees from working the front desk during dead time.
“Prior to this year, we’ve been open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.,” explained Nichols. “It’s been very dead in the morning, and there’s hardly anyone in after 4:30 wanting to get stuff done.”
The new hours will be effective as of January 1. To keep the public informed on the matter, an explanation of the change will be posted on this month’s water bills.
City council also moved forward on pursuing deals with local vendors to acquire new equipment. The first of the equipment is a new tractor the public works department will use for both mowing and hauling.
“We’re looking to either replace or upgrade the mower,” explained Nichols. “We’ve been using a batwing brush hog that we purchased two years ago to take some of the burden off our lawn mowing equipment.”
According to Nichols, the city’s reliance on the tractor, as well as its multiple uses, led the council to conclude budgeting originally set aside for new mowing equipment would be better put to use purchasing a new tractor.
“Our current tractor is undersized for the brush hog,” explained Nichols. “We have multiple uses for the city tractor aside from that. It makes more sense to invest the money into another tractor rather than a new mower.”
According to Nichols, the new tractor will come from LS Tractors, of Stark City. The city will trade in their current tractor, lowering the cost of the new model to fall to $19,800.
The second major equipment purchase authorized by the board of aldermen begins what Nichols hopes will be the end of an ongoing saga regarding police vehicles.
“We’ve had horrible luck with Dodge Chargers,” said Nichols. “Out of the two 2014 Chargers that we’ve had, both have spent more than a year at a time at the dealership with warranty work on the motors.”
Currently, only one of the two police Chargers in Seligman is in service. Acknowledging the need for more than one police vehicle for their department, the council authorized city representatives to move forward with the purchase of a new vehicle.
“We’re moving forward with purchasing a Chevy Tahoe,” explained Nichols. “I’m currently awaiting the lease agreement paperwork. We’ll either finish that all up in January or with a special session later this month, provided we can get it quicker.”
In order to keep costs on the new vehicle low, the non-operational vehicle in the Seligman fleet will be traded in. In another cost-saving maneuver, all special equipment for the Tahoe will be installed by police chief Matt Phillips and city clerk Brian Nichols.
The expected costs of the new vehicle, after trade-in and equipment, will be approximately $36,493 over the life of the lease agreement.
The final major action taken by the board of aldermen on December 9 authorized city officials to close the books on a piece of land within city limits, the ownership of which was previously the matter of some dispute.
“When the railroad decided that they were going to abandon a chunk of property that they owned, they offered it up to the local municipalities,” explained Nichols. “They deeded one chunk of property to the Sugar Creek Road District and then turned around and accidentally deeded the same property to the city.”
According to Nichols, a paperwork error led to the city being the technical owner of a piece of property operated by the rural road district. In order to resolve this issue, the board of aldermen authorized Nichols to work with city attorney Darlene Parrigon, at cost, to the city, to draw up a deed agreement that will formally put the property under correct ownership.
