ARMA, Kan. — Emergency responses, scheduled projects, unfinished tasks, and staffing shortages are just some of the reasons why a public works employee’s work can be extended late into the day or early into the morning. The Arma City Council discussed those costly extra hours at their regular meeting this week.
Arma Assistant City Clerk Vanessa Kent proposed changes to Ordinance 564 designed to cover those costs.
“What I’m wanting to do is change the reconnect fees,” Kent told the council. “I checked a few places and there isn’t anybody around that charges as little as we do to reconnect a service. Right now, it’s $10 during the day to reconnect it and shut off,and it’s $60 at night. That doesn’t even cover the guys’ time being called out.”
Kent proposed raising the rate to $50 for the first connect and $100 at night with the second connect rising to $100, bumping up $50 for every additional reconnect with a cap at $150.
“It’s the same people all the time, and they watch for these guys and when they see them coming ‘I’m going up right now,’” said Kent. “And they’ve (public works) taken time out of their day with their stuff they’ve got to do to go and do these orders to shut people off.”
“A callout at night, if they wait until 4:30 (p.m.) or say even 3:35 (p.m.) when nobody is here, $60, you’re looking at a two-hour callout minimum at time and a half,” added Arma Public Works Superintendent Austin Spragg. “… A little over ($60). But for somebody to come in after hours to do that for someone.”
The proposal initiated a spirited debate amongst councilmembers.
“The first part is a very tricky one,” said councilwoman Carma Burns. “Because I understand the expense but at the same time, and I get that it’s the same people late over and over again, however, there may be a reason. To add even more of a charge is just hard. It’s hard to do with what the economic demographics are in our area.”
The council and Spragg also talked about setting up times during which public works crews aren’t available to be sent out for shutting down or reconnecting.
“For me honestly, 8 (p.m.) or 9 (p.m.),” said Spragg. “I mean, that’s kind of where I would be at. I don’t want to get out of bed to come turn somebody back on from a non-payment at 9 at night.”
Closing the lengthy discussion, the council approved changing the rate to $30 during the day and $70 at night. City staff will not be available to reconnect between the hours of 9 p.m. and 7 a.m.
In other business, Arma City Library Director Shelley Corley visited the council to provide updates on the facilities programs, usage, and pantry.
Approximately 59 individuals and 26 families were assisted at the food panty in April. As of Monday’s meeting, the pantry has helped 25 individuals and 13 families in May. The food pantry is open every Thursday and Friday.
New pantry needs are oatmeal, cereal (children/adult), and canned tuna. The ongoing pantry needs are jelly, pancake mix, syrup, spaghetti, and pasta sauce.
The library also had 68 hours of computer usage in April along with 144 books checked out and 28 sent out, saving patrons around $2,393 as opposed to purchasing books through Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Programs and activities taking place at the library throughout the months are book club (twice per month), Silver Sneakers (Monday through Friday), Girl Scouts (every other week), 4-H Club (monthly), Handmade with Love crochet group, miscellaneous business meetings (ongoing), Women’s Recovery Group (to start soon), and Story Time for Tots.
The Arma City Library’s summer reading program is expected to start in June, running through July with activities planned every week for children, teens, and adults.
The next council meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Monday, June 1. Meetings are held at the council meeting room next door to Arma City Hall, located at 701 E. Washington St. For more information or to be placed on the agenda, call the Arma City Hall at 620-347-4125.
This reporting is made possible, in part, by the Support Local Journalism Project Fund. Learn more at: southeastkansas.org/Localnews.
