BY TONY FURSE | January 11, 2023

In addition to a monetary savings plan on the settling pond project, a report located elsewhere in this issue, La Cygne city leaders adopted Administrative Policy No. 33 at its regular meeting last Wednesday, Jan. 4.

On a 4-0 vote, with Danny Curtis not present, the council approved the policy that puts employee pay scale wage steps into effect and establishes a performance evaluation process.

The adoption follows a Jan. 2 special meeting where city leaders reviewed cost of living adjustments, pay scale, and employee performance evaluation. The result of that meeting was to direct Jodi Wade, city clerk, to incorporate the meeting’s recommendations into the administrative policy to be considered two nights later.

The Jan. 2 special meeting lasted 3 hours, 17 minutes, required a vote to extend beyond a 3-hour limit, and included two executive sessions totaling 10 minutes for non-elected personnel individual performance and one for five minutes to review job applications and resumes.

At the regular mid-week meeting, another four executive sessions totaling 60 minutes were called for non-elected personnel annual performance evaluations, with the end public action the adoption retroactive to Jan. 2 of all pay raises as presented.

Also relating to the just-completed 2022 city budget, the council rescinded a Dec. 21 general action to authorize transfer of year-end excess general funds and replaced it with a specific authorization for year-end excess general funds of 80 percent to capital improvement reserve and 20 percent to equipment reserve as recommended by Wade. Those transfers will occur following the spring audit of the 2022 budget year.

In other business in chronological order:

--The council adopted Resolutions No. 446, authority to pay payroll and certain bills early, and No. 447, waiver from certain accounting procedures. Both are standard annual actions.

--The council approved the Linn County News as the city’s official newspaper for this year.

--Dan Nasalroad, fire chief, said that topography maps at the site of the proposed new fire station have been submitted. He anticipates bid letting to begin in early February.

--Wade reported on “some feedback” of city Facebook polling questions regarding La Cygne’s stormwater master plan and said she “will push for more” input. Wade is planning to schedule a town hall meeting on the topic for next month.

--An eight-minute executive session for privileged attorney/client consultation on a proposed Evergy fiber optic cable installation along Market Street produced no public action.

--Mayor Debra Wilson reported on the local cemetery association sending a thank you letter to the city praising Curtis and David Brenneman, the council’s cemetery committee, “for making the new directory there happen.”

--Under the park committee report, Nasalroad as public works superintendent said that the extremely cold weather leading into the Christmas weekend had caused the swimming pool to lose “a couple of pipes.” According to the ProActive Agriculture weather station at 119 N. Broadway, low temperatures for three consecutive nights averaged a minus 1.7 degrees, minus 5.1 early Dec. 23 being the lowest.