BY GEORGE NUNNEMACHER | January 11, 2023

The Linn Valley City Council held its bi-monthly meeting at 7 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 9, 2023, with Mayor Cindy Smith presiding and all council members present.

Codes Enforcement Officer Don Hastings reported that the total number of permits issued in 2022 was 460, including 28 for new home construction.   Last October, the council approved the 6-month moratorium on accepting new building permits, with the stipulation that the moratorium could possibly be lifted prior to April, 2024, if there was a significant reduction in the backlog of open building permits.   Based on progress made to date, the council voted to approve Smith’s recommendation to lift the ban on building permits with the exception of permits related to water and wastewater hookups.   Smith complimented Hastings and Codes Clerk Jenny Schooler for their efforts in reducing the permit backlog.  

In a unanimous vote, the council adopted Resolution No. 119 updating the fees for permits and other services provided by the city.   This resolution repeals Resolution 112 and will be posted on the city’s website.

Public Safety Director Corey Murrison reported on Police Department activity in the city during the past month, including one citation issued for Criminal Littering at the trash compactor.  Murrison reported that two arrests were made for Possession of Narcotics; as well as, an out-of-county warrant arrest.  On New Year’s weekend a routine vehicle stop led to the discovery of narcotics and a stolen handgun.  The handgun was sent off for testing as it was believed to have been used in a shooting.   In another incident, the report of a suspicious vehicle led to a stop of a truck from which the occupants had removed the gate at the golf course to gain entry.  The vehicle was stopped while the occupants were attempting to leave Linn Valley, at which time the driver bailed out and ran.  A female occupant remained in the vehicle and eventually identified the driver.  When the registered owner of the truck was contacted it was discovered that the truck had been stolen from a business in La Cygne.   The female subject was arrested for obstruction and an application for arrest warrant was issued for the runaway driver.

The Police Department had budgeted $8,700/year for new car and body video cameras.  The system quoted required a subscription to an Amazon cloud storage account at an annual cost of $2,800, thus the five-year cost for the system was calculated at $57,500.   Murrison was able to find a car and body camera system at a one-time cost of $12,036 which does not require cloud-based storage and simply downloads the video to the department’s server.  The council voted to approve an additional $3,336 over the originally budgeted amount of $8,700 for the system.  

Murrison reported that the Fire Department responded to 10 medical calls, one fire and two vehicle accidents in Linn Valley; as well as, seven medical calls and one vehicle accident in Miami County.  

City Clerk Karen Siffring presented the December 2022 Financial Report which included General Fund income of $19,737 and expenses totaling $64,879.   The total income received for 2022 was $782,333 with total expenses of $832,146.   The Council voted to approve expense vouchers totaling $170,423 for the month of December.    

In a unanimous vote, the council approved Resolution No. 120 exempting the city from compliance with the GAAP (“Generally Accepted Accounting Principles”) for the year ending December 31, 2023.