A new Minonk City Council was sworn in Monday at City Hall. Russell Ruestman replaced outgoing Cathy McKay in Ward 1,
Jason Buchanan replaced Sherry Stalter in Ward 3, Steve Mattox replaced outgoing Dean Barth in Ward 2 and Ron Redenius
reclaimed his seat for a two year term in Ward 2. Click here for a picture of the new council.
Click here for a list of the new committee members.
Mayor Mark Spencer thanked the outgoing alderman for their service to the community. Spencer said being an
alderman requires a lot of time and dedication.
Alderman Sherry Stalter said that she enjoyed her term as alderman and felt that the city has made progress during
her term. She said that the average citizen has no idea of the amount of work that goes on behind the scenes. She will
stay on the Parks and Recreation committee to help it during the transition period.
Alderman Cathy McKay felt that the establishment of the Dollar General Store was a big plus for the city. She said that
people must understand that the wheels of government work much slower than in the business world. She said the city
needs more volunteers to help the city grow.
Alderman Dean Barth said that he has been serving on governmental and community committees for 50 years and has
thoroughly enjoyed each year. Barth said that it is not as important to do what you enjoy but more important to enjoy what
you do.
Other news
Alderman Dean Barth said that there will be a meeting at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at City Hall with members of the Adhoc
Westside Park Pavilion Committee and David McBride who is the president of the local labor union located in Roanoke.
A plan to organize the construction of the park pavilion with union labor will be discussed at the meeting.
Barth said that he is excited about the offer of the various unions to help build the proposed park pavilion with donated
labor. Barth said the pavilion will be built this year.
City Administrator's report
The water samples taken from Well #4 have passed the required tests for water quality. Public Works will now forward
them to E.P.A. for their approval to put the well online. Layne Western hired Bob Huxtable to re-landscape the affected
area of the park. He is in the process of tilling and seeding the area.
The city has received final approval for the Builta Addition water main loop. The Public Works Dept. will be
tying in the line to the First and Fourth street main lines this week.
The wiring for the four lights at the Westside basketball court has been completed. As his schedule permits, Brian Kirkton
will have the lights operational including a timer that will shut off the lights at 11:00 p.m. This time can be
changed.
The Public Works Dept. will be starting the sanitary line replacement north of Tenth Street this week. The entire
line will not be replaced as originally proposed as the Millennia skate park and in-line rink will not be placed
over the line as originally designed. Only the worst of the line will be replaced with city labor.
The berm re-seeding has been completed.
John Morris and Associates will begin the year-end audit on May 13. No surprises are expected. Revenues are
down a bit but expenditures were controlled to match the shortfall in income.
There is a water drainage problem at Fourth and Locust. Public Works personnel will be digging up the area to clear
the lines connecting the street drains and the main lines as soon as they are finished with the Tenth Street project.
