By Rich Wicks | Times Vedette
The Guthrie Center City Council met in regular session on Sept. 14. Councilmember (and mayor pro tem) Garold Thomas attended remotely due to illness. He postponed appointing a mayor to replace Mike Herbert due to a few matters he wants to finish up before a new mayor is named.
Councilmember Ian Steensen asked about Thomas’ decision to postpone appointing a mayor. Thomas said he feels the city needs to be cautious “if you talk about employees and their evaluation or performance.” He said the matter will be on the agenda at the council’s next meeting (Sept. 28).
Street Department Director Darin Sloss reported on a bid from KCI for $17,750 to repair a washed-out area at the corner of North and Sixth streets. The council voted to accept the bid.
The council heard an insurance renewal report from insurance agent Rod Rumelhart regarding the city’s property casualty coverage.
“We had a very good renewal, best since I’ve been here,” Rumelhart said. “The insurance went up basically $1,000 for next year. And, Kris, I think you had 20% figured in. So that’s a big savings.”
Rumelhart noted that the city had very little in claims this year, and he said the dividend expected in January looks to be the largest ever. He added that the premium increase is less than 1%, which shows how well the city kept insurance claims down.
“Don’t jinx it,” Sloss said.
As part of the consent agenda, the council approved a building permit for 1111 Oak St. (B. Kempf) to put in a shed.
The next regular meeting of the council will be Sept. 28 at 6:30 p.m. The public is welcome.