SIDNEY — A resident disturbed about heavy truck traffic in his neighborhood brought his complaints to Sidney City Council Monday night.
Chuck Thompson told council that semi rigs from Ring Container Technologies on Oak Avenue run past his house on Michigan Street until 11:30 p.m.
Thompson apparently has contacted city officials in the past about the problem. “You all say there’s nothing you can do about it,” he said.
“I’d like to go to bed before 11:30 at night,” he said, noting that the traffic occurs seven days a week.
Thompson said he has video recordings showing the traffic.
“We’ll talk to the folks at Ring Can and see what we can do,” Mayor Mike Barhorst told Thompson.
In other business, council adopted ordinances:
• Authorizing appropriations totaling $73.64 million for 2016. Total appropriations, excluding interfund transactions and agency funds, are 42.5 percent less than 2015, Finance Officer Ginger Adams said, due to the timing of capital outlay appropriations associated with the wastewater treatment plant and sewer collection system improvements and water source construction. The operating portion of this budget is 0.1 percent less than the current 2015 budget. This budget is based on staffing of approximately 218 full-time equivalents, which while adding back selected staffing, still represents a 10 percent decline in staffing since 2008, Adams said.
• Authorizing supplemental appropriations for various funds for the 2015 budget. The net effect of these changes would be to decrease 2015 appropriations by $27.3 million, Adams said.
• Amending personnel policies, procedures and regulations and amending the nonunion pay tables effective with the first pay in 2016. The pay tables cover management employees, confidential employees, Municipal Court employees (except the judge), and part-time employees. This ordinance increases nonbargaining pay scales by 1 percent. The exceptions are the pay scales of the city manager, law director and city clerk, which are set by council.
• Assessing certain property owners the cost of weed mowing or junk removal. Each property owner was notified that their property was not in compliance with the city code and was given an opportunity to mow the weeds or remove the junk. When the owners failed to comply, the city paid to have the work performed. The property owners were then invoiced. For weed-mowing violations, the invoiced amount is the actual cost of the mowing plus $50 for the first weed cutting, $75 for the second cutting, and $100 for each cutting thereafter. For junk-removal violations, the invoiced amount is the actual cost of the junk removal plus 20 percent. A total of 54 properties would be assessed a total of $9,563.03 for weed cutting and another 10 properties would be assessed a total of $1,178.21 for junk removal.
At the end of the meeting, council went into an executive session to prepare for negotiations or bargaining sessions with public employees; to consider the purchase of property for public; and to discuss pending or imminent court action.
