Employee bonuses, a new fee schedule for the wastewater treatment plant and concrete work around the fire station were among the topics on the agenda of a special meeting of the Hennessey Board of Trustees.

The meeting was held at 11:45 a.m. Thursday.

Attending the meeting were Mayor Clif Vogt and Trustees Bert Gritz and Randy Bohnstedt. Vice Mayor Harold Shaw and Trustee David Jones were absent.

Holiday Bonus

First up for discussion was the town employee holiday bonuses. In the past, the full-time employees received a $500 bonus, with $50 added per year that they are employed with the town.

Last year, due to additional funding from an American Rescue Plan Act grant, the town was able to offer a $1,000 bonus to fulltime employees.

During Thursday’s discussion, all board members agreed that they didn’t want to cut the employees’ bonus.

Town Administrator Tiffany Tillman was asked how they were doing with the town’s finances and her response was, “we’re holding steady.”

Gritz made a motion to continue giving full-time employees $1,000 plus $50 for each year employed and part-time employees will receive $250. All attending members voted yes.

Waste Water Ordinance

New prices for the discharge of waste into the wastewater treatment plant for residential and business customers were presented in a new ordinance.

There were some questions as to how this could be monitored.

Tillman stated her son had a camera that takes pictures and sends him a notice as soon as someone is around his tree stand. Board members asked Tillman to get some estimates for that type of monitoring system, that way they could match up tickets and truck sizes with the video times of usage.

Bohnstedt made a motion to approve the new rates, and all attending members voted in agreement. (Note: See new fee schedule in chart above.)

Anyone can gain access by requesting the service 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday from Hennessey Town Hall.

Local Hennessey businesses can gain access by requesting a key for 24hour access.

Out-of-town businesses can obtain a key for 24-hour access by paying a minimum $1,000 per month for access.

All key holders will be required to record each dump (amount, date, time) and place it in the provided lock box.

Billing will be done at the end of the month with net-10 terms.

December Meeting Schedule

The town clerk and the deputy town clerk will be out of town for the Dec. 14 meeting.

Tillman said she didn’t see a reason to change the meeting times and that she would take notes at the meeting.

The board agreed to leave the December meeting at its regular time.

Replace Concrete at the Fire Station

There was a lot of discussion about the progress of the fire station remodel. Fire Chief Brandon Scott and Assistant Fire Chief James Matousek were in attendance to discuss the progress and possible issues that might arise with the cement work.

There is a large step down between the library sidewalk, going north to the fire station that will be a safety hazard, said Tillman.

There are plans to remove some of the driveway where you exit the library, before they install the new drive-through in front of the fire station.

When the new driveway is installed, they will make it a smoother transition to the library sidewalk.

Matousek said it will be an inconvenience for the patrons of the library until it’s finished, but that it should only last a few days.

Patrons will have to exit the library through the entrance while that part of the construction was in progress. When they get to that stage of the project, they will put up signage to let library patrons know.

Between the station and the library is the old drivethrough window, which is no longer in use.

They will tear the existing cement out of that area and plant grass. Currently the engineer is going over the plans to make certain that all the water drainage will be directed away from both buildings.

There will be less water runoff with this area planted to grass, said Tillman.

On the north end of the station, cement has been torn out for new pipes.

Matousek asked if the city would consider replacing the remaining cement as it is in bad shape. It is also a safety hazard as the sidewalks are taller than the parking area, added Scott.

When adding the new cement, they could make it a smooth transition to the sidewalk.

Bids submitted from Daniel Construction estimated the cost to be $25,600 for the north parking area. To replace the parking area behind the station, the bid ran $16,500.

Matouseksaidhethought they could use county funds to help cover the some of the cost for these jobs.

Scott asked the board if they can cover the funds for this area around the station, would the board help later on with the ladder truck driveway and helipad.

Gritz said he would like to see a three-year project plan to get the parking area east of the fire station completed. They will need a driveway to the east of the ladder truck garage that connects to Cherokee Street, along with a helipad in that area.

Scott stated they would at least need some gravel in the east area to have enough room to pull in the fire trucks. Right now, they are having to stop traffic on Main Street so that they can back the trucks into the station.

Tillman thought they could get funds for the driveway and helipad with the REAP Grant.

That program would consider it a safety issue for the community to have better access for the medical helicopter and ambulance access as well as the fire trucks in and out of the station.

They would have to apply by October 2024 and, if approved, they could start work in January 2025.

Vogt made a motion to hire Daniel Construction to cement the north side parking of the fire department, up to $30,000 with the rest of the board in agreement.