HUMBOLDT — With the price of diesel fuel upward of $5 a gallon, Humboldt’s trash service provider, JKS of Erie, is requesting additional reimbursement.
The city’s contract with Kenny Schettler, owner of JKS, states the $5 a gallon benchmark triggers such an adjustment. Diesel is currently selling for about $5.30 a gallon.
Council members advised City Administrator Cole Herder to see what Schettler had in mind for the increase.
Herder predicted the city would be able to absorb the additional cost through the franchise fee it charges companies to do business. Franchises are charged $1.50 per customer a month.
Last year the city signed a seven-year contract with Schettler effective in 2022. Rates increased from $9.75 to $10.75 a month for residential customers and $14 to $15.25 for commercial customers.
The city’s swimming pool will open Monday, May 30. Its new hours will be from 1:30 to 7 p.m., rather than a closing time of 8 p.m. Pool parties can be scheduled from 7 to 9 p.m.
The earlier closing time is because the majority of its lifeguards are 15 years old and are limited to working eight hours a day. Herder increased the number of lifeguards “on deck” from three to four. “Having an extra set of eyes on the pool is important,” he said.
Funds from the Schaneman-Rourk Trust, established after the death of Grace Rourk, will once again cover 50% of the cost of a season ticket for Humboldt families whose children attend USD 258 schools. Season tickets can be purchased at Humboldt City Hall, 725 Bridge St.
Council member Drue Barton informed his colleagues that he and his wife, Cierra, will soon be moving to Kirksville, Mo., where she has accepted a teaching position at their alma mater, the Missouri School of Dentistry and Oral Health.
“I’m very proud of her,” Barton said. “The position recognizes her skills and knowledge.”
Cierra Barton is a dentist at the Iola office of the Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas. Drue Barton is office manager at the Neosho County Health Department.
The Bartons expect to move in June.
A replacement on the Council for Barton’s seat will need to come from the south side of town.
Neil Phillips of Jarred, Gilmore & Phillips delivered a healthy financial picture for Humboldt in his 2021 financial audit.
The city ended 2021 with a cash carryover of almost $400,000 in the general fund, “which put your general fund in a good position for 2022. You don’t get your first tax payment until later in January, so you’ve got to be able to carry cash over into the next year so you don’t violate the state’s cash basis law,” Philips said.
The city recouped $67,000 more in property taxes for 2021 than in 2020, Phillips said, going from $816,000 in 2020 to $883,000 in 2021.
For the city’s overall budget, it began the year with a tad shy of $2.3 million cushion spread across various departments. The budget included $134,000 from the American Recovery Plan Act in response to COVID-19 as well as the loan proceeds from the State of Kansas to recover from a two-week deep freeze of February 2021 that resulted in exorbitant natural gas rates.
