Company withdraws group home proposal

Community Support Services will not be building five group homes at 424 E. Highland and Nevada Mayor Mike Hutchens told the council during Tuesday night's meeting that they had requested that the ordinance removing the distance requirement on group homes be tabled.

The planning commission voted unanimously last week to send a negative recommendation to the city council on the measure to remove the one-mile distance requirement on group homes until they could study the distance issue further.

Council member Tim Wells said after the council voted 4-1 to table the measure that he voted against tabling because the proposed project is not a group home, but an ICF, which is the same classification as the Habilitation Center and Christian Healthcare. He said that he did not think people understand what the proposed project really was.

Wells said that the city needs to look at the distance requirement between group homes, adding that the one-mile separation is an arbitrary number.

"I'm sure the council had a reason for setting the one-mile distance in 1998," Joyce Wilson said.

Bill McCaffree, city attorney, told the council that Community Support Services' attorney told him that they were sorry for the problems that they had caused and that they still want to build the project in the Nevada area.

"They are going to look for a location outside Nevada," McCaffree said.

He told the council that they do not care whether the ordinance is withdrawn or tabled, whatever the council is comfortable with.

McCaffree said that he would recommend that the council vote to terminate the ordinance and if the planning commission comes up with recommendations about the spacing the council can request that new ordinances be drafted to incorporate those recommendations.

Wells said that he was reluctantly voting for the termination, since the company had requested it, before the council voted unanimously to terminate consideration of the proposed ordinance.

In other business the council:

* Accepted the low bid not to exceed $16,000 from Brenntag of Springfield for approximately 12 dry tons of caustic soda for the water treatment plant.

* Accepted the low bid, not to exceed $10.700 from Brenntag of Springfield for approximately 12 tons of sulfuric acid.

* Voted 5-0 to pass on first reading a special ordinance approving the release of the Neighborhood Improvement District assessment from Lot three, block five of Barton's Meadows Addition owned by Mark Selsor. Selsor has recently sold the property and the assessment has been paid.

* Voted 5-0 to pass on first reading a special ordinance approving the release of the NID assessment from property owned by Mark Selsor, Lot four, Block three of Betty's Addition.

* Voted 5-0 to pass on first reading a special ordinance approving the release of the Country Club NID assessment from property owned by Tim and Kathleen Wysong.

* Held a public hearing and voted 5-0 to pass on first reading a special ordinance to change the zoning on property owned by Dick Shorten at 917 and 927 E. Walnut St. from R-1, single family, to C-2, general business, so he can open a used car lot at that location.

* Held a public hearing and voted 5-0 to pass on first reading a special ordinance to grant a special use permit to Jim Pryor to put a double wide trailer at 904 S. Washington St. for rental property.

* Voted 5-0 to pass on first reading a special ordinance approving the correction of a typographical error in Ordinance No. 7470 setting the dates for the 2009 Municipal Election. The closing date for filing for the 2009 council election should have read Nov. 18, 2009.

* Voted 5-0 to give final approval to as special ordinance approving the lease-purchase of a Tymco 600 BAH street sweeper for five annual payments of $34,554.53, or a total cost of $172,772.65.

* Voted 5-0 to pass on second reading a special ordinance approving an agreement with Vernon County to send out the city's personal and real property tax bills and to do the collection of the 2008 tax payments. The cost of providing this service will be 1.25 percent of all the taxes collected for the city.

* Voted 5-0 to pass on second reading a special ordinance approving an agreement with Vernon County for a 50-year lease extension for the property at 200 N. Ash St. where the City-County Community Center is located.

* Voted 5-0 to give final approval of a lease agreement with Young Iron & Metal for a 30-foot gooseneck trailer to be used for recycling purposes.

* Voted 5-0 to pass on second reading a special ordinance approving a licensing agreement with Vernon County for GIS data and data products.