News Tagged ‘Mayor Rick Chambers’

The Knox Board of Works met in special session Friday in order to open and award a bid for the 50/50 sidewalk program.

Five businesses provided bids: Custom Concrete, Pete Kuchel Concrete, Do All Concrete, EAM Enterprise, and Covenant Concrete.

Mayor Rick Chambers read aloud the bids for the nine addresses of homeowners who submitted applications for the project. In the end, the Board of Works approved the bid of Covenant Concrete with a total bid of $13,940 as the lowest conforming bid pending a review of the bid packet by Street Superintendent Jeff Borg and City Attorney David Matsey.

Knox Mayor Rick Chambers this week gave the city council updates on several projects currently in the works for the city, including the lift station and Phoenix House projects.

Chambers said the sewer project is moving along after the council at their previous meeting approved an additional appropriation of $140,000 for the project. Now, he said six bid packets have been picked up from the city and they’re waiting to hear back from bidders for the project, which entails installing a new lift station near the South Side Fire Station. Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston said the lift station is a necessity for the city to allow for present and future growth in the area as the current system is antiquated and no longer suit’s the city’s needs.

Read the rest of this entry »

Knox Mayor Rick Chambers touched upon the topic of drug testing for Department of Transportation employees during the recent Board of Public Works meeting.

He asked Street Superintendent Jeff Borg and Wastewater Superintendent Kelly Clemons to give him job descriptions and a list of all the employees who need a CDL license for drug testing purposes. Mayor Chambers explained that he wants to cut down the number of random drug tests given to the employees. About 50 percent of the employees are being drug tested and the mayor wants to revise the employee handbook to reflect which employees need to be drug tested. If a supervisor believes a drug test is warranted on a certain employee, a drug test will be performed.

All potential employees will be screened for drugs upon pre-employment and that requirement will not change.

The Knox City Council is reconsidering their insurance agreement for city employees. With insurance costs set to go up on March 1 for their current provider, Starmark, Mayor Rick Chambers informed the council that the total monthly premium would increase by $4000. Employees currently pay 15 percent of the cost of their insurance with the city covering 85 percent.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Knox Board of Public Works approved three change orders to the Phoenix House construction project Wednesday morning.

The construction project began in mid-January with site preparations beginning in December. The Phoenix House suffered flooding and grant money was sought by K-IRPC to aid in the construction project. The garage is being expanded to include a storage area, a group meeting room, a library and computer area.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Knox City Council last night heard comments from Brandon Manns of Knox, who informed the council that he is suffering from a major problem with his sewer line. Manns explained his sewer line is backed up underneath Binkley Drive, and after running a camera through the line to check it out, he discovered the issue lies beneath the road, three feet from the other side.

Read the rest of this entry »

The city of Knox is getting ready for the 50/50 sidewalk replacement program.

This is a chance for residents to repair sidewalks at half the cost. If you have a troublesome area that would benefit from this program, Mayor Rick Chambers is accepting requests now from homeowners and business owners. The application deadline is Monday, April 15.

Read the rest of this entry »

After more than a month without a planning commissioner, the City of Knox Planning Commission last night made their appointment for the position. Greg Matt was not re-appointed to the position on Jan. 1, and a debate has been ongoing between Mayor Rick Chambers and the Planning Commission over who has the authority to appoint the planning commissioner.

Read the rest of this entry »

The city of Knox has been getting by without a planning commissioner, after Greg Matt was not re-appointed to the position in January. Since then, a debate has been ongoing between Mayor Rick Chambers and the Planning Commission between who has the authority to appoint a planning commissioner, and still no one has been appointed.

Read the rest of this entry »

Cleanup efforts at the old Knox laundromat continue as the Knox City Council this week heard an update from Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston who explained the contractor is still hauling out washers, dryers, and scrap from the old building. However, while the cleanup efforts can continue during the winter, Mayor Rick Chambers said the city will have to wait for warmer weather before completing the demolition. He said he’s hopeful that the building can be removed without damaging the nearby trees.

Read the rest of this entry »

A special meeting for the Knox Planning Commission has been scheduled for Jan. 14, and Board President Jeff V. Berg told WKVI that the purpose of the meeting is to discuss the appointment of a planning commissioner.

A dispute is currently ongoing between Mayor Rick Chambers and the Planning Commission as to who gets to appoint the planning commissioner. Chambers said he believes it’s his appointment, while Berg feels the appointment is theirs to decide. Unfortunately, Chambers said it’s a confusing matter because it has been done both ways in the past.

Read the rest of this entry »

An ongoing dispute in the city administration for Knox has left one office empty, as former Planning Commissioner Greg Matt was not re-elected to his position. Worse, the Planning Commission and Mayor Rick Chambers are at odds as to who elects the planning commissioner – Chambers said he believes the planning commissioner is a department head appointed by him, but the Planning Commission believes he is an employee appointed by the commission.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Knox City Council this week discussed a steel wall near the wastewater plant that has been suffering from corrosion. Mayor Rick Chambers explained that a steel building near the area where sewage is brought in has been affected by wastewater splashing on it, causing the wall to rust.

He said that, as a result, the wall is now deteriorating and letting weather get into the area. Fortunately, this wall is not structural, but is only used to keep weather out from the sewage area.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Knox City Council at their meeting this week passed a motion to amend the salary ordinance for city police, specifically the pay grade for the corporal position.

Mayor Rick Chambers explained that at some point in time, the corporal’s pay got spread out farther than it should have from the pay for other positions. He said that whenever an officer receives a promotion, he naturally receives a pay raise, but the gap in pay from patrolman to corporal is a $912 increase – way too much, according to Chambers.

Read the rest of this entry »