Trenton’s newest business is up and running and open for business.
Green Hills Animal Nutrition, Inc. is now selling its organic dog treats from its local location in the city-owned building at the Trenton Municipal Airport. On Monday night, Community Developer Ralph Boots brought samples for the Trenton City Council to see and explained that the company is now offering retail sales of its product locally.
He said that baking is currently being done in Illinois, however, the smaller treats will be baked locally once the oven system is up and running and testing of the treats is complete. He anticipates that to be done within the next few weeks.
In April, Keith Collins of Liberal, KS announced plans to open the business in Trenton along with other family members. The company plans to produce organic animal treats, mainly for dogs and cats, and will not only do baking of small treats at Trenton, but will also use the local business to warehouse and ship to other locations. Retail sales will also take place here as well.
The announcement was just one of several topics addressed by the council at its meeting, held at city hall. In action items, the council approved six ordinances as well as discussed electric rates, personnel and fluoridation in the water system.
All ordinances were approved on an 8-0 vote.
The city will be adding a $4 charge to its municipal court costs, with that money to be put aside for use by the women’s abuse shelter. The fee, based on past ticketing information, is anticipated to generate around $4,000. According to former Trenton mayor and Green Hills Women’s Shelter Board member Cathie Smith, a portion of the money will be earmarked for counseling and other services to help victims, such as life skills, budgeting, etc.
A second ordinance set up a board that will oversee disbursements of the funds. The five-member board will include individuals appointed by the mayor as well as one city councilperson who will serve as an ex-officio member.
Two ordinances approved agreements with White Cloud Engineering of Maryville for sewer and water projects in the 18th and Tower Street areas as well as maintenance and repair of bank stabilization and jetty for the river intake pump station on the Thompson River. The 18th and Tower project will cost a total of $111,375 ($65,000 for the sewer work and $43,875 for the water line work) while the bank stabilization and jetty work will cost $105,555.
Trenton Municipal Utilities Director Chad Davis said it is hoped the bank stabilization and jetty work will begin once the river is low enough. He said the river has caused additional erosion to the bank as well as damage to the jetty. A $15,000 grant to assist with the jetty work has been received by TMU.
Also approved were ordinances banning the sale of sky lanterns and allowing KCP&L to construct a 100-foot communications tower on their building at 1208 E. 17th St.
A brief discussion was held regarding the city’s electric rates when councilman Chuck Elliott mentioned that the city was losing “five or six customers” in the area of Serendipity Lane who were switching from electric to natural gas service because of what he called the city’s “high rates.” He said he was holding the Board of Public Works and Davis personally responsible for those customers and asked how many customers were going to be lost before the city does something about the rates and “stays competitive.” Both Mayor Nick McHargue and councilman Mark Moore indicated that the utility was losing money on the electrical side before rates were raised, with Davis pointing out that in some cases, the utility was charging less for electricity usage to its customers than what TMU was paying to purchase it.
Moore said that he didn’t know if there was any way the city could be competitive with natural gas prices, but indicated the utility cannot continue losing money. Dr. McHargue said he would not blame the board for the loss of customers, noting that the utility brought in independent consultants to make recommendations about the rates. Elliott said it was his experience that consultants usually recommends whatever the customer thinks it needs. It was pointed out that in the first two months of the year, the electric department continues to lose money, although that loss is not as much as it had been prior to the last rate increase. Davis said that while it is too early to make a definite call, it looks as though the electric department could “break even” by the end of the fiscal year next April.
A moment of silence was held prior to the start of the meeting in remembrance of Trenton Fire Department Lt. Eric Lorenz, who died in a skydiving accident on Aug. 1. Councilman Allan Quilty mentioned he had never been more proud to live in Trenton than with the show of support given by citizens to Lt. Lorenz’s family and emergency personnel in general during this time. Councilman Kenneth Ewing also mentioned his appreciation of the mutual aid given by emergency personnel from other communities to allow for local emergency personnel to attend the funeral.
Fire Chief Rick Morris recognized Lt. Mike Moore and Robert Romesburg for their show of “great leadership” during this time. He said he received many positive comments from out of town emergency responders about those efforts. He said that county and pay-per-call fire personnel have been very helpful in filling in as well.
Morris noted that testing for a fireman opening that already existed and was scheduled to be done on Aug. 1 was postponed and will be held later this month. There are eight persons to be tested and there are now two positions to be filled.
Davis announced that a grant has been received by TMU from the Department of Health and Human Services regarding the addition of fluoride to the city’s water system. The $5,850 grant will allow the city to purchase about one year’s supply worth of chemicals.
In other business, the council:
• was told that announcements will be coming next week regarding the city’s work ready community status as well as a multi-county grant for economic development and tourism.
• was told survey crews are doing work at the site for the new solar farm in north Trenton. MC Power hopes to have the solar farm up and running by mid- to late-October.
• was told a letter has been sent to Robert and Carolyn Brown regarding an issue they had with their sewer line. The letter states that the city is not responsible for the issue, which the utility believes involves the service line that is the responsibility of the owner.
• was told smoke testing of sewer and water lines has been delayed due to the wet weather.
• was presented with information about asphalt sales, which show numbers ahead of what had been projected for the year. Sales were listed at $356,830 and costs were listed at $312,960.90, leaving a profit margin for the street department of $43,869.10.
• was told bids are being sought to demolish several structures in Trenton and that a bid tour is scheduled for Aug. 26.
• was told expansion work is being planned at both the 28th Street Casey’s and McDonald’s and that other projects are under way throughout the city as well.
• was told the city is planning to have an auction of surplus items later this year.
• was told by Dr. McHargue that efforts are needed by the budget committee to make city employee salaries more competitive with similar jobs in the private sector.
An executive session for legal matters and personnel was held, with no announcement made.
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