Pickering council works for city improvements

At the December 2 Pickering City Council meeting, the council discussed areas in town in which they are attempting to make improvements.

Mayor Charles Smith had once again talked to the resident who has a sewer line running above ground. The lady is by herself and has no children living in the area. She also doesn’t have the funds to fix the problem, which came about when a contractor ran the line above ground rather than bury it.

Smith talked to Community Services which is unable to help her, but pointed Smith towards FHA and its grant program. The Maryville office directed Smith to the St. Joseph office. The person he needed to talk to was out, but Smith was hopeful of making contact. One of the items needed will be an estimate of the project cost. The council discussed which plumbers might be willing to determine an estimate.

Alderman Kevin Leedom discussed his project to renovate the city park by the post office. He has acquired two picnic tables, but is wanting to put them on concrete pads to assist with mowing. He got an estimate of $304 for concrete. However, he has worked to get donations of materials for his project with him doing the manual labor and hopes to do the same with the concrete.

City Clerk Milt Sovereign installed LED lights at the Pickering city sign. He also aligned the photo sensor properly to turn on at dusk. One of the reasons he wanted LED lights was to reduce the electric bill for that location. In talking to Evergy, he found out there are three other locations on the city’s billing. He is now exploring the possibility of using LED lights in those locations to further reduce the electric bill. Sovereign has noticed a drop of $20 in the monthly billing just with the one change.

Smith and resident Pat McKee have worked on filling potholes. When the weather clears, McKee plans to use a skid loader to grade several problem areas on the city streets.

The city was informed by their insurance company that Bitcoin or other forms of cyber currency are not covered.

Two aldermen and the city mayor positions are to be voted on during the April 7, 2020 election. Filing for the positions will be from 9 am to 5:30 pm, Tuesday, December 17 to Tuesday, January 21, 2020, excluding holidays, at the city clerk’s home at 104 South Coleman.