HOISINGTON — In a move that will save the city of Hoisington approximately $300,000 per year, the Hoisington City Council approved selling excess electrical base load to Garden City.
The contract will be from Jan. 1 2014 to Dec. 31, 2018 and will shift a large portion of the excess base capacity to Garden City.
“This change should provide a significant reduction in power supply cost for our community,” said City Manager Jonathan Mitchell. “It is important to understand these estimates are very preliminary and a good portion of these savings will be reduced by the proposed addition of a fourth person to the Hoisington Power Plant.”
The city has been working to reduce electrical rates in Hoisington with the formation of a Utility Task Force last year and hiring consultants to make recommendations for cost reductions. The City Council voted in December, 2012 to reduce rates about 1.3 cents per kWh per the recommendations of Sawvel and Associates Inc., the engineering firm hired to consult on the rates.
One of the other recommendations made by the consultants was to continue to try to sell excess capacity, which will be achieved with the sale to Garden City. This will not affect the availability of electricity in Hoisington.
In other business, the council approved $750 from the transient guest tax fund for Hoisington Main Street Inc. Fun Day events, which will be held July 5-7. This is the first year of the event.
Council members were in favor of an activity that supports Hoisington.
Rick Nulton requested that his powered parachute vehicle be allowed to operate on city property such as the northwest corner of Bicentennial Park and Schneider Park. The council voted against allowing this because of liability issues.
The 1st United Methodist Church requested permission to add a sign on the northwest corner of Bicentennial Park, which was approved.
The council listened to an audit report from Amber Littler from Adams Brown Beran and Ball. Primarily, the firm found segregation of duties as a deficiency, which is a common finding in small communities due to a lack of staff. Some other recommendations included: including supporting documents with journal entries, track delinquent accounts and amounts recovered, gift certificates to employees need to be added to wages for taxation, including council members, and city credit cards should be logged out. The council approved the report.
The council approved up to $29,500 for electrical improvements at the Roto-Mix building, which the city owns.
In his report, Mitchell said:
 •895 people used the swimming pool in the first three days after opening Memorial Day weekend. There is a $2 gate charge for anyone outside the city limits.
•Curbs and gutter work begins next week at McKenna Meadows, and a home builder will start in two weeks.
•The city is still in need of additional paramedics and EMTs.