Council extends Kehrman's contract

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

By Ralph Pokorny/Nevada Daily Mail

The Nevada City Council voted 4-0, with James McKenzie excused, to give preliminary approval to a special ordinance giving JD Kehrman a three-year contract as city manager, with an annual salary of $92,172.08.

"We have expectations that we want the city manager to fulfill and a multi-year contract would help to fulfill these goals," Mayor Brian Leonard said.

"This would be the best fit for our city at this point," he said.

McKenzie, who was out of town at a conference, said in a written statement, "I have reviewed the contract in detail and found it to be satisfactory."

In addition to his salary, Kehrman's contract includes a $75 monthly allowance for cell phone and a vehicle allowance of $500 per month "to purchase, lease, or own, operate and maintain a vehicle." All insurance costs are Kehrman's responsibility. In addition, the city will reimburse him "at the IRS standard mileage rate for any business use of the vehicle beyond the corporate limits of the city of Nevada."

If Kehrman voluntarily resigns he must give the city 45 days notice, unless everyone agrees otherwise. If he is fired, the city of Nevada will pay him a minimum lump sum severance payment of six months' salary. The city will also pay to continue health insurance for Kehrman and any dependents, vehicle allowance and any other standard employee benefits.

In other business the council:

* Voted 4-0 to accept a bid of $43,500 from Victor L. Phillips for a 2009 Dynapac used roller for the public works department. They will take the city's worn out roller in trade.

* Voted 4-0 to accept a bid of $2.20 per gallon, or a total cost of $24,480, for 12,000 gallons of CSS-1A slurry oil from Coastal Energy Oil, Springfield for the city's street slurry program. This price is guaranteed until Sept. 30, 2011. The total cost of the oil is not to exceed $25,000.

* Voted 4-0 to accept an estimated bid of $16,561, and not to exceed total cost of $20,000, from Turner Diesel, Joplin, for repairs to the city's Case 855D Crawler. Kehrman told the council that the high cost of repairs is due to lack of maintenance in the past.

* Voted 4-0 to pass on first reading a special ordinance accepting the $199,100 bid from APAC-Missouri Inc., Springfield, for installing 5,600 linear feet of curb and gutter and 2,200 tons of bituminous surface, for the 2011 street reconstruction program.

* Voted 4-0 to pass on second reading a special ordinance approving change order No. 1 to the city's contract with Boyd Painting to cover the cost of using a different caulking for the sandblasting and repainting of Walton pool. The different caulk is needed because of the chlorine content of the water in the pool. The additional $3,135 brings the total cost of the project to $60,135, which is still less than the second lowest bid.

* Voted 4-0 to five final approval to a special ordinance setting the rural fire membership fees for the period of July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012. The rates are to remain unchanged from last year.

* Voted 4-0 to adopt Resolution No. 1322 to approve Nevada membership in the Kaysinger Basin Regional Planning Commission at a cost of 20 cents per capita, or a total of $1,677.20 for the period of July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012.

* Voted 4-0 to approve a request for a proclamation recognizing National Police Week.

* Voted 4-0 to approve a request for a proclamation recognizing EMS Week.

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Surprise, surprise.

-- Posted by sam floor on Wed, May 4, 2011, at 7:02 AM
It amazes me that the City can afford to pay the City Manager and the others a hansome purse,but cannot afford to finish the baseball fields out at the golf Course, We have So much that is needed for our youth and the Community Center is great if you want to play inside, but it is baseball season, the City should be embarressed and ahsamed to be happy with what they did out at the golf course.

-- Posted by BHE on Wed, May 4, 2011, at 3:41 PM

Response by Lynn Wade:
Just to clarify, the city has chosen to let the grass at the ballfields age for a year so it will be better established.
man i shouldnt of waist that prediction i should of went and bought a powerball ticket at least there a challenge in picking that right if you will look at my post yesterday i even called the title to the story correct man i am good our council listens to its people like our government does lol great job

-- Posted by 3D-shooter on Wed, May 4, 2011, at 4:20 PM
lynn im no vet but i know you know what when i read it

-- Posted by 3D-shooter on Wed, May 4, 2011, at 7:11 PM
What is all this 4-0, 4-0, 4-0? Isn't there suppose to be 5 on the city council? I thought there was just an election, did someone quit on the council?

-- Posted by jlb7457 on Fri, May 6, 2011, at 10:56 PM
In the article it stated "McKenzie, who was out of town at a conference, said in a written statement, "I have reviewed the contract in detail and found it to be satisfactory."" Thus 4-0 on everything. They know they are going to pass it so just once it would be fun to see someone vote against it.

-- Posted by truthseeker67 on Sat, May 7, 2011, at 1:42 AM
So there is, Barrett, McKenzie, Steward, Leonard, and ??????? Where is the 5th person at??????? That's what I want to know!

-- Posted by jlb7457 on Sun, May 8, 2011, at 1:14 AM
true story howitzer what ever happen to not looking a gift horse in the mouth i know what your talking about there was a person going to give yes i stress GIVE the land to the city i belive to build the sheriff station on instead or cityy mayor said no not if he wont come here and do it the high chairs you mention should maybe come with bibs do it my way or no way is very childish id think must just be better to spend that money

-- Posted by 3D-shooter on Sun, May 8, 2011, at 6:57 PM
jlb, did I miss Ms Novack(sp) leaving? I know she stepped down as Mayor but didn't think she left all together.

-- Posted by truthseeker67 on Sun, May 8, 2011, at 9:44 PM
I am the fifth member of the council. Our Mayor is voted on by the council and normally changes every year after the April election results are certified. My term on council expires in April 2012.

-- Posted by Jayne Novak on Mon, May 9, 2011, at 7:49 AM
hey don't worry about "POPGUN" we alway need a voice of unreason.

92K hey that is probably one of the best paying jobs in the city.

So is the city of Nevada getting what it paid for?

-- Posted by endersgame on Mon, May 9, 2011, at 2:49 PM
endersgame easy answer NO that is all

-- Posted by 3D-shooter on Mon, May 9, 2011, at 4:23 PM
Howitzer never stops does he? Always has to have the last word. He loves to voice his opinion and argu with most people on this forum, and for what? If your so smart Howitzer then go do something productive other than sitting on your computer day and night all week long arguing about things that you will never make a difference in anyways. This is Nevada, Mo. for crying out loud and you are always ranting and raving on the Nevada Daily Mail forum. Big deal, you are accomplishing nothing here. Get over yourself and go see if you can actually get involved with something somewhere and really make a difference.

-- Posted by Quand on Tue, May 10, 2011, at 1:09 PM
Quand, what exactly did you just add to the discussion? how does banging on Howi advance the discussion. Instead of pointing out where he is wrong try to list ideas of your own. Are you happy that the City Manager gets paid $92,000 a year plus? The first thing this man did after moving here was cut what he manages in half. Shouldn't his pay be cut in half also? Its easy to bang on howi but it sure gets old when you add nothing more than just banging him. At least add something to the discussion. Don't say did you go to the meetings. That is getting old also. It has been proven time and time again that it does no good to go to the meetings because the council doesn't listen to what the people say. come up with some other ideas. My idea is to cut the Managers pay in half being he is only has half of what he started with.

-- Posted by truthseeker67 on Wed, May 11, 2011, at 9:26 PM
truthseeker67 are you saying that at your job if your work is cut in half that your employer would cut your pay in half (hey mine would to) so i totally agree with you and if we cut his pay by 1/2 he would still be makeing more then id guess 75-80% of the people in nevada thats crazy 92k is way to much sorry just my oppion

-- Posted by 3D-shooter on Thu, May 12, 2011, at 4:38 PM

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