News
City land purchase on hold
Thelma Grimes/San Pedro Valley News-Sun
In a nearly three-hour meeting Monday night, the Benson City Council approved everything from a new code for the cemetery to a new human resource policy to tabling a past agenda item that would have allowed city staff to move forward with a land purchase.
During the Oct. 12 meeting, the City Council unanimously voted to allow City Manager Glenn Nichols to spend about $80,000 to purchase a vacant lot and a house just west of City Hall.
The deal was put on hold Monday night when Nichols informed council that there is asbestos in the house, and local Realtor David DiPeso failed to inform the city of the problem.
Nichols said DiPeso is representing both the city and the seller, Richard Fasanella.
At the center of Monday's discussion was a seller's property disclosure statement that was not provided by DiPeso for the property located on 117 W. 5th St. A property disclosure statement requires sellers to disclose to buyers all known, material problems about properties they sell.
DiPeso provided a disclosure statement for the vacant lot, but not for the 5th Street property where the house sits.
A report passed out to the council by City Clerk Vicki Vivian shows that the council knew about the asbestos problem as early as Oct. 5. The report is from Asbestos Analytical of Tucson.
Nichols told the council the asbestos report only took small samples from the house, and the city is not sure how bad the problem is until further testing is done.
Nichols said Fasanella is not interested in paying for further testing.
Council voted to table moving forward with the purchase until the city can hire someone to inspect the property and provide an estimate of how much it would cost to remove the asbestos.
In other business, the council unanimously approved a new human resource administrative policy, which Nichols said staff members have been working to rewrite for more than a year.
While council members were generally pleased with the final version, Councilwoman Jo Deen Boncquet had an issue with the attendance policy. She asked Nichols why there is not a general policy that addresses all city employees.
Nichols said instead that department heads and supervisors would be responsible for their own employees and will implement policy as needed.
"You have to be fair across the board," Boncquet said. "If you are doing something for one employee, but not another, it's going to cause problems. You have to look at individual cases, but you need something a little more concrete to guide it. I think it leaves you wide open."
Before City Attorney Michael Massee gave a more detailed explanation, Nichols informed Boncquet that the situation with the city isn't the same as what it would be at a hospital.
Boncquet manages the nursing staff at a Sierra Vista hospital.
Massee said this part of the new policy was given a lot of thought.
"It was one of my criticisms and of the labor lawyer as well," he said. "The old policy said too much and too little. When you do something that specific you are wedded to that, and it gives you no flexibility. Department heads do have discretion on how to apply discipline."
One aspect of the new policy states that two consecutive days without calling in to a supervisor could be considered a voluntary resignation, Massee said.
After Nichols said the city doesn't have an absentee problem anyway, the discussion ended with Boncquet saying, "We'll wait until it becomes an issue."
Nichols stressed to council members that the policy can be updated and amended as needed.
Despite her concerns, Boncquet voted along with the rest of the City Council to approve the policy.
The council also unanimously approved a resolution to amend Chapter 15 of the city code, allowing Public Works Director Brad Hamilton to implement the America Public Works Association Management Practices for operation and maintenance of a municipal cemetery.
Councilman Al Sacco raised concerns with wording throughout the document, and didn't like that Hamilton would be given free reign to set policy.
Sacco said it would be like "writing a blank check" if council let Hamilton set the code.
Despite his objections in the lengthy discussion, he voted to approve the policy along with the rest of the council.
In a nearly three-hour meeting Monday night, the Benson City Council approved everything from a new code for the cemetery to a new human resource policy to tabling a past agenda item that would have allowed city staff to move forward with a land purchase.
During the Oct. 12 meeting, the City Council unanimously voted to allow City Manager Glenn Nichols to spend about $80,000 to purchase a vacant lot and a house just west of City Hall.
The deal was put on hold Monday night when Nichols informed council that there is asbestos in the house, and local Realtor David DiPeso failed to inform the city of the problem.
Nichols said DiPeso is representing both the city and the seller, Richard Fasanella.
At the center of Monday's discussion was a seller's property disclosure statement that was not provided by DiPeso for the property located on 117 W. 5th St. A property disclosure statement requires sellers to disclose to buyers all known, material problems about properties they sell.
DiPeso provided a disclosure statement for the vacant lot, but not for the 5th Street property where the house sits.
A report passed out to the council by City Clerk Vicki Vivian shows that the council knew about the asbestos problem as early as Oct. 5. The report is from Asbestos Analytical of Tucson.
Nichols told the council the asbestos report only took small samples from the house, and the city is not sure how bad the problem is until further testing is done.
Nichols said Fasanella is not interested in paying for further testing.
Council voted to table moving forward with the purchase until the city can hire someone to inspect the property and provide an estimate of how much it would cost to remove the asbestos.
In other business, the council unanimously approved a new human resource administrative policy, which Nichols said staff members have been working to rewrite for more than a year.
While council members were generally pleased with the final version, Councilwoman Jo Deen Boncquet had an issue with the attendance policy. She asked Nichols why there is not a general policy that addresses all city employees.
Nichols said instead that department heads and supervisors would be responsible for their own employees and will implement policy as needed.
"You have to be fair across the board," Boncquet said. "If you are doing something for one employee, but not another, it's going to cause problems. You have to look at individual cases, but you need something a little more concrete to guide it. I think it leaves you wide open."
Before City Attorney Michael Massee gave a more detailed explanation, Nichols informed Boncquet that the situation with the city isn't the same as what it would be at a hospital.
Boncquet manages the nursing staff at a Sierra Vista hospital.
Massee said this part of the new policy was given a lot of thought.
"It was one of my criticisms and of the labor lawyer as well," he said. "The old policy said too much and too little. When you do something that specific you are wedded to that, and it gives you no flexibility. Department heads do have discretion on how to apply discipline."
One aspect of the new policy states that two consecutive days without calling in to a supervisor could be considered a voluntary resignation, Massee said.
After Nichols said the city doesn't have an absentee problem anyway, the discussion ended with Boncquet saying, "We'll wait until it becomes an issue."
Nichols stressed to council members that the policy can be updated and amended as needed.
Despite her concerns, Boncquet voted along with the rest of the City Council to approve the policy.
The council also unanimously approved a resolution to amend Chapter 15 of the city code, allowing Public Works Director Brad Hamilton to implement the America Public Works Association Management Practices for operation and maintenance of a municipal cemetery.
Councilman Al Sacco raised concerns with wording throughout the document, and didn't like that Hamilton would be given free reign to set policy.
Sacco said it would be like "writing a blank check" if council let Hamilton set the code.
Despite his objections in the lengthy discussion, he voted to approve the policy along with the rest of the council.
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