Registering as a contractor in the City of Kimball is now a requirement with the passing of Ordinance 670.

This is the first step to becoming a certified community with the ability to receive state grants, according to Mayor James Schnell.

Schnell asked for a public meeting to gain input from area contractors, electricians, and plumbers as well as the public.

The City of Kimball gathered code information from seven different communities in the region for the meeting. The information was then presented at the meeting for input from contractors.

Each separate city may levy fines for non-compliance and the majority of registrations received require contractors to be licensed, insured, and/or bonded.

The cost to business owners is a concern, according to Schnell. The longer codes are ignored or violated the more money it is going to cost eventually.

“Over time, by not having enforcement, it is costing business owners,” Schnell said.

“Homeowners are going to get hit with more fees,” Steve Diemoz said.

Answering the concern, Schnell said the homeowners’ only fee would be the building permit, the registration fee is the contractor’s responsibility. The contractor’s fees would go towards payment for a code enforcement officer.

In this scenario, the enforcement officer would be paid per use, so tax payers would not be expected to cover other’s inspection costs.

With packets of information available for everyone in attendance, Schnell referred to the registration forms from nearby communities and asked each person there take time to look at the variations and form an opinion.

“Whose system works best?” Schnell asked, adding, “ I would like a lot of your input.”

Differences in opinions ran high throughout the meeting with many supporting the efforts of the council and others showing concern about over-governing.

“We have too much government intrusion,” Joe Hernandez said.

This will protect future home buyers from running into as many problems, but the codes also focus on businesses, according to Schnell.

While the state fire marshal inspects electrical set-ups in commercial buildings, there really is not anyone to check on residences or any carpentry or plumbing, Schnell said.

Agreeing with Hernandez, Gerald Anderson expressed concern over the new codes, the enforcement of them and what they mean to him. He is not necessarily a contractor, he said, but does work on properties he owns.

“How detailed are you gonna get? If I want to move the door I have to have a permit?” Anderson asked. “You are trying to protect the public from itself, it doesn’t make sense to me.”

“If you don’t have a code enforcement officer, there is no way of knowing if houses are safe,” argued Scott Maag.

“It is my domain. The assessor can’t come in, no one can come in without a warrant.” Anderson replied, “If the inspector goes to get a warrant, then I will let him in.”

“I don’t dare buy my stuff here or you’ll be checking up on me,” Anderson added.

“We need to look at this as contractors not homeowners. We’ve had so much shoddy work done in Kimball. We need someone to come in and do what is right,” George Barp added, “The general homeowner in a Metro area is happier to get an inspector in, for ease of selling.”

John Heideman agreed, and said it’s about protecting the next guy down the road. Homeowners, he said, are going to try to do these things right, but aren’t always able to, or just don’t.

Further discussion was ongoing about the codes being meant for construction and renovation purposes, not purchases.

Hernandez asked why the superintendents of the electrical and water departments could not act as inspectors. Those leaders have different qualifications than an inspector would have, according to Schnell, and would not be qualified to enforce the codes.

Citizens Leo O’Hare and Brian Williams both said that the newly adopted International Building Code would not do any good without an inspector to enforce it.

Schnell reminded the attendees that the forms in front of them needed adaptation and that was the main intent for the meeting.

Kimball resident Dennis Deboodt asked about the fees attached to the registration form, and said he thought that local contractors should get a lower fee than contractors coming in for short amounts of time. His point was that it may deter more incidents similar to the repairs from the May 24 hail storm.

There was also concern raised about proving insurance on the registration form. City Administrator Harold Farrar said the city attorney would need to follow up on the requirement. He said his information was that the city could not require insurance to register a contractor.

George Barp, Barry Fredericks and Bob Jenner all disagreed immediately, stating that insurance is one of the most important things the city should require.

Tim Nolting of Bushnell expressed concern about the need for registration and insurance for a handyman. Nolting said he will not be able to assist others, in repairs in a cost-effective manner, if insurance is required of him.

Once the codes are enforced, homeowners will be required to file for a building permit and contractors will need to be registered.

If a property owner does his/her own work, an inspection will have to be done to check for code compliance and ensure safety.

The inspector can pass the work, or urge the owner to make corrections to come up to code. A fine may be possible for any non-compliance, including disallowing the inspection.

“It’s a nice check and balance system,” Scott Maag said.

After the meeting, Schnell brought wrote a statement regarding a comment made during the meeting. The statement follows in its entirety.

The meeting last night brought out one very disturbing statement that I can’t get over.

“We have had no new construction since 2003!”

Have we gone totally blind?

Ask Jared Hunsaker and Clean Harbors about the amount of money their new building and monofill pit cost. Kimball Public Schools has built a new facility on the High School campus.

Mike and Andrea Bemis, Rick and Jeanine Soper, Rich and Kelly Patterson have all invested huge amounts of time and money into the downtown.

Both banks in the downtown area did upgrades to their buildings in the last the years and now Josh Enevoldsen and his family have come from out of town to purchase the Kimball Insurance and open a branch of the Potter State Bank in Kimball.

Drive down Oak Street...Robert Lee- SOS Well Service, Joe Culek - JC Tank Service, Gene, Shorty, and Wade Kiefer - Curley’s Machine Works, Jerry and Shelly Brown - Brown Pump and Septic, plus Pamida all have built brand new facilities or are finishing construction this summer.

The Kimball Industrial Park has over a million dollars in new facilities and equipment thanks to Patrick Dickinson, Michael Wiener, Perry VanNewkirk- Castronics, along with Dick Abramson- High Point Manufacturing.

DBAC, Inc., Kimball Service Center and the KimBowl are all owners from outside Kimball who now operate and continue to upgrade their facilities.

Sid and Teresa Peterson are in construction of their new facility for STP. Mike and Sherry Winstrom also have construction on their new building under way.

All of this new construction has ensured a very large number of permanent jobs. The bypass, Cedar Creek II project, and the new oil field development have all helped our employment situation.

In response to these jobs Jim and Ann Warner, Gerald and Lana Anderson, and new investors from out of state have all done major renovations over the last couple of years and continue to do so to the rental housing facilities in Kimball.

Evergreen Street has gone from being vacant lots to being the newest housing subdivision in Kimball and we still have people asking for more properties to build on.

I believe there has been some major money in construction invested in Kimball in the last ten years and we need to insure that they didn’t throw their money away.