CUBA – After breaking a tie vote on Nov. 18 in favor of dissolving the former Cuba Parks and Recreation Board, Mayor Kevin Copling on Dec. 16 appointed three new members to the board.

Those appointed were Chris Knight, Christine Young and Stacy Romo in a 4-2 vote from the Board of Aldermen. Their term will end May 3, 2027, and May 4, 2026, is the end of term for Karen Groom, Faye Howard and Beth Kight.

During citizen participation, former Parks and Recreation Board member Dan Edison said he had served for a little over a year on the board, and was never informed of his term limit. He was also displeased that Parks and Recreation Board Member Faye Howard continued with the new group.

“Of all the people that have been on the Parks and Rec Board, she’s served the longest, which would kind of indicate that her term is most likely up,” Edison said. “Faye Howard doesn’t make time for the board.”

Local resident Jackie Hunt also spoke on the subject.

“...The ordinance is quite clear. Each year, the terms of three of the nine commissioners serving expire on the first Monday in May,” Hunt said. “The mayor literally punished the park commissioners for the city’s failure to follow the ordinance.”

Police Chief Doug Shelton gave an update on the new hire sponsorship program. Brenyn Cyr, the trainee being sponsored through the Police Academy by the Cuba Police Department, received an email that he would not know if he received the Blue Line Scholarship that would cover tuition at the Law Enforcement Training Academy until after he starts the classes.

There is only $3,200 left in the budget for training expenditures, which won’t cover all the tuition, should Cyr not be awarded the scholarship.

Alderman Ward 2 Pitts Lesesne believes that, even though the money may not be there, should the scholarship fall through, the position needs to be refilled.

“Our history shows us we don’t rehire people, especially key people that we need,” Lesesne said.

A motion was passed with a 5-1 vote to hire Cyr, but concerns about the tuition payment were voiced. Shelton asked if the city wanted to pay the tuition and be reimbursed later. Lesesne said that rehiring was so important that if money was an issue, then he would personally fix it.

“Let’s just take the city out, I’ll sponsor the kid,” Lesesne said.

No action was taken on the financial issue, and Shetlon said that he would discuss the arrangement with Lesesne later.

Shelton addressed some issues occurring with the police department’s small AC system that is used for the kitchen and locker room area.

“It started melting wires again, almost burnt down,” Shelton said.

A temporary fix is in place, but they are looking for bids to replace and install a new complete system. The project has a $7,000 price tag for a full overhaul.

Archer-Elgin Engineer Cameron Schweiss, with the McBride development, gave an update on the ongoing water project.

“If you recall, when we awarded this project, we did it with the assumption that we were going to remove some of the work out of the bid, allow the water department’s crews to do the work and hopefully capitalize on some savings,” Schweiss said.

After removing pieces of the project from the bid, the water department was able to haul in some rock when there was a shortage at the Cuba quarry. The shortage adds to the deductions, which resulted in Schweiss presenting a $115,683.15 deduction on the change order.

Curt Faigle, representative of 100 Acre Wood Rally, proposed having a car show-type event on March 12 at Hood Park in the spring, the day before the two-day racing event. He said that the organization likes to bring tourism to the areas they race in. The event would encourage visitors to stay overnight, and would allow people get signatures from the drivers and eat from local food trucks.

The motion was approved with a 6-0 vote.

Lesesne put a proposal on the agenda to increase citizen participation time to three minutes instead of two minutes. A 6-0 vote was passed to redraft an ordinance so that the time limit could be increased.

In other business, three bills were proposed during the meeting. 

Bill 2198 was passed with a 6-0 vote and became Special Ordinance No. 952. It approved a bid for improvements and authorized the mayor, on behalf of the city, to enter into an agreement and execute any and all documents necessary to actually outline agreements for the pickleball court.

Bill 2199 passed with a 6-0 vote and became Special Ordinance No. 953. It authorizes the mayor to enter into an agreement with Northlans Securities, Inc. for financial planning services.

Bill 2200 was passed with a 6-0 vote and became Resolution No. 12-16. It made it so that certain capital expenditures, like those with the McBride development, can order materials now even though the funding hasn’t yet come through, and the city can reimburse itself later once the financing is in place.