City Council

Regular Council Meeting June 12, 2017 1. Council President Roger Jensen called the meeting to order at 7:38. Present were Council members Amanda Milne and Carla Lampe. Also present were City Superintendent JR Landenberger, Police Chief Darrell Thomas and City Clerk Lila Whitmore. Mayor Scott Schultz and Council members Kale Dankenbring and Bruce Swihart were absent. 2. Minutes from the May 22nd meeting were distributed and read. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Carla to approve the minutes as presented. Motion passed. 3. Consent Agenda – It was moved by Carla and seconded by Amanda to approve the following items on the Consent Agenda: Permission for Clerk to pay insurance at time of billing; Permission for Clerk to pay utilities at time of billing; Permission for Clerk to pay utility incentives before the 25th of the month; Permission for Clerk to pay theater bills when due; Permission for Clerk to pay Payment Service Network bills when due. Motion passed. 4. Visitors: Ralph Wolaver and Natasha Wilson addressed the Council with concerns about city policies with regards to payments on delinquent accounts. After some discussion, Clerk Whitmore indicated she would review the policies with City staff to ensure the current policies are being followed consistently and she will clarify and update, if necessary, any policies that may pertain to payments on accounts that have been terminated. 5. Police Report: a) It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Carla to approve adding Matt Grogan to the Interpol user’s license and two year maintenance agreement at a cost of $1174 and to authorize the payment of this bill out of cycle. Motion passed. b) It was moved by Carla and seconded by Amanda to approve repairs of the AC compressor on the Dodge Charger which should cost between $1500-$2000. Motion passed. c) Darrell has found a new car to purchase from the Kansas Highway Patrol. d) Darrell’s vacation time that was carried over from last year should be used up by the end of June. e) It was moved by Carla and seconded by Amanda to authorize up to $1300 for the purchase of a police vest and carrier. Motion passed. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Carla to accept and file the police report. Motion passed. 6. New Business: None 7. Old Business: a. Property Cleanup – A notice of violation of City Code 8-2A09 has been served to the owner of the property at 104 W. Whittier. A notice was also sent to the owner of the property at the corner of River and Webster regarding bushes which are an obstruction causing a blind corner and JR will follow up to make sure the issue is being addressed. b. Pending Projects: a) JR has been in contact with Heartland regarding the electrical hookups at the Roadside Park. They indicated they would try to get to it soon. b) Roger stated that the Bird City recycling center is very close to being completed. c) JR will touch base with Nuckles Tree Care regarding the trimming of the trees on Washington Street. d) The Washington Street beautification committee will meet at 4:00pm Thursday June 15 at First National Bank. e) Clerk Whitmore will get with Attorney Day to come up with an appropriately worded advertisement for bids for the Library flooring. There was also discussion about budgeting $20,000 for the library building repairs. Since this would be paid out of capital improvement it will need to be added to the 5 year plan. The city crews will begin working on the library landscaping soon. f) Clerk Whitmore has been in contact with Commercial Sign about the Highway 36 signs. There was some confusion as to the size of the signs. JR will confirm the measurements and Lila will relay this on to Commercial Sign. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Carla to approve $700 per sign to be paid for from the tourism/guest tax fund. Motion passed. There was discussion regarding payment to Matt Grogan for the work he completed on the design. A proposal had not been presented to the Council for approval prior to the work being done. Amanda will touch base with Matt. No decisions were made. g) There has been a delay on the Keller Pond Trail project. Miller & Associates were waiting on some documents from LDB Landscape design. JR has taken care of this and it should move forward now. 8. Public Building Commission Report – A Grand Opening of the new pool is planned for July 22nd. Astro turf has been ordered. Tables and chairs will be decided soon. Carrothers Construction is requesting the PBC or the city share in the cost of the dewatering. There was considerable discussion about this but no decisions  were made. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Carla to accept and file the PBC report. Motion passed. 9. Theater Report – Clerk Whitmore reported that the Theater board has decided to show movies on Thursday nights on a trial run basis through Labor Day. Heartland has started work on the climate control system. Theater Manager Cara Hunt will soon be on unpaid maternity leave for several weeks. It was moved by Carla and seconded by Amanda to accept and file the Theater report. Motion passed. 10. Building Permits – It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Carla to approve the following building permits: No-Bull Enterprises/Roy Harbach – lot between Park Hill & the Liquor Store, commercial office space and manufacturing facility; Marsha McCoy – 534 E. Second, fence; Terry Rieger – 419 E. First, remove and replace concrete in driveway; and pending JR’s inspection: David and Abby Rose – 418 Parkway, concrete driveway. Motion passed. JR also had a building permit for the Cheyenne County Assisted Living Facility but he is waiting for clarification on some construction related questions he has before he approves it. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Carla to waive the building permit fees for the Assisted Living Facility and to approve the building permit once JR signs it. Motion passed. 11. Superintendent Report – a) It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Carla to approve the purchase of an automatic pool vacuum in an amount not to exceed $6000. Motion passed. b) Chemicals for the new pool will need to be ordered prior to the next meeting. The Council gave permission for JR to make this purchase which will likely exceed $500. JR will bring the invoice to the next Council meeting for approval. c) JR has received an offer of $88,575 from Downing Sales & Service to purchase the trash truck. The City bought it new in 2015 for $130,000 and it has 16,600 miles and 1,700 hours of use. There will be further discussion about this at the next meeting when there is a full Council present. d) Attorney Day drafted a new contract with Hill Trash Service. It will be presented for approval at the next meeting when a full Council is present. The Council also gave approval to discontinue trash service for those accounts which don’t have city utilities. Notice will be sent to these customers with information on how they can contract directly with Hill Trash Service. e) The Council gave approval for Roy Harbach to extend his current driveway at 539 E. Third into the street to meet the existing asphalt, upon JR’s approval of the materials to be used and the point to which the driveway will end, and at Mr. Harbach’s expense. f) The chemical application on the islands is working well and the mowing might not have to bid out after all. JR may need to purchase a bigger mower, however. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Carla to accept and file the Superintendent report. Motion passed. 12. Attorney Report – Attorney Day was not present 13. Clerk Report – a) A motion was made by Carla and seconded by Amanda to approve the utility incentive for the Flatiron Restaurant/Jett Fromholtz for up to $100 a month for 12 months. Motion passed. b) Clerk Whitmore has submitted the application for the Hansen Clean-up Grant and we should hear by the end of June if it is approved. c) The Council approved the City sharing in the cost with the County for the physical capacity tests for new firefighters. The county will share the reports with the City. d) It was moved by Carla and seconded by Amanda to approve the contract with Adams, Brown, Beran & Ball for the PBC Audit in the amount of $1250 for the 2016 audit and $1288 for the 2017 audit. Motion passed. e) The Council discussed several line items in the budget and agreed that the amounts should remain the same for next year. Lila will let the auditors know so that this can be included in the draft budget. The Council further discussed how the bond payments are made. The payments are currently line items in the general fund and the Council agreed that there was no need for it to be its own fund as long as there is a separate bank account for the money. There was also discussion about the makeup of the PBC itself and the requirement for Council members to be on the PBC. Currently Carla, Roger and Bruce are Council representatives on the PBC but will no longer be Council members as of next January. Carla and Bruce will no longer be Council members as of next January. Lila and Carla will look into this further. g) It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Carla to approve payment out of cycle for the Hill Trash Service bill for May in the approximate amount of $12,630. Motion passed. This bill was inadvertently missed during the primary bill pay cycle today. It was moved by Carla and seconded by Amanda to accept and file the Clerk’s report. Motion passed. 14. Council comments: Amanda – reminded everyone of the Commissioners meeting June 15 at 8AM. There was some discussion regarding the tax sale and cleanup of properties along Highway 36 that are outside the  city limits. Council members will bring this up at the Commissioners meeting. Carla – There was further discussion about the utility payment policies and Clerk Whitmore clarified some points of the current policies. 15. Council President Comments: Roger – Mike Boyson has finished the signs for the pool. The PBC is paying for the signs. He also stated that at a recent solid waste management seminar in Hays the KDHE representatives commended Cheyenne County for their recycling efforts. Roger also let the Council know that the landfill is on the last cell and once it is full Cheyenne County will likely become a transfer station. 16. All bills on Ordinance #1003 were reviewed. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Carla to approve the bills in the amount of $304,917.52. Motion Passed. 17. Adjournment: A motion was made by Carla and seconded by Amanda to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed. ___________________________________________ City Clerk