City Council

Regular Council Meeting May 14, 2018 1. Mayor Scott Schultz called the meeting to order at 7:30. Present were Council members Kale Dankenbring, Roger Jensen, Dara Carmichael, and Larry Finley. Also present was City Superintendent JR Landenberger, City Attorney Mike Day, and City Clerk Lila Whitmore. Council member Amanda Milne and Police Chief Darrell Thomas were absent 2. Minutes from the April 23rd meeting were distributed and read. It was moved by Roger and seconded by Kale to approve the minutes as written. Motion passed. 3. Consent Agenda – It was moved by Larry and seconded by Dara 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 – None 5. Police Report - None 6. Superintendent Report – a) JR shared pictures of properties he has identified as being in need of attention. Weed letters will start going out Wednesday. b) A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Dara to allow Dan Blair to carry over 40 hours of vacation past his anniversary date and to also use 8 hours on July 20th, one day past his anniversary date. Motion passed. c) The Roadside Park pedestals should be finished this week. Scott and Carla will meet with JR on Friday to discuss the placement of the pedestals and other details. JR asked the Council to make decisions on how much the fee will be, how fees will be paid and how it will be monitored. JR suggested that the payment system be similar to what the State Parks do, a simple box on a pedestal using the honor system. Signage may be needed to direct travelers to the camping sites. d) A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Roger to increase the vehicle budget in the equipment reserve plan from $25,000 to $35,000. Motion passed. e) The Council gave approval for JR to allow an employee to work a modified work week with a 30 minute lunch to allow the employee to either take off work 30 minutes early each day or take time off on a Friday afternoon. The scheduling will be up to JR and the employee. As long as the employee maintains at least a 40 hour work week from Friday through Thursday there will be no payroll issues. f) A motion was made by Dara and seconded by Larry to approve payment of an un-itemized meal receipt from River City Brewing Company. Motion passed. It was moved by Kale and seconded by Dara to accept and file the Superintendent report. Motion passed. JR left the meeting. 7. New Business: a. Helen Dobbs with the Cheyenne County Development Corporation shared information with the Council regarding the Big Kansas Road Trip which will take place May 2-5, 2019 in Cheyenne, Sherman and Wallace County. This event is organized by the Kansas Sampler Foundation. There will be more information coming in the next few months. She also updated the Council on the installation of signage for the Land & Sky Scenic Byway. A motion was made by Larry and seconded by Kale to once again purchase a full page ad in the Ultimate Guide to Northwest Kansas for $1,600. Motion passed. The Council will decide on photos to use in the ad. The Council thanked Helen for her hard work promoting St. Francis and Cheyenne County. b. The Council discussed the upcoming Alumni Celebration and Summerfest on June 16. A motion was made by Roger and seconded by Dara to waive vendor fees for the event. Motion passed. Kale Dankenbring/Fresh Seven Coffee shared plans for a beer garden and will be applying for a special event temporary liquor license with the state for which Council approval is required. A motion was made by Dara and seconded by Larry to approve the application. Motion passed with Kale abstaining. Attorney Day will draft a resolution to allow consumption of alcoholic beverages on City streets within the boundaries defined on the application. The Council discussed the need for law enforcement presence at the beer garden. Kale will coordinate this with Police Chief Thomas. c. A motion was made by Dara and seconded by Roger to approve the following Mayor Appointments: City Attorney – Mike Day, City Superintendent – JR Landenberger, City Clerk – Lila Whitmore, City Treasurer – Jennifer Blair, Police Chief – Darrell Thomas, Municipal Judge – Paula Keller, Freedom of Information Officer – Lila Whitmore, Fire Chief – Dan Blair, Assistant Fire Chief – Chris LaBarge, Fire  Department Treasurer – Keaton Frewen, Official Newspaper – St. Francis Herald, Official Depositories – Bankwest, First National Bank, Western State Bank. Motion passed. 8. Old Business: a. Property Cleanup – The Council reviewed the pictures that JR had shared. Attorney Day will meet with JR to prioritize the property list for the next Council meeting. b. Projects Pending – a) Work at Keller Pond is nearly complete with only the railing on the bridge and placement of the benches needing to be done. b) Scott will touch base with Carla Lampe to see if she would be interested in continuing the committee for the Washington Street beautification. c) Clerk Whitmore updated the Council on the website. She worked with Matt Grogan with Elevation Design to improve the search function of the site and it is working much better now. The site is designed to always be providing current and updated information on businesses and community events as well as City information. It will require someone to monitor and update the site so that it is current and relevant. For this reason, the Council decided to consider hiring a content manager for the site. Clerk Whitmore will place an advertisement in the newspaper for bids. A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Larry to approve payment to Elevation Design for the balance due of $1905 for the website development and $420 for the annual hosting fee. Motion passed. d) There was more discussion about curb and gutter repairs. Attorney Day recommended the Council hire a consultant to assist with determining funding options, processes and procedures. A long term plan is needed. Clerk Whitmore will send an email out to the clerk link for feedback on the subject and Attorney Day will contact the League to see if they offer this service or can make recommendations. 9. Theater Report - Lila reported that the Theater Board has decided to show movies on Thursday nights from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day Weekend again this year. The board will be considering raises for the employees at the next meeting. It was moved by Roger and seconded by Kale to accept and file the Theater report. Motion passed. 10. Pool Report – Larry reported that fees have been increased this year for private parties and private swim lessons. There will be an adults only swim on Thursday nights. They will be offering swimming pool bucks. A book of ten $1 coupons can be purchased which can then be used for admission. The pool will be open from 1 to 11:30pm on June 16 during the Alumni/Summerfest celebration. There is a swim meet on June 2 from 8 am to 1 pm. A motion was made by Dara and seconded by Kale to close off Washington Street between Denison and Frances as well as Denison Street between Washington Street and Jackson Street during this time to allow safe and easy access to the parks for the swim team participants. Motion passed. Lifeguard training will be held next week and the pool will open on May 27. A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Dara to accept and file the pool report. Motion passed. Larry and Scott let the Council know that Pat Yost has volunteered to paint the cement flag in Sawhill Park. The City will provide the paint. 11. Building Permits – none 12. Attorney Report – Mike let the Council know that the Library Board and Library Director, Michelle Wolff, will be attending the next meeting to request the Council consider passing a charter ordinance to increase the mill levy for the library by up to 2 mills. Libraries are exempt from the tax lid and therefore the City would have statutory authority to raise the mill levy. A charter ordinance once published would be subject to a protest vote. It was moved by Larry and seconded by Dara to accept and file the Attorney report. Motion passed. 13. Clerk Report – a) The Council signed a thank you note for Jeanine Peters for the flowers she provided for the planters in Saw Hill Park. b) Our auditors were here on May 9th. The audit went smoothly. The auditors do have a few recommendations that they will be making and will bring these to the Council when they present their report in June. One recommendation made was to start providing payroll reports to the Council for their review on a monthly basis. Clerk Whitmore handed out these reports for the payrolls thus far in 2018. c) A motion was made by Dara and seconded by Roger to approve payment of any bills accrued on the Police Debit Card in order to maintain a sufficient balance while Makayla is using it for her travel expenses to KLETC. Motion passed. d) Clerk Whitmore reminded the Council that due to the Memorial Day Holiday the next Council meeting will be on Tuesday May 29. It was moved Roger and seconded by Kale to accept and file the Clerk Report. Motion passed. 14. Council Comments: Kale – none, Roger – will be attending a Cheyenne County Community Foundation meeting on Wednesday to accept a grant that the City has received for the swimming pool landscaping.  Roger mentioned that there has been a problem with kids throwing rocks at the band shell and more windows have been cracked. The Police Department has been made aware of it. Dara – none, Larry - will not be at the May 29th meeting. 15. Mayor Comments – Thanked the City crews for setting up the trash cans and benches for the car show. 16. All bills on ordinance #1014 were reviewed. It was moved by Amanda Roger and seconded by Kale to approve the bills in the amount of $378,940.06. Motion passed. 17. Adjournment: A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Larry to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed. ___________________________________________ City Clerk