City Council

Regular Council Meeting August 27, 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 were City Superintendent JR Landenberger, Police Chief Darrell Thomas and City Clerk Lila Whitmore. Council member Amanda Milne and City Attorney Mike Day were absent. 2. Minutes from the August 13 Meeting were distributed and read. It was moved by Larry and seconded by Kale to approve the minutes as written. Motion passed. 3. Visitors – none 4. Police Report – a) Chief Thomas shared the stats for July. Council member Amanda Milne arrived at the meeting. b) A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Dara to approve the Enterpol Solutions Required Application Software and Year 1 Support & Maintenance agreement for $809.00 and the IBM software update for $750. Motion passed. c) Darrell is waiting on bids for installation of an access door to the evidence room. d) Darrell let the Council know that the Taser units are outdated and it will cost approximately $1000 each to update them. The department will need three. Darrell will find out if the ones they have can be exchanged. e) Chief Thomas requested 5 minutes of executive session for non-elected personnel to discuss wages. It was moved by Kale and seconded by Dara to accept and file the Police report. Motion passed. 5. New Business: a. Roadside Park Electrical Hookups – Johnnie Woodcox, with Homesteader Motel and RV Park, and Roger McQuigg, with Angle Road Campground, were present to discuss the electrical hookups at the Roadside Park. They expressed their concern about the $20 fee being charged and that campers were being allowed to connect to the water hydrants. The Council confirmed that the water is intended to be for filling only and not for RV connections. There was considerable discussion and the Council assured Mr. Woodcox and Mr. McQuigg that it was not the City’s intention to compete with their businesses. The rate charged for a full hookup site at the Homesteader is $35. The rates charged at the Angle Road Campground are $30 for a 30 amp site and $35 for a 50 amp site, also with full hookups. Mr. Woodcox left the meeting before the discussion ended. The Council decided to increase the rate for the campsites to $35 a night to match the local businesses. JR will check into removing the hydrants and having a single fill station for water. Information will also be put on the sign to let campers know that full hookups are available at the two businesses. The 3 day camping limit will be enforced, however Compass Roofing will be allowed to stay for now but at the increased rate beginning September 1. If either of the businesses have a vacancy they will contact City Hall and Compass Roofing will be asked to move there. Clerk Whitmore will contact Compass Roofing. Mr. Woodcox had also requested a single meter be installed for all of his sites, as is the case at the Angle Road campground, and JR will look into this. b. Stan and Neva Wahrman were present to discuss the fence on their property at 513 E. Third and to complain about the neighbor’s dogs and weeds. JR spoke with Attorney Day about the fence and confirmed that a fence on the property line or within 3 feet of either side of the property line is a shared fence. The current fence was installed 22 years ago and is 3” off the property line. The fence dispute is a civil matter between property owners. The dog count, the dog nuisance, and the weeds are complaints that can be dealt with. After much discussion it was decided to have JR contact the owner of the property, Scott Sherman, and share Neva’s concerns. Chief Thomas will pursue the dog complaint. Clerk Whitmore will check whether or not the dogs are registered with the city. She will also check City Council minutes from 1995 through 1997 for any information regarding the original building permit for the fence. c. The City received 2 proposals for pest control services: Pest Away - $125.50 per month; Hinkle Termite & Pest Control - $120 per month. A motion was made by Roger and seconded by Amanda to accept the lower bid from Hinkle Termite & Pest Control. Motion passed. d. A motion was made by Larry and seconded by Amanda to approve Resolution 2018-3: RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF ST. FRANCIS, KANSAS APPROVING A TEMPORARY PERMIT ALLOWING FOR THE CONSUMPTION OF ALCOHOLIC LIQUOR ON CITY STREETS. Milne – Aye; Jensen – Aye, Carmichael –  Aye, Finley – aye; Dankenbring – abstained. Motion passed. This is for the Motorcycle Rally on September 1. e. The Council discussed the repairs that are needed on the soffits and fascia at the library. Roger, Scott and JR will put together a spec that can then be put out for bids. 6. Old Business: a. Property Cleanup – no updates b. Projects Pending – a) The Washington Street beautification committee met last week and will meet again the 3rd week in September to formulate a plan. b) There was discussion regarding an entity being interested in purchasing the railroad line. The Council requested Clerk Whitmore contact Dale Weeks with the Wheeler Equity for more information and to compose a letter of support for this. This could help with the amount of truck traffic on city streets. c) The Council decided to remove snow removal ordinance from the projects pending list. An ordinance would be difficult to enforce. d) JR confirmed that people are not to be removing any of the dirt from the old pool site. 7. Pool Report – Larry reported that the water has now been drained from the pool. He will present a final update once all of the revenue and expense reports for the season are available. There may be grant funds the City can apply for to assist with the purchase of the shade structure that was discussed at the last meeting. Clerk Whitmore, with the assistance of Councilman Finley, would write the grant application and the grant request would be for the cost of the materials with the City’s contribution being the cost of installation. The Council gave their approval to apply for a grant. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Kale to accept and file the pool report. Motion passed. 8. Building Permits – A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Roger to approve the following building permits: Lyle Cook – 123 W. Spencer, fence; Keaton Frewen – 512 S. Frances, repair front sidewalk; Harvey Forsythe – 205 S. Valley, cement; Dustin Zuege – 409 E. Fourth, fence. Motion passed. 9. Superintendent Report – a) JR had spoken to Jeff Stewart with KDOT regarding the maintenance and upkeep of the connecting links. Jeff is of the opinion that the State does not maintain the connecting links. JR believes it should be the State’s responsibility. There was further discussion about the agreement between the State and Bud Erskin/ Majestic Service with regards to the culverts that were installed which has caused a change in drainage when not maintained properly which in turn has caused the flooding of other properties, as was discussed at the last meeting. This may become civil litigation between the property owners and the State, but there is an immediate need to find a solution in order to prevent further flooding. JR will engage Attorney Day for his opinion. He will also try to get an estimate on what it would cost to put this back to its original state. b) Rod Zweygardt requested from the County Commissioners that an engineering study be done to address the flooding problem on his property. When Miller & Associates are in town JR will ask for their opinion on the issue. Cleaning out the ditch will still be done. A possible solution would be for Mr. Zweygardt to move the driveway. c) Dave Yost has requested that the city cover some of the expenses associated with the electric for the airport improvements. The cost of the transformer would be $1400 and the wire $3500, for a total of $4900. A motion was made by Roger and seconded by Kale for the city to pay for these. Motion passed. d) The Council discussed the recycling center and what is happening with the regional recycling. The Council gave permission for JR to advertise for 1 or 2 part time employees for the recycling center. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Larry to accept and file the Superintendent report. Motion passed. 10. Attorney Report – none 11. Clerk Report – a) A motion was made by Dara and seconded by Kale to waive the peddler’s license fee for the SFCHS Junior Class magazine sales. Motion passed. b) It was moved by Roger and seconded by Amanda to approve the trash waiver for Wade Krien/County Seat Greenery. Motion passed. This is a seasonal business closed for the winter months. c) Clerk Whitmore indicated we have still not received the user’s guide from Elevation Design. d) Lila updated the Council on the records management and disaster recovery training she received while attending the regional clerk’s meeting in Hays. The Council gave her permission to seek bids to install additional shelving in the records storage room. e) It was moved by Larry and seconded by Dara to approve out of cycle payments to Airmed and Lifeteam for the employee memberships. Motion passed. Payments are issued from the City for the group memberships and employees reimburse the City for their membership fees. f) It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Roger to renew First National Bank CD #25918. Motion passed. g) The Council discussed a letter that Clerk Whitmore had received from Brad  Barnhart regarding utility payments. The Council agreed that there would not be any exceptions to or changes made to the existing utility payment policies and procedures. It was moved by Kale and seconded by Roger to accept and file the Clerk report. Motion passed. 12. Council Comments: Kale – none Amanda – some citizens have complained to her about trash service. JR requested specifics so that the concerns can be addressed. Dara – none Larry – none. 13. Mayor Comments – none 14. At 9:51 a motion was made by Larry and seconded by Amanda for the Council along with Clerk Whitmore and Chief Thomas to recess into executive session for the non-elected personnel exception to discuss wages with the open meeting to resume at 9:56. Motion passed. At 9:56 the open meeting resumed. A motion was made by Roger and seconded by Dara to approve a wage increase for Police Clerk/Municipal Court Clerk Matt Hill to $15 an hour. Motion passed. 15. At 9:58 a motion was made by Kale and seconded by Amanda for the Council along with Clerk Whitmore and Chief Thomas to recess into executive session for the non-elected personnel exception to discuss wages with the open meeting to resume at 10:00. Motion passed. At 10:00 the open meeting resumed. A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Amanda to approve a wage increase for Police Officer Makayla Kennedy to $15 an hour. Motion passed. Her raise will be effective as of August 10th, her graduation date from KLETC. 16. Adjournment: A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed. ___________________________________________ City Clerk