City Council

Regular Council Meeting September 24, 2018 1. Mayor Scott Schultz called the meeting to order at 7:30. Present were Council members Kale Dankenbring, Amanda Milne, Roger Jensen, Dara Carmichael, and Larry Finley. Also present were City Superintendent JR Landenberger, City Attorney Mike Day, Police Chief Darrell Thomas and City Clerk Lila Whitmore. 2. Minutes from the September 10 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 attended Lifesave training on September 7th. He also attended classes and training at the KEMA conference in Topeka during the week of September 10th. b) The Tasers have been ordered and should arrive in 2-3 weeks. c) Darrell has researched body cameras but has not yet found any he deems acceptable. Many seem to have security risks. He will continue to look into this. d) Officer Butler is doing well at the Academy. Officer Kennedy will be out for a couple of more weeks. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Dara to accept and file the Police report. Motion passed. 5. New Business: a. Wade Krien addressed the Council regarding the installation of a water line along the Krien Addition. It will be approximately 280 feet long and will have 2 meter hookups with the potential for more. The cost of the installation would be the responsibility of the developers, Krien Steel Buildings, with the city taking ownership of the line after installation. JR requested Mr. Krien provide drawings showing specifications of materials to be used and locations which JR will then run by Miller and Associates for their input. The Council authorized the installation of the water line pending approval from Miller & Associates. Mr. Krien also expressed concern regarding a drainage issue on Royce Peter Road, River Street and Road 14. JR will meet with him to take a look at the problem. b. Bill Dungan addressed the Council regarding the roadside park camping and shared his opinions on the rates being charged and accessibility of water hookups. After much discussion a motion was made by Roger and seconded by Amanda to turn the water hydrants back on but leave the fee at $35. Motion passed. There may be further discussion regarding the roadside park at a later time. 6. Old Business: a. Property Cleanup – JR sent pictures to the Council of properties needing attention. Most are on the tax sale which will be in March. All will be notified that they are not in compliance with city code. b. Projects Pending – a) There was more discussion regarding street improvements and curb and gutters. These are two separate issues. The Charter Ordinance was passed with no protest. With that now in place the issue becomes determining the scope of the project, the length of term for a bond issue, and how to repay the bonds. As a starting point JR will work on putting pricing together to get an idea of the costs per running foot for street improvements. b) Attorney Day contacted Tim Tennant with North Central Railcorp regarding the sale of the railroad line. It is still in the preliminary stages and a letter of support is not needed at this time. Mr. Tennant will keep Attorney Day updated on the status so that a letter can be provided at the appropriate time. 7. Pool Report – none. Larry will have reports for the next meeting. 8. Building Permits – A motion was made by Roger and seconded by Amanda to approve the following building permits: Keith Ford – 402 E. First, carport and deck; Lone Star Storate – N. College, foundation forstorage building; Lutheran Church – 202 N. College; concrete strip next to street; James Thornton – 221 S. River, back porchroof; Larry and Terry Zweygardt – 509 W. Webster, fence; Ericka Wieck – 212 E. Jackson, tear out and replace sidewalk; Tina & James Kehl – 215 E. Webster – fence; Larry Parker – 214 E. Jackson, storage shed; and, pending identification of property line, Leonel Mayorquin – 321 N. Scott, deck and carport. Motion passed. 9. Superintendent Report – a) The following bids were received for roof repairs at the library due to hail damage: Howards Construction - $18,500; Midwest Roofing - $16,933; TJ’s Improvements - $16,356. The following bids were received for the roof repairs at the ball diamond building: Howards Construction - $9,901; TJ’s Improvements - $8,710. The following bids were received for roof repairs at the pool house: Howards Construction – $10,329.88; Midwest Roofing - $9,449, TJ’s Improvements - $9,620. The library bids included removing and replacing the fascia on the west side. Since the Council had previously discussed having all of the fascia replace, it was decided to subtract that portion out of the bids/repairs and put those  repairs out for separate bids. A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Larry to accept the bids from TJ’s Improvements for all 3 buildings, excluding the library fascia repairs. Motion passed. b) JR met with Brock McAtee regarding costs for demolition of the Empire Motel. Mr. McAtee determined the job would require large equipment and recommended it be be put out for bids. c) Regarding the culvert for Majestic Service, Mr. McAtee provided an estimate of $12,700 to close in the ends and do a flowable fill backfill, which also includes recapping it with concrete. JR has not yet discussed this with Mr. Erskin. d) McAtee Construction has submitted a bid for pouring the footers for the shade structure at the pool, but it did not include installation of the shade structure itself. JR will follow up with Brock. e) Mr. McAtee gave a timeline of 2 weeks to complete the work at Keller Pond. f) The work on College Street by McCormick Excavation is scheduled to begin during the week of October 10th contingent on weather. It is too late to complete the intersection at College and North Street and this will need to wait until next year. g) Hill Trash Service requested the Council address the issue concerning loose trash in the bottoms of trash cans. All accumulation of loose trash in exisiting city containers must be bagged. Information will be in the Herald and a notice will also go out with next month’s utility billing statements. Mike suggested notices be put on the trash cans themselves when there is found to be loose trash in the container. h) Steve Powell has started work at the recycling center. i) KMEA representatives will be in town Wednesday to discuss an issue in the WAPA power delivery. JR will bring details to the next meeting. j) Cold mix for the streets has been ordered and should cost less than $5,000. k) There was some discussion regarding a water meter at the airport improvements. The cost is just under $3000 and the Council agreed that this would be the responsibility of the developer. It was moved by Kale and seconded by Amanda to accept and file the Superintendent report. Motion passed. 10. Attorney Report – There was considerable discussion regarding the razing of the Empire Motel. The Community Foundation is looking into ways to fund the demolition. Grant funds may be available for 501(3c) entities or municipalities. However, grant funds would likely not be awarded simply for the razing of the building without an improvement plan in place for the property. The back taxes on the property are approximately $23,000. Pioneer Development is currently responsible for the property. One option would be to condemn the property and obtain a court order to require Pioneer Development to clean it up. This could be a long process. The Council agreed discussed that before the City assumes responsibility for the property there would need to be an agreement and commitment from the developer as to what will be done with the property after it is razed. Attorney Day will discuss this further with the other entities involved. It was moved by Larry and seconded by Amanda to accept and file the Attorney report. Motion passed. 11. Clerk Report – a) A motion was made by Roger and seconded by Amanda for Clerk Whitmore to attend the CCMFOA Clerk Institute in Wichita in November. Motion passed. b) We have not yet received a user’s guide from Elevation Design for the website. Lila will continue attempts to follow up with them. c) Clerk Whitmore shared with the Council information regarding the disbursement of the City’s funds among the local banks. She explained that recently securities had been called at Bankwest which caused the available pledging to drop below what was needed for the funds deposited there. She contacted Mayor Schultz at that time and with his permission moved some funds to First National Bank which was able to offer sufficient pledging. Bankwest has a program called ICS (Insured Cash Sweep) which allows for deposits to be made to other member banks so that funds are covered by FDIC and pledging is not required. Lila will be looking into this further to see if it will meet our needs. She also looked at the interest rates that are being earned on all of the current CD’s. The City has a $100,000 1 year CD coming up for renewal on October 1st. The current rate at Western State Bank is 1.45% and 2.61% at First National Bank. She has not yet received a quote from Bankwest. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Larry to invest these funds with whichever bank offers the highest interest rate. Motion passed. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Kale to accept and file the Clerk report. Motion passed. 12. Council Comments: Kale – none Amanda – none Roger – commented on how nice the ballfield grass looks. Dara – none Larry – none 13. Mayor Comments – none 14. Adjournment: A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed. ___________________________________________ City Clerk