City Council

Regular Council Meeting January 28, 2019 1. Council President Roger Jensen called the meeting to order at 7:30. Present were Council members Kale Dankenbring, Amanda Milne, Dara Carmichael and Larry Finley. City Attorney Mike Day, Police Chief Darrell Thomas and City Clerk Lila Whitmore. Mayor Scott Schultz and City Superintendent JR Landenberger were absent. 2. Minutes from the January 14th meeting were distributed and read. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Kale to approve the minutes as written. Motion passed. 3. Consent Agenda – It was moved by Dara and seconded by Larry to pay the following dues: League of Kansas Municipalities - $955.62; Kansas Mayor’s Association - $50. Motion passed. 4. Visitors – none 5. Police Report: a) Chief Thomas let the Council know that the operating system on the department’s computers will need to be upgraded by the 1st of next year in order to continue to support the software they run. They will likely need to upgrade the three computers in order to run the required operating system version. b) Darrell is looking into getting our officers the ability to carry and administer Narcan. c) Darrell shared information about an organization called Shield 616 which provides ballistics gear for police officers. d) Larry asked about the hours that Jon is working. Darrell indicates it varies but is typically Monday through Friday 2-10 pm. Darrell has started the process of looking for another officer. Amanda let Darrell know that she had heard complaints from citizens regarding untagged and expired tags on vehicles and also about vehicles parking on North Quincy. Darrell will look into the complaints. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Kale to accept and file the police report. Motion passed. 6. New Business: a. Michelle Wolff, Head Librarian, was present to give the annual Library report to the Council. She also introduced the new Assistant Librarian Nathan Fiala. The Council commended Michelle for her hard work with the library. b. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Larry to approve Resolution 2019-1: (GAAP) A WAIVER OF GENERALLY ACCEPTED ACCOUNTING PRINCIPLES. Dankenbring – Aye; Milne – Aye; Carmichael – Aye; Finley – Aye. Motion passed. c. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale to approve Council President Jensen’s appointments to the Keller Pond Committee: Larry Finley, Dave Flemming, and Brock McAtee. Motion passed. Committee reports will be added to the Council meeting agendas. d. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Dara to approve a 6 month Small Business Utility Incentive application for Matt Grogan Photography. Motion passed. e. A motion was made by Dara and seconded by Larry to approve a Tree Trim License for Leonard Barnes. Motion passed. f. City Hall Sidewalk Repairs – topic tabled for the next Council meeting to give Council members an opportunity to look at the condition of the sidewalk and for JR to be present. 7. Old Business: a. Property Cleanup – none b. Projects Pending – a) The electrical infrastructure study is not yet complete. b) The street evaluation has been completed by Miller & Associates and is ready to go to an engineer. Once this information is received the Council will have a better idea of costs and can make decisions on how best to proceed. There was some discussion about the crossovers between Highway 36 and the city streets. Brock McAtee will be contacted for an estimate on what it might cost to remove some of them as compared to repairing them. c) The Van Allen shade structure will be moved from the old pool to Keller Pond. There was discussion about the old pool area. Larry indicated that some citizens have suggested turning it into a sand volleyball area. d) A motion was made by Larry and seconded by Amanda to authorize Clerk Whitmore to submit grant applications for the swimming pool shade structure. Motion passed. 8. Building Permits – none 9. Superintendent Report – a) A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Dara to approve the purchase of chemicals for the parks department from the St. Francis Equity in the amount of $7,318.10. Motion passed. 10. Attorney Report – Due to a conflict of interest being the County Appraiser, Amanda excused herself from the meeting. The Council discussed the back taxes on the Empire motel which are currently $28,521.24. After much discussion a motion was made by Larry and seconded by Kale to approve paying the taxes owed plus additional fees and interest for the Empire Motel with the years 2015 through 2018 being under protest. Motion passed. A portion of the taxes will be paid for from the property cleanup budget in the general fund with the remaining being from grant funds received. A motion was made by Dara and seconded by Larry to apply to the Board of Tax appeals for tax exemption status on the Empire Motel property. Motion passed. Amanda returned to the meeting. It was moved by Kale and seconded by Larry to accept and file the Attorney report. Motion passed. 11. Clerk Report – a) A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale to renew the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas Health Insurance for employees for 2019-2020. Motion passed. b) A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale to approve 32 hours of vacation carryover for Lila. Motion passed. c) The Council gave approval for Clerk Whitmore to attend the annual CCMFOA Conference March 13-15 in Manhattan. d) Lila handed out copies of the Water Emergency Plan and requested Council members review and provide feedback prior to the next council meeting. It was moved by Dara and seconded by Kale to accept and file the Clerk report. Motion passed. 12. Council Comments: Kale – none, – Amanda – none, Dara – none, Larry – none 13. Council President Comments – Roger expressed concern regarding the large amount of plastic grocery bags that are littering the ditches along the highway and requested the Council think about options which could be considered to reduce the amount of plastic grocery bags going to the landfill. Roger also commented on the growth of the local Cub Scout pack and how nice the Scout Hut was for their recent pinewood derby races. 14. Adjournment: A motion was made by Larry and seconded by Amanda to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed. ___________________________________________ City Clerk