City Council

Regular Council Meeting February 11, 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. Also present was City Clerk Lila Whitmore. City Superintendent JR Landenberger, City Attorney Mike Day, Mayor Scott Schultz and Police Chief Darrell Thomas were absent. 2. Minutes from the January 28 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 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. New Business: a. The Water emergency Plan was reviewed. Terrence Lamb was added to the list of local electricians. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale to approve the updated Water Emergency Plan. Motion passed. b. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Larry to designate John Larson as the KRWA voting delegate and Justin Gardner as the alternate. Motion passed. Chief Thomas arrived at the meeting. c. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Dara to appoint Mayor Scott Schultz as KMEA Director 1 and Kale Dankenbring as Alternate. Motion passed. 6. Police Report: a) Chief Thomas shared the stats for January. b) Darrell received a bid from Reach Solutions to purchase 3 desktop computers. The quote was $739 per computer. All 3 are not needed at this time but will be needed before the end of the year. A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Amanda to approve the purchase of 1 desktop for $739. Motion passed. Darrell will check to make sure the PCs will be covered under the existing maintenance agreement. Reach Solutions also upgraded Matt Hill’s computer to Windows 10 today. c) Darrell received one bid from Brentwood Renovations for the installation of the evidence room door for $700. A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Larry to accept the bid. Motion passed. He also received one bid from Brentwood Renovations to build workstations/desks for $1,550. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale to accept the bid. Motion passed. d) Darrell thanked Attorney Day for his recent assistance on a case. It was moved by Dara and seconded by Amanda to accept and file the police report. Motion passed. 7. New Business continued: d. On behalf of Matt and Lacey Grogan, Clerk Whitmore presented their plans for a Photography Studio at 220 East Webster. This property, which previously was a church, has been used for the past several years for various businesses. However the property is zoned residential and will require a zoning variance be granted. The Council determined the neighbors who would be impacted by the business are: USD297 Grade School, Deanna Grice, Dave and Brenda Warren, Tina Kehl, Denise Andrist, Shirley Watson, and the property owner Traci Neitzel. It was moved by Kale and seconded by Larry to approve granting the variance contingent upon the Grogan’s obtaining the required 80% signatures which will need to be confirmed by the City Clerk. Motion passed. This is not a zoning change and the re-designation from residential to commercial is for Matt and Lacey Grogan only. e. City Hall Sidewalk Repairs is tabled for another meeting. f. At the request of Librarian Michelle Wolff, the Council reviewed Charter Ordinance VI. Clerk Whitmore explained that the Charter Ordinance was created in order to extend the boundaries for board member residency requirements to include USD297 in addition to the City of St. Francis. The Charter Ordinance also defines the board as having seven members appointed by the Mayor. Michelle has indicated there are several board members wishing to resign and they are having difficulties finding replacements. She is requesting the Council reduce the number of members from 7 to 5. However, the number of board members required is set by State Statute K.S.A. 12-122. Per the advice of City Attorney Mike Day, the Council agreed that there should be no changes made. 8. Old Business: a. Property Cleanup – There was further discussion regarding the Empire Motel. The demolition of the building has been delayed due to weather but should begin soon. b. Projects Pending – a) There was considerable discussion regarding the pool shade structure. Lila spoke to Carol Sloper who indicated that the grant application submitted to the Community Foundation may be tabled until March when more grant funds will be available. The Council agreed that the shade structure is a much needed improvement at the pool and it is important that it be installed before the pool opens in May. Once  the shade is ordered it will take several weeks to be built and shipped and then it will need to be installed. The cost for the shade structure is $10,918 and a 50% down payment is required before it can be ordered. A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Larry to go ahead and order the shade structure and for the City to pay for the 50% down payment of $5,459. Motion passed. Clerk Whitmore will submit a new grant application requesting assistance for the remaining funds for the project which will be $6959. 9. Keller Pond Committee – Larry and Dave Flemming met and agreed that the cleanup of the Riverwalk needs to be completed first. The county has hired Leonard Barnes to finish the removal of the trees. Larry will meet with JR to discuss upkeep and maintenance of Keller Pond and the Riverwalk. The County has agreed to assist with weed control. There is a lot of work that needs to be done. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Dara to accept and file the Keller Pond committee report. Motion passed. 10. Theater Report – Amanda shared statistics and a financial report from Theater Board President Robert Grace covering activity at the Theater for the past 5 years. It was moved by Larry and seconded by Kale to accept and file the theater report. Motion passed. 11. Building Permits - none 12. Superintendent Report – a) We still have not heard from Miller & Associates on the streets project. b) On behalf of JR, Roger and Lila shared a proposal from RVW, Inc. for engineering services to upgrade Feeder #1 & Feeder #3 to improve the City’s electrical system. The proposal is to do visual inspection of the project, develop bid documents, and hold a bid opening for the project. The proposal is based on a time and expenses basis with an estimated cost not to exceed $7,950. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale to accept the proposal contingent upon a review and approval from Attorney Day. Motion passed. 13. Attorney Report – none 14. Clerk Report – a) Tom and Lea Keller attended the Sunflower State Trail Appreciation Day in Topeka on January 31. Flyers with pictures and information about Keller Pond were created and handed out to attendees. There was also a picture display and Tom spoke with lawmakers and other interested people about the trail improvements that had been completed at Keller Pond. His travel expenses were paid for by the Sunflower Foundation. The cost for the materials used for the presentation was $172. A motion was made by Dara and seconded by Kale to reimburse Mr. Keller for these expenses. b) Clerk Whitmore let the council know that Quentin and Melinda Tedford with The Lighthouse had hired a 3rd person and would therefore be eligible for their small business incentive to be extended to a year per a prior motion by the Council on October 8, 2018. c) Lila shared flyers with the Council about the Big Kansas Road Trip informational meeting on February 13 and the Cheyenne county Strategic Doing meeting on February 20. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Larry to accept and file the Clerk report. Motion passed. 15. Council Comments: Larry – Talked about the Big Kansas Road Trip and received permission from the Council for Helen Dobbs to receive assistance from the City crews to install a large banner across Washington street, Dara – none, Amanda – none, Kale – none 16. Council President Comments – Roger may not be at the next meeting. Amanda agreed to run the meeting. At Roger’s request, the Council agreed it would be appropriate to send flowers for the funeral of Kay Shay, who was a past Council member. 17. All bills on Ordinance #1023 were reviewed. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Dara to approve the bills in the amount of $294,342.73. Motion passed. 18. Adjournment: It was moved by Kale and seconded by Amanda to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed. ___________________________________________ City Clerk