City Council

Regular Council Meeting March 25, 2019 1. Mayor Scott Schultz called the meeting to order at 7:30. Present were Council members Kale Dankenbring, Amanda Milne, Roger Jensen, and Larry Finley. Also present were City Superintendent JR Landenberger, Chief of Police Darrell Thomas, and City Clerk Lila Whitmore. City Attorney Mike Day and Council member Dara Carmichael were absent. 2. Minutes from the March 11 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) Brentwood Renovations should be completing the workstations soon. b) Darrell reported on the status of the two properties that have been served with cleanup notices. c) Darrell has scheduled the cage installation in the Expedition. The cage was given to the City by Cheyenne County Sheriff Cody Beeson. d) Darrell attended a multistate meeting with department heads from the tristate region to open up the lines of communication. e) Darrell requested 2 minutes of executive session for non-elected personnel to discuss an employee’s status. f) Mayor Schultz brought up concerns of citizens and the Council regarding the lack of weekend coverage. Chief Thomas indicated he did not want to commit one officer to the weekend shift as he feels it would burn them out. There was some discussion after which Darrell indicated he would look at the schedule and possibly consider rotation. He is continuing to look for another officer. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale to accept and file the Police report. Motion passed. 5. New Business: a. Lauren Reyelts was present to request permission from the Council to block off Quincy Street between Washington Street and the alley running behind Milliken Law Office on June 7th between 6:30AM and 3PM to host a community event to honor Jim Milliken and celebrate the 50th anniversary of Milliken Law Office. She also requested the City provide the cones for the event. The Council gave their approval. b. Nate Brown with EagleMed/AirMedCare Network spoke to the Council about establishing a group membership discount for City of St. Francis utility customers. There would be no cost to the city to offer this and no city staff time would be required to administer the plan. AirMedCare would be responsible for all aspects including receiving and processing membership applications and payments and providing information for City residents. They would provide an initial mailing that would be sent out with utility bills to let residents know about the plan. Information would also be made available for residents at City Hall. The Council gave their approval. c. Dave Yost spoke to the Council about the airport improvements and bringing electric service to the area. The Council had previously approved the City paying for the cost to bring electric service to the property line. Mr. Yost requested the City provide the materials and labor to extend the service an additional 300 feet to where new hangers will be. This would be beyond the property line and not within city limits. The cost for the materials is $2,744. If labor costs were factored in they would be approximately the same amount. After considerable discussion a motion was made by Roger and seconded by Amanda for the City to provide the labor at no charge if Mr. Yost agrees to pay for the cost of the materials. Motion passed with Larry abstaining. d. A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Larry to approve a Mobile Home Park license for Kathy Woodcox/Homesteader Motel and RV Park. Motion passed. e. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale to approve the following trash waiver renewals: Carla Lampe/CLAS Family LLC – 216 ½ W. Webster, Pete Jensen – 122 N. Quincy, Wade Krien/The County Seat Greenery – 702 S. River. Motion passed. f. A motion was made by Roger and seconded by Larry to approve the following Chicken Permit renewals, pending JR’s inspection: Dianna Padgett – 411 E. Washington, Trista Lauer – 509 S. Frances, Margaret Lister – 209 N. Scott, Kim Zweygardt – 314 E. Jackson. Motion passed. 6. Old Business: a. Property Cleanup – The Empire Motel demolition is complete. Property cleanup notices have been issued to Dallas Staples and Brian Zweygardt. Mr. Zweygardt has made progress, but Mr. Staples has not. The Mayor asked council members to let JR know of any properties they see that may need  attention. There is a meeting scheduled for Friday with the County Appraiser regarding the tax protest for the Empire Motel. b. Projects Pending – a) Truck Routes on City Streets will be removed from the projects pending list as this topic is part of the current streets project. Roger has contacted Senator Rick Billinger regarding the access roads and crossovers. The assistant secretary of KDOT is supposed to be contacting Roger but has not yet done so. b) There are some funds that were donated to the City to recognize Jack Weinstein. Clerk Whitmore asked if the beautification committee might consider including a memorial flag in his honor along with the other flags they are looking into. c) The company providing the pool shade, Sterling West, will be taking a look at the band shell to see if they can offer a plan for shade structures there. There was some talk about the condition of the seating area at the band shell. It is in need of repairs. No decisions were made. d) The Council talked more about possible uses for the old pool such as volleyball pits and horseshoe pits. Larry will ask for input from the Recreation Commission. 7. Keller Pond Committee – JR has put together a general maintenance schedule that will be presented to Tom. They are still looking into the milfoil problem and possible solutions. Larry has not yet had an opportunity to meet with Tom to go over the discussion from the last Council meeting. Brock McAtee has indicated that the ADA parking will be a priority project. Pre-emergent will be sprayed soon with the County doing the area around the pond and the City taking care of the Riverwalk. Lila will get information to Larry about the signs that still need to be installed for the trail heads. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Roger to accept and file the Keller Pond committee report. Motion passed. 8. Pool Report – Lifeguards have been hired and wages will be finalized at the next meeting in mid-April. Forrest Burr has been hired as the manager. Larry has spoken to JR and Justin Gardner and everything is on track for opening the pool. Mike will be spraying pre-emergent on the buffalo grass around the pool. It was moved by Kale and seconded by Amanda to accept and file the Pool report. Motion passed. 9. Building Permits - A motion was made by Larry and seconded by Roger to approve the following building permits: Ricky and Julie Reyelts – 504 E. Fourth, wood fence with metal posts; Todd and Tracy Neitzel – 220 E. Webster, replace concrete steps; Senior Center – 320 W. Washington, replace parking lot concrete; Brandon Seger – 230 Birch, addition to back of house. Motion passed. 10. Superintendent Report – a) The automated water control system that was installed 18 years ago is no longer supported and therefore not maintainable. The short term option would be to purchase used RTU’s to have as spares. John and Justin are attending the KRWA conference this week and will get information about current systems and costs. b) JR shared updated street maps from Miller and Associates which show intersections and alley approaches. The maps also separated the streets by concrete or asphalt. The streets are color coded to show priority for repairs. The order of street repairs is also tied to and contingent upon the under street water valve work that is ongoing. Truck routing will be added to the maps. The big picture is coming together. JR asked for the Council to once again consider the curb and gutter topic and who would be responsible for the cost. City Code defines the responsibly to be that of the property owner. Mayor Schultz stated that doing anything other than what is already established in the City Code would likely cause issues and would not be a good idea. There was no disagreement to that. c) There has been no update yet from RVW regarding the electrical infrastructure. d) This week the city is running with a 4 man crew. Blaine Werner, Justin Gardner and John Larson are attending KRWA where they will receive training necessary to renew their certifications. John is certified in water and sewer, Blaine is certified in water, and Justin will be certified in Sewer. e) JR has been working with Eric Harper regarding the installation of a generator for the courthouse. It will not involve a lot of work from the city other than upsizing to a 208 transformer. f) The drain issue at Majestic Service has not yet been addressed by the property owner. The City will continue to offer assistance with trying to keep the drain clear of debris to avoid damage to other properties. g) A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale to approve the trade-in of the 2015 skid steer for a new L234 New Holland Skid Steer for $19,550. Motion passed. h) JR shared a map of the Cheyenne County Village property showing their water lines, meters and hydrant placements. The city will be taking over the part of the water line that has hydrants and connections to private services. JR spoke to the county commissioners and they agree to pay for the placement of a valve to the north of the LTC facility in order to eliminate the line that runs under the west wing of the facility. The city will be placing a valve at the south end. The map also shows the tap and placement of the 14” water line west of the reservoir that will be going to the Airport. There will be a “T” off of that which will provide better water pressure  and improved fire protection to the Village area. It was moved by Larry and seconded by Amanda to accept and file the Superintendent report. Motion passed. 11. Attorney Report – none 12. Clerk Report – a) Clerk Whitmore let the Council know that the auditors had used an incorrect consumer price index value when creating the 2019 budget which caused the tax levy to go over the tax lid by $116. It is too late for a vote. Roger Basinger with the state has indicated that because the amount is so little there will be no action taken by the state. When the 2020 budget is created the tax levy will be adjusted by this amount. b) There is a CDBG Application workshop in Salina on April 18 which Lila will be attending. She requested Council members let her know if they are interested in attending as well. Lila will be sending the Council members information on financing options. The LMI survey completed in 2015 can be used for this round of funding but a new survey will need to be completed for any future CDBG funding. c) Lila pointed out that the contract with Cahoj Earthmoving for $27,500 for the demolition of the Empire Motel had not been formally accepted. A motion was made by Roger and seconded by Larry to approve the contract and payment. Motion passed. d) We received notification today that the Hansen Grant request for the shade structure has been approved. The amount was $6,960. e) Carol Sloper asked if there were any projects the City would like to submit to the New Generation Fund grants for consideration. The application deadline is March 31. Amanda mentioned possibly the flags that the Washington Street beautification committee has been looking at. If she is able to gather prices and information before Friday Lila will write the grant application. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Kale to accept and file the Clerk report. Motion passed. 13. Council Comments: Kale – none Amanda – none Roger - none Larry – The Recreation Commission will be donating $1000 to the city for the pool shade structure. 14. Mayor Comments – Confirmed with Lila that the Car Show is on the calendar but they will need to come in and fill out the paperwork to reserve the Band shell/Sawhill Park. JR left the meeting. 15. At 9:32 a motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Larry for the Council, along with all those present, to recess into executive session for non-elected personnel to discuss an employee’s status, the open meeting to resume at 9:34. Motion passed. At 9:34 the open meeting resumed. A motion was made by Roger and seconded by Kale to accept the resignation of part time Police Officer Matt Grogan effective March 20, 2019. Motion passed. 16. Adjournment: It was moved by Kale and seconded by Larry to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed. ___________________________________________ City Clerk