City Council

Regular Council Meeting June 10, 2019 1. Mayor Scott Schultz called the meeting to order at 7:30. Present were Council members Roger Jensen, Dara Carmichael, and Larry Finley. Also present were City Superintendent JR Landenberger, City Attorney Mike Day, and City Clerk Lila Whitmore. Council members Kale Dankenbring and Amanda Milne and Police Chief Darrell Thomas were absent. 2. Minutes from the May 28 meeting were distributed and read. There was one correction noted. It was moved by Roger and seconded by Dara to approve the minutes as corrected. 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 – Grace Larkin 5. New Business: a. Heather Hnizdil, with Cheyenne Center 4 Creativity (CC4C), introduced intern Somnath Mukherjee who is working on his degree from Kansas State University. He spoke to the Council about his project which is to develop a plan to restore the historical building located at 202 W. Washington to include an expansion of Quincy Gallery, a commercial kitchen, and creation of a space for a community event center. The Council expressed thanks for the work he is doing and welcomed him to the community. Police Chief Darrell Thomas arrived at the meeting. 6. Police Report: a) Chief Thomas shared the statistics for May. b) Darrell received a quote from Reach Solutions for the purchase of two computers for $749 each. A motion was made by Roger and seconded by Dara to approve the purchase of two computers for $1,498. Motion passed. These will be paid for from equipment reserve. The workstations have been installed and look very nice. c) Darrell reported that the carpets had been cleaned and while they look much better they are in rough shape and will likely need replaced at some point. d) There was an electrical issue with the white Charger which has been fixed. e) The Department is close to being able to order Narcan and the officers will be receiving training from EMS for its use. It was moved by Larry and seconded by Roger to accept and file the Police report. Motion passed. 7. New Business (continued): a. Angela Ketterl, CPA with Adams, Brown, Beran & Ball, presented the 2018 Audit Report. She reviewed the financial statements and reported there were no budget violations. She reviewed the auditor recommendations for process improvements. The Council thanked her for the report. b. Candi Douthit and Karen Knauer, representing the Cheyenne Family Food Collective (CFFC), shared their ideas for a farmer’s market in the community. They would like to offer not only locally grown produce and meats but expand it to include sales of baked goods, odds and ends, art, crafts, etc. The organization would be responsible for all aspects of the farmers market including ensuring that Kansas food safety and sales tax regulations are followed. They will be holding an organizational meeting on Wednesday and will return to the Council for permission/approval once they have a plan in place. The Council expressed their support. c. Dan Blair, Fire Chief, notified the Council that the hiring process for volunteer firemen has changed. Moving forward there will be a committee of firemen who will conduct interviews and make hiring recommendations which will be voted on by the existing firemen and then presented to the Council for their approval. Chief Blair submitted a letter of resignation from Fireman Scott Houtman. Fireman Keaton Frewen spoke to the Council about a project they would like to implement for color-coded painting of fire hydrants based on NFPA standards. The project would involve flow testing of hydrants to identify the flow rates and then painting them accordingly. Volunteers, such as high school students, would be used for much of the painting work. The Council approved the purchase of painting supplies for the project. They also approved the purchase of a fire hydrant diffuser that would be used for hydrant testing. This equipment has other potential uses that would benefit the City and will be paid for from the general fund. JR will check with Miller & Associates for their recommendations on what to purchase. 8. Old Business:  a. Attorney Day shared a draft of a Solicitation of Offer for development of the Empire Motel property. There was considerable discussion after which the Council approved placing the advertisement in all of the newspapers distributed from the Haynes publications (Colby, Goodland, St. Francis, Norton, Oberlin, Sharon Springs). Roger has spoken to Helen Dobbs who has created flyers and will be taking them to the KREDA meeting. Mike will touch base with Helen again as she may know of other resources. Clerk Whitmore will look into other potential publications that could be utilized for this type of advertisement. b. Property Cleanup – Weed letters have been sent. c. Projects Pending – a) The Council discussed the utilization of the band shell and the possibility of planting additional trees to provide shade. There was more discussion about repairs needed on the seating area. Most improvements would need to be approved by the Historical Society. b) “Recordings of Council Meetings” was added as a new projects pending topic. Amanda has volunteered to look into what it will take to implement video recording of the Council meetings. Lila has set up a YouTube channel for the City and the Council approved payment of $55 to Elevation Design to create a link to this on the city’s website. Clerk Whitmore indicated that the audio recordings currently being taken of the meetings, while not of the best quality, could be placed on the YouTube channel until such time as video recordings are available. The Council agreed that the audio recordings could be used. 9. Keller Pond Committee – Larry reported that the milfoil was treated again and it appears to have been effective. The trails are looking good. There is some cleanup yet to be completed along the Riverwalk. Some trees have been replaced and there are a few more that need to be. The committee met with Tom Keller to discuss general cleanup as well as long term plans, taking into consideration budget constraints and what is realistic. Brock McAtee is to be completing the ADA parking and the Community Foundation has committed grant funds for this project. It was moved by Dara and seconded by Roger to accept and file the Keller Pond Committee report. Motion passed. 10. Theater Report – Lila reported that there was again not enough board members present to reach quorum so no decisions could be made. Reloadable gift cards are now being sold in place of the paper movie bucks previously used. 11. Pool Report – Larry reported that the water temperature of the pool has been good. There will be free admission from 1-7PM on Saturday June 15 during Alumni. The swim meet on June 8 was very successful and there is a qualifying swim meet scheduled to be held in July. It was moved by Dara and seconded by Roger to accept and file the Pool report. Motion passed. 12. Building Permits - A motion was made by Larry and seconded by Roger to approve the following building permits: Valerie Dunnam – 516 S. Benton, landscaping/fence; Jordan Zweygardt – 510 E. Third, cement slab and shed; and pending JR’s approval: Keith Bracelin – 409 S. Adams, cement driveway; Daryl Loyd – 505 E. Fourth, carport. Motion passed. 13. Superintendent Report – a) A report has been received from RVW for the electrical improvements which included a proposed bid and construction schedule. b) JR spoke briefly about the airport water project and how a lot of city’s time and resources were consumed by the project. He recommended that similar projects in the future be required to use a general contractor. c) JR shared with the Council preliminary cost estimates from Miller & Associates for the street project. A motion was made by Roger and seconded by Larry to approve core samples be taken. Motion passed. Attorney Day pointed out that there are some deadlines that need to be met if the City is going to have the project ready for an election by fall in order to coincide with the grant application deadline. JR discussed the reasons why a 1% sales tax is necessary. Mike will contact Gilmore & Bell for guidance and advice regarding the bond issue. He will then meet with Lila and JR to come up with a plan. A special meeting may be needed to specifically discuss the street project, the issuance of bonds, and the sales tax question. d) JR requested 2 minutes of executive session for non-elected personnel to discuss a worker’s compensation issue. It was moved by Dara and seconded by Larry to accept and file the Superintendent report. Motion passed. 14. Attorney Report – a) Attorney Day requested 5 minutes of executive session to discuss a legal matter. 15. Clerk Report – a) There were some issues with setting up the pool concessions account with St. Francis Supers. The problem was resolved but receipt of the bill has been delayed. A motion was made by Roger and seconded by Dara for an out of cycle payment to be made to St. Francis Supers for the pool concessions once the bill has been received. b) Clerk Whitmore shared a document showing what other communities across Kansas have for a local sales tax. It was moved by Dara and seconded by Larry to accept and file the Clerk report. Motion passed. 16. Council Comments: Roger – none Dara – none Larry – none 17. Mayor Comments – Scott shared a comment from a traveler regarding the fees at the Roadside Park campground. He also shared a thank you from the VFW and Lions Club for providing the benches for the Memorial Day service and for the D-Day/Flag Ceremony at the museum. 18. All bills on Ordinance #1027 were reviewed. It was moved by Larry and seconded by Roger to approve the bills in the amount of $203,635.57. Motion passed. 19. At 9:30 a motion was made by Larry and seconded by Dara for the Council, along with all those present, to recess into executive session for a legal matter, the open meeting to resume at 9:35. At 9:35 the open meeting resumed. No action was taken. 20. At 9:37 a motion was made by Larry and seconded by Roger for the Council, along with all those present, to recess into executive session for the non-elected personnel exception to discuss a worker’s compensation issue, the open meeting to resume at 9:40. Motion passed. At 9:40 the open meeting resumed. No action was taken. 21. Adjournment: It was moved by Dara and seconded by Roger to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed. ___________________________________________ City Clerk