City Council

Regular Council Meeting June 24, 2019 1. Mayor Scott Schultz called the meeting to order at 7:30. Present were Council members Amanda Milne, Roger Jensen, Dara Carmichael, and Larry Finley. Also present were City Superintendent JR Landenberger and City Clerk Lila Whitmore. Council member Kale Dankenbring, City Attorney Mike Day, and Police Chief Darrell Thomas were absent. 2. Minutes from the June 10 meeting were distributed and read. It was moved by Larry and seconded by Dara to approve the minutes as written. Motion passed. 3. Consent Agenda – It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Roger to approve the following item on the Consent Agenda: Permission for Clerk to pay Highway 36 Association Membership Dues of $100. Motion passed. 4. Visitors – Grace Larkin, Jason Larkin, Jen Blair, Dan Blair 5. Police Report - none 6. New Business: a. Larry Fahrenbruch, Employee Benefits Broker with Medical Transport Solutions, presented information to the Council regarding a group benefit plan which covers out-of-pocket costs for emergency medical air and ground transportation. The plan would be a voluntary payroll deduction and would be offered as a benefit to full time employees. Mr. Fahrenbruch stated it could also be offered to City Council members as well with proof of health insurance coverage. Another option is a Census plan that would be sponsored by the employer with no cost to the employees. The plan is also offered on an individual bases, not as a group plan, for additional cost. The Council tabled the topic for later discussion. b. Bruce Roelfs shared his concerns regarding drivers not obeying the speed limits on Scott Street where he lives and concerns for the safety of children in the neighborhood because of this. Mayor Schultz will take his concerns to Police Chief Thomas and request increased patrolling of the area. JR indicated that Children Playing signs could also be placed upon citizen request and approval of property owners. c. Ron Ewing was present to ask the Council to consider amending City Code Chapter 15 Article 222 with regards to late fees. He believes it is an unfair burden for low or fixed income residents and that the fees should be waived for those who take the initiative to contact the City to arrange an extension to pay their bill. Clerk Whitmore explained that the extension policy was put into place to help citizens who may be facing possible shutoff of utilities on the 25th of the month but wasn’t meant to forgive late fees. Mr. Ewing also requested the Council consider offering utility credits for individuals who have oxygen concentrators. He shared data showing estimates of what it costs for the electricity to run these on a 24 hour basis. Mayor Schultz indicated the Council would take his requests into consideration and the topic was tabled for further discussion. d. Karen Knauer, Cheyenne County Farmer’s Market coordinator, shared the progress that is being made for the Farmer’s Market that was discussed at the last meeting. Community members met on June 12 and a board was formed to begin organizing and promoting the event. The plan is to have a Farmer’s Market every Saturday morning at the Courthouse Park from 9-11AM. The first one will be on July 6 and will have local produce and possibly handmade arts and crafts. They would like to have live music and possibly ready to eat foods offered as well. There are registration forms that vendors will be required to submit and each vendor will be given a sales tax packet. Karen will submit the vendor list to the State to ensure sales taxes are being paid. They will also follow the KSU Food Safety for KS Farmers Market Vendors regulations and best practices. There are plans to have a “Taste of Cheyenne County” event following the fair parade. A motion was made by Roger and seconded by Amanda to waive vendor fees for the Farmer’s Market. Motion passed. e. Amanda, representing the Washington Street Beautification Committee, spoke of their plans for a phase 1 project which is to purchase additional banners for Washington Street that would be rotated 3 times a year with one set for spring/summer, another for fall/winter, and the existing holiday banners. Phase 2 will be creating a plan for trees, and phase 3 will be to consider other beautification projects such as planter boxes or artwork. Amanda requested permission for the committee to apply for a Cheyenne County Community Foundation grant through the City to fund phase 1 of the project. A  motion was made by Larry and seconded by Roger to approve applying for the grant. Motion passed. Heather Hnizdil will write the grant application. f. A motion was made by Dara and seconded by Roger to approve the following Fireworks licenses: Parkhill/Anita Amack – 426 East Business HW 36; Milne’s Mayhem/Jennifer Milne – 215 N. Adams; Brunk’s Fireworks/Laura Brunk – 709 S. Benton. Motion passed. g. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Larry to approve the Liquor License renewals for Parkhill Restaurant & Lounge/Anita Amack and Fresh Seven Coffee/Heidi Plumb. Motion passed. 7. Old Business: a. Property Cleanup – JR will follow up on the weed letters that have been sent. b. Projects Pending – a) Clerk Whitmore reported that Lacey Grogan is working on getting the link set up on the website for access to the Council meeting audio recordings and eventually video recordings. Amanda is still investigating the video options. There have been some concerns expressed from other Counties regarding the use of YouTube for hosting of the recordings, and the County is looking into this further, but other options may be cost prohibitive. Lila reported that the County Clerk has indicated he will keep her in the loop as to what the County decides to do, and the City may wish to follow suit. Lila will also check with Elevation Design to see if it is possible to post the meetings on the website itself. b) There was discussion regarding the streets project and how payments for curb and gutter repairs are made, either directly by the property owners or by assessment to the property taxes, and the protest process. Lila will check with Justine Beloit/NWKP&DC as to any impact this could have on the CDBG grant we are applying for. JR indicated that the streets should be identified this week and we will know the amount of curb and gutter that needs replaced. We are on a tight timeline with approval of resolutions needing to happen at the July 8 Council meeting with publication on July 11. The Council agreed that a special meeting is needed to discuss and make decisions on the street project and a tentative date/time was set for Monday July 1, at 7:30. Clerk Whitmore will contact Mike to confirm his availability. c) Larry stated that the Recreation Commission is continuing to look into possible uses for the old pool property. 8. Keller Pond Committee – There were no major updates. Most of the pits have been filled in. It appears that they achieved a good kill on the milfoil. Dara reported that the Community Foundation has offered to back the cost of moving the Van Allen structure to Keller Pond. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Dara to accept and file the Keller Pond Committee report. Motion passed. 9. Pool Report – Larry reported that there was an issue with algae growth due to water temperatures being too high and some other factors, but they have been able to treat it and keep it under control. The water quality is good. The qualifying meet that was supposed to be held in July has been moved to Atwood. There was a repair that was needed on the slide and Carruthers Construction completed the work at no cost to the City. The Pool Board will be discussing whether or not to establish a minimum air temperature required to open the pool. It was moved by Roger and seconded by Dara to accept and file the Pool report. Motion passed. 10. Building Permits - A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Roger to approve the following building permits: Daryl Loyd – 505 E. Fourth, carport; Bill Peter – 308 W. Webster, porch; and pending JR’s approval Josh Hasart – 620 S. Benton, privacy fence; Jason Larkin – 223 Birch, fence. Motion passed. 11. Superintendent Report – a) RVW has completed the engineering work and have provided potential bid documents and specifications along with an engineer’s estimate for the work. Feeder 3, which is the primary culprit for operational issues, will cost approximately $385,000 and feeder 1 will be approximately $140,000. The amount budgeted for this project was $200,000. JR pointed out that the cost will only increase over time and both sections are in significant need of improvement. Lila was able to provide some options that could make the project do-able but it would reduce cash reserves by quite a bit. Looking forward, JR explained that when the current contract with Prairie Land ends December 31, 2021 we would have an option to contract with KMEA for the purchase of power. KMEA provided estimates based on our 2018 power supply and found that if we had been with them currently we would have had an annual cost savings of approximately $271,000. JR recommends doing the work on both feeders 1 and 3 if possible, and then ceasing additional work until the City is able to be under contract with KMEA when we will have the additional revenue to put back into the system. JR has invited KMEA to attend the July 22 Council meeting to discuss the power contracts. b) JR and Tyler Hillmer with Miller & Associates are working on identifying the streets and concrete work along with a monetary number associated with them. The streets must be specified on the ballot and they will need to be determined  by the July 8 Council meeting. Some of the streets being considered are Parkway, a section of Francis, and a section of North Street because of drainage issues, and also some sections of Webster, Benton and Denison Streets. The core sampling will still need to be done. c) A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Larry to allow Dan Blair to carry over 40 hours of vacation time. Motion passed. d) JR requested 5 minutes of executive session for non-elected personnel to discuss an employee’s status. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Roger to accept and file the Superintendent report. Motion passed. Motion passed. 12. Attorney Report – none 13. Clerk Report – a) Katie Aldaco, who runs the Kansas Reading Roadmap program, has requested permission from the Council to have a lemonade stand on the sidewalks in front of the Art Hub and the Thrift store. This is a community service project for the 24 children in the reading program and all proceeds will go toward the “Blessing Bags” project. Clerk Whitmore pointed out that City Code states a vendor fee is not required for any not-for-profit or charitable organization as determined by the governing body. The Council approved the lemonade stand and no vendor fees. b) Cinda Dankenbring reported that the Senior Center has $36,800 in their savings account. c) Lila let the Council know that she is busy working with Angela Ketterl on the 2020 budget and the Council will need to schedule a budget workshop sometime during the first or second week of July. It was moved by Dara and seconded by Larry to accept and file the Clerk report. Motion passed. 14. The Council continued discussion of the Medical Transport insurance. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Dara to make this available to full time employees. Motion passed. Clerk Whitmore will also confirm that it can be offered to Council members at group rates and will check with the auditors to see if it can be a payroll deduction for the Council members as well. 15. The Council further discussed the requests made by Ron Ewing regarding the utility late fees and utility credits. The Council chose to not make any changes to existing policies. 16. Council Comments: Amanda – none Roger – spoke about the parking on the North side of the pool and how cars sometimes encroach on the walkway area where the pedestrian sign is and also block being able to see people using the sidewalks. JR will have a section of the curb painted yellow to discourage parking in that area. Dara – expressed thanks to Larry for the Concert in the Park, which was a big success. She also mentioned that the Empire motel property might need some attention and mowing. Larry – has heard feedback from campers that the camping fees at the Roadside Park are too high. 17. Mayor Comments – Scott offered a possible solution for the repairs that are needed on the flag pole at the band shell. 18. At 9:30 a motion was made by Larry and seconded by Amanda for the Council, along with all those present, to recess into executive session for the non-elected personnel exception to discuss an employee’s status, the open meeting to resume at 9:35. Motion passed. At 9:35 the open meeting resumed. No action was taken. 19. Adjournment: It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Roger to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed. ___________________________________________ City Clerk