City Council

Regular Council Meeting July 8, 2019 1. Mayor Scott Schultz called the meeting to order at 7:30. Present were Council members Kale Dankenbring, Amanda Milne, Roger Jensen, Dara Carmichael, and Larry Finley. Also present was City Attorney Mike Day, Police Chief Darrell Thomas and City Clerk Lila Whitmore. City Superintendent JR Landenberger was absent. 2. Minutes from the June 24 meeting were distributed and read. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Larry to approve the minutes as written. Motion passed. Minutes from the June 28 special meeting were distributed and read. It was moved by Roger and seconded by Kale to approve the minutes as written. Motion passed. 3. Consent Agenda – It was moved by Amanda 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, Jason Larkin 5. Police Report: a) Chief Thomas shared the statistics for June. b) Matt Hill recently attended training in Denver in order to become the department’s range instructor. He will become certified in gun safety after a second training is completed. Darrell is looking for required annual training for Jon. c) Darrell has received a couple of applicants for the police officer position and he is waiting to hear back from them. d) New tires will be needed for the 2015 Charger and possibly the 2014 Charger at approximately $500 per set. It was moved by Kale and seconded by Larry to accept and file the Police report. Motion passed. 6. New Business: a. Clay Zimbelman spoke to the Council regarding establishing an RV Park in the location that is currently licensed as a Mobile Home Park at South Adams and West Second, specifically the lots at 305 and 311 West Second. The lots are owned by Eldon Zimbelman and managed by Clay through Zimbelman Rental Company. The Council determined that since this would be a business in a residential area a zoning variance would need to be granted. The Council determined the property owners who would be affected are Tina Zweygardt, Enrique and Ashley Lopez, Mary Walz, Craig Zweygardt, Amanda Milne and Gregory Neel. There were also questions regarding the City Code relating to RV Parks and the necessary licensing requirements and fees. Assuming that a variance is going to be needed, the Council requested Mr. Zimbelman go ahead and obtain the necessary signatures and return them to the City Clerk. Attorney Day will look closer at the current City Code before the next Council meeting in order to determine how best to proceed with Mr. Zimbelman’s request. b. Helen Dobbs, Cheyenne County Development Cooperation Director, presented the annual CCDC report and talked about the projects and programs that CCDC is involved with and their plans for the upcoming year. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale to again take out a full page ad in the Ultimate Guide to Northwest Kansas at a cost of $1,600. Motion passed. This is paid for from the Guest Tax fund. Kary Zweygardt, CCDC Board President, shared and explained the CCDC budget for next year. He requested that the City continue to support CCDC with the same contribution as they have in the past. He also addressed the Council regarding the need for pet waste bag dispensers at the Roadside Park. There is also a need for these at Keller Pond and the Riverwalk. He will come back to the Council with cost estimates for consideration. Amanda will bring this topic up at the Washington Street beautification committee meeting as there is also a need for them along Washington Street. The Council also discussed the need for additional trash cans at the Roadside Park as well as for Keller Pond and the Riverwalk. c. Attorney Day explained Resolution 2019-4. The Resolution calls for a special election on October 8 for a 1% sales tax initiative. The tax collection would begin April 1, 2020. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Roger to approve Resolution 2019-4: A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING AND PROVIDING FOR THE CALLING OF A SPECIAL QUESTION ELECTION IN THE CITY OF ST. FRANCIS, KANSAS, FOR THE PURPOSE OF SUBMITTING TO THE QUALIFIED ELECTORS OF THE CITY THE QUESTION OF IMPOSING A ONE PERCENT (1.0%) CITY-WIDE SAKES TAX FOR GENERAL INFRASTRUCTURE PURPOSES; AND  PROVIDING FOR THE GIVING OF NOTICE OF SAID SPECIAL QUESTION ELECTION. Dankenbring – Aye; Milne – Aye; Jensen – Aye; Carmichael – Aye; Finley – Aye. Motion passed. d. Attorney Day explained Resolution 2019-5. The resolution defines the streets identified by JR along with Miller & Associates and specifies the cost for the curb and gutter repairs. This resolution must be published twice and is subject to a 20 day protest period following the last publication. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Roger to approve Resolution 2019-5: A RESOLUTION DECLARING IT NECESSARY TO PAVE, REPAVE, RECURB, REGUTTER AND OTHERWISE IMPROVE IDENTIFIED STREETS AND ASSESS A SPECIAL TAX TO THE PROPERTY OWNER THAT PORTION OF THE COST ATTRIBUTED TO THE CURB AND GUTTER. Dankenbring – Aye; Milne – Aye; Jensen – Aye; Carmichael – Aye; Finley – Aye. Motion passed. Clerk Whitmore recommended the Council consider holding a public forum to give citizens an opportunity to ask questions about the resolutions. The Council agreed to hold a public forum at 7:00pm July 22 just prior to the next scheduled Council meeting. Roger asked if the City is obligated to notify affected property owners. Attorney Day indicated the obligation is fulfilled by publication of the resolution. e. Attorney Day explained Resolution 2019-6. This resolution authorizes the city to issue bonds for the street improvements. The resolution will be published for two weeks and is subject to a 30 day protest period. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Larry to approve Resolution 2019-6: A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED ONE MILLION TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS ($1,200,000) PAYABLE BY THE CITY AT LARGE TO REPAIR, RESURFACE AND RE-GUTTER AND RE-CURB IDENTIFIED STREETS AND GUTTERS. Dankenbring – Aye; Milne – Aye; Jensen – Aye; Carmichael – Aye; Finley – Aye. Motion passed. All 3 Resolutions were signed by Mayor Schultz and attested by Clerk Whitmore. 7. Old Business: a. Property Cleanup – none Attorney Day left the meeting b. Projects Pending – a) The Washington Street Beautification Committee will meet tomorrow. Amanda reported that the grant request to the Community Foundation for the banners was fully funded. 8. Keller Pond Committee – Larry will look into the trash cans that were discussed earlier. McAtee Construction has completed the ADA accessible parking and has poured concrete from there to the bridge. Concrete has also been poured for the pad for the Van Allen structure. It appears that the milfoil kill was successful. A lot of people are using the trail. It was moved by Dara and seconded by Kale to accept and file the Keller Pond Committee report. Motion passed. 9. Theater Report – The Theater Board met tonight so neither Lila nor Amanda were able to attend. 10. Pool Report – Larry reported that the algae is still being treated to keep it under control. The attendance at the pool is averaging between 70-100 per day. Kelly Leach with Leach Insurance is sponsoring free swimming on the 4th of July. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Kale to accept and file the Pool report. Motion passed. 11. Building Permits - A motion was made by Larry and seconded by Roger to approve the following building permit: Cheyenne County Hospital – 210 W. First, concrete parking area. Motion passed. 12. Superintendent Report – none 13. Attorney Report – none 14. Clerk Report – a) The KMIT Worker’s Compensation representative was here for the annual safety review. Once again the City has received Gold Status. The gold rating reduces the premium that we pay. b) Lila has been working with Angela Ketterl on the 2020 budget and a draft budget was received late this afternoon. A budget workshop was scheduled for Monday, July 15, at 7:00 pm. c) Lila shared the schedule of important deadlines regarding the street project and the budget. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Dara to accept and file the Clerk report. Motion passed. 15. Council Comments: Kale – none Amanda – none Roger – We need to continue to pursue investors for the Empire Motel property. Lila will add this topic to the projects pending list. Dara – asked if the Council should talk about the Roadside Park camping fees. Many Council members have received feedback that the fee is too high. There have been comments left in the payment box as well. After discussion a motion was made by Roger and seconded by Dara to lower the camping fee to $25. Motion passed. There was some discussion about hiring part time help for cleaning of the Roadside Park and courthouse park bathrooms. Scott will talk to JR. Larry – has heard several complaints about potholes on the access road at the cross overs. The City crew has patched some but there are more that need to be done. Scott will talk with JR. The Council agreed that residents should  be encouraged to contact Rick Billinger and express their concerns about the access road and crossovers. Larry has also heard complaints about the paving around the Roadside Park. Roger said that the City has millings along the mixing strip that could be used on this area. Larry and Amanda will talk with Dave Flemming about this to see if anything could be done. 16. Mayor Comments – none 17. All bills on Ordinance #1028 were reviewed. It was moved by Kale and seconded by Dara to approve the bills in the amount of $218,535.63. Motion passed. 18. Adjournment: It was moved by Dara and seconded by Roger to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed. ___________________________________________ City Clerk