City Council

Regular Council Meeting August 26, 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 were City Superintendent JR Landenberger, City Attorney Mike Day, Chief of Police Darrell Thomas and City Clerk Lila Whitmore. 2. Minutes from the August 12 meeting were distributed and read. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Roger to approve the minutes as written. Motion passed. 3. Visitors – Dan Blair, Jen Blair, Grace Larkin 4. Police Report – Chief Thomas thanked the City Council for the opportunity to be of service to the City. They have been busy the past week with stolen vehicles. Roger asked if the department has an equipment inventory and Darrell confirmed that Matt Hill has compiled a list. A motion was made by Larry and seconded by Kale to accept and file the police report. Motion passed. 5. New Business: Valley Street Concerns - Dave Wright, along with Cliff Semler, Larry Zweygardt, and Ray Alcott, expressed their concerns regarding the condition of Valley Street. There was considerable discussion. JR will look into possible solutions to help alleviate the runoff issues and improve the condition of the street. Police Department Discussion – County Sheriff Cody Beeson, County Commissioner Terry Rieger, and County Attorney Leslie Beims were present to discuss with the Council options to address the immediate need of supervision and operation of the police department after Chief Thomas’s last day August 30. There may need to be a memorandum of understanding created so that the Sheriff’s department can enforce city ordinances. This would be a temporary short term solution until the Council decides how best to proceed with the department. Sheriff Beeson offered his assistance. Cody shared a questionnaire for Council members to complete which will help him determine the services the Council feels are needed. He also indicated that he stands by a report he had created in 2014 addressing this same topic. With the exception of the dollar figures, his opinions have not changed from those expressed in the report. After some discussion a motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale for the Council, along with Sheriff Beeson, Commissioner Rieger, Attorney Beims, City Superintendent Landenberger, City Attorney Day, Police Chief Thomas, and City Clerk Whitmore, to recess into executive session for the non-elected personnel exception to discuss supervision of the police department, the open meeting to resume at 8:12. Motion passed. At 8:12 the open meeting resumed. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale to go back into executive session until 8:22. Motion passed. At 8:22 the open meeting resumed. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Larry to appoint Sheriff Beeson as the interim Chief of Police for 30 days at a the pay of $1000. Motion passed. Amanda will contact County Clerk Houtman so that the Council can be on the agenda for the Friday Commissioners meeting to further discuss this topic. Attorney Day will get a copy of the contract between Bird City and the Sherriff’s office. Lila will provide the information from the 2014 report to the Council members. 6. Old Business: a. Street Project – The Preliminary Engineering Report is now with Justine at NWKP&DC. The next step is to hold a public hearing for the grant. The Council agreed to schedule this for Monday September 16 at 7pm at the High School auditorium. There will also be a public forum following the public hearing to address citizen questions on the street project, the sales tax question, and the bond issue. b. Electrical Infrastructure Project – The project is out for bids with a September 4 bid opening at RVW in Columbus Nebraska and an award date of September 9, the next regular Council meeting. c. Property Cleanup – no updates d. Projects Pending – no updates 7. Keller Pond Committee – Larry reported that the Van Allen shade structure has been moved to Keller Pond. The water level is good. The parking lot can now be worked on and millings may be added in front of the ADA parking. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Dara to accept and file the Keller Pond Committee report. Motion passed. 8. Pool Report – no updates. Financial reports will be available in September after the final bills for the season have been paid. A Tenemac representative will be out to look into repainting the black lines on the pool. 9. Building Permits – none 10. Superintendent Report – a) After the discussion regarding the electrical contract with KMEA, Prairieland contacted JR and he met with Sunflower on August 19 to discuss price restructuring which places them as very competitive with the KMEA pricing structure. However, it is quite complicated and there are things that need to be considered on both contracts. JR will continue to review both agreements and will have further discussions with both KMEA  and Sunflower. The bottom line is that the City will see relief on the electric costs regardless of which agreement is decided on. b) The new owner of the property at 413 E. Washington inquired as to who is responsible for the curb and gutter. The Council confirmed that it is the responsibility of the business owner. This individual has also purchased the lot next to Neitzel Insurance and has asked about putting in a self-contained prebuilt structure for a business and if a foundation would be required. Mike will look into applicable ordinances. c) The Council approved JR contacting an engineer to look at Valley Street between Highway 36 and First Street and offer direction on the best way to address the issues. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Larry to accept and file the Superintendent report. Motion passed. 11. Attorney Report – Attorney Day requested 10 minutes of executive for the non-elected personnel exception to discuss employee status and supervision. 12. Clerk Report – a) Milton Lampe expressed thanks to the City crew for installing the memorial bench that he donated and that the location is perfect. b) Bruce Swihart had asked if an AED device could be made available at the pool. Larry indicated the pool board would look into it. c) Heidi Plumb/Fresh Seven Coffee submitted plans for a beer garden at the Biketemberfest Motorcycle Rally on September 21 and will be applying for a special event temporary liquor license with the State for which Council approval is required. A motion was made by Roger and seconded by Dara to approve the application. Motion passed with Kale abstaining. Attorney Day will draft a resolution to allow consumption of alcoholic beverages on City streets within the boundaries defined on the application. d) The Cheyenne County Kansas Community Foundation voted to pay the $4,300 for the installation of the posts and caps around the ADA parking at Keller Pond. A grant application was not needed. Lila will write a thank you to the Foundation. A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Amanda to pay Brock McAtee construction for the work once the funds have been received from the Community Foundation. Motion passed. e) There are two CDs at First National Bank that will be coming up for renewal in September, one for $100,000 and the other for $50,000. The Council agreed not to renew these CDs at this time and to place the funds in the collections account at FNB. f) Lila read a thank you from a traveler regarding the roadside park. g) The City received a donation to Sawhill Park in memory of Virginia Sawhill Galloway. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Kale to accept and file the Clerk report. Motion passed. 13. Council Comments: Kale – none Amanda – asked about the crosswalk stop sign on Washington. It had blown over in the wind but will be put back and weighted down. There was a school crossing zone sign put up at Spencer and Denison. There was discussion about adding one at Spencer and Benton. Roger – He, along with Amanda and Scott, will be attending the KDOT meeting on Thursday in Hays. Dara – none Larry – none 14. Mayor Comments – none 15. Darrell and JR left the meeting. At 9:00 a motion was made by Larry and seconded by Amanda for the Council along with Attorney Day and Clerk Whitmore to recess into executive session for the non-elected personnel exception to discuss employee supervision, the open meeting to resume at 9:10. At 9:10 the open meeting resumed. The City Clerk will take over administrative supervision of the Police Clerk/Municipal Court Clerk until a decision is made regarding the police department. 16. Adjournment: It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Roger to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed. ___________________________________________ City Clerk