City Council

Regular Council Meeting September 9, 2019 1. Mayor Scott Schultz called the meeting to order at 7:30. Present were Council members Amanda Milne, Kale Dankenbring, Roger Jensen, Dara Carmichael and Larry Finley. Also present were City Superintendent JR Landenberger, City Attorney Mike Day, Interim Police Chief Cody Beeson, and City Clerk Lila Whitmore. 2. Minutes from the August 26 Council meeting were distributed and read. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Kale to approve the minutes as written. 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, Kelley Milliken, Halley Roberson 5. Police Report: Interim Police Chief Cody Beeson shared the stats for the first week of September. He then discussed with the Council the cost estimates that he has created for the Sheriff’s Office to provide law enforcement for the City of St. Francis. The cost for one year would be approximately $104,675. Sheriff Beeson had broken down the costs into categories and explained each one. Credit in the amount of $14,766 would be given back to the City each year for 3 years for equipment that is currently in the police department inventory which the Sheriff’s office would be able to utilize such as ammunition, firearms, computers, and one police vehicle and also credit for a portion of Officer Butler’s KLETC training. This would bring the cost per year for the first 3 years to $89,909. Cody feels that the agreement could take affect the beginning of January, 2020. The Council thanked Cody for the information. Sheriff Beeson left the meeting. 6. New Business: a. Sunflower Electric – Corey Linville, Sunflower Vice President of Power Supply & Delivery, Chuck Loop, Prairie Land CEO, and Erica Villarreal, Sunflower Power Contracts Manager presented information to the Council regarding their plan for reduced power costs for the City. Two options were presented with estimated savings per year of $112,701 for option 1, and $227,701 per year for option 2. The differences between the two plans were primarily the term of the contract, the fixed energy charges, the ECA, and the incremental capacity costs. The current contract expires December 31, 2021, but either of these plans could be implemented now providing immediate cost savings to the City. The Council thanked them for sharing the information. JR is working on comparisons between this proposal and the one previously presented by KMEA along with cost projections and other factors to determine which would be the best option for the City. b. Micky Graves Sainty Liquor – Mr. Graves requested the City Council consider allowing alcohol sales on Sundays which is permitted by State Statute but determined by local ordinance. He stated that he doesn’t plan to open on Sundays but would like to be able to open on Labor Day, Memorial Day and July 4th. Per state statute, if Sunday sales are allowed, sales are prohibited only on Easter Sunday, Christmas and Thanksgiving and are allowed on Sundays between the hours of 12:00 and 8PM. A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Amanda for Attorney Day to prepare an ordinance to permit whatever the state allows for the sale of alcohol. Motion passed. c. Access Road Update – Attorney Day thanked Scott, Roger and Amanda for attending the KDOT meeting in Hays on August 29 and for presenting information on the City’s behalf. Amanda researched County records and found a deed from 1931 which shows that the properties which included the access road had been deeded to the state. Amanda was able to use a mapping system at the county along with the legal description to identify the area in the deed and she shared the map with the Council. Scott indicated there was a cost share option that was discussed at the KDOT meeting but he did not feel the city should consider it at this time. Roger commented that many people from the area were there to share information and that there is significant need for improvements on many highways and roads but a lack of state funding. Amanda and Roger will continue their efforts in addressing the concerns regarding the access road and crossovers. Attorney Day will check state statutes and will make contact with the State.  d. Attorney Day presented Resolution 2019-8: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF ST. FRANCIS, KANSAS APPROVING A TEMPORARY PERMIT ALLOWING FOR THE CONSUMPTION OF ALCOHOLIC LIQUOR ON CITY STREETS. It was noted that the event name had changed from Tri-State Thunder Motorcycle Rally to Biketemberfest and Attorney Day will make that change. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Larry to approve the Resolution as amended. Kale – abstained, Amanda – Yes, Roger – Yes, Dara – Yes, Larry – Yes. Motion passed. 7. Old Business: a. Police Department - The Council further discussed the information provided by Sheriff Beeson. They would like to see more details regarding hours of coverage and a breakdown of what the administrative costs include as well as clarification on the computer equipment needed. Mike will email Cody with the Council’s questions. Lila will request an inventory list from Matt Hill for the computer/office equipment the department currently has. Some will need to be retained for the Municipal Court Clerk job. b. Street Project – JR reminded everyone of the CDBG Public Hearing at 7:00 pm Monday September 16 at the High School auditorium. Mande Moberly with the St. Francis Herald will include an article in this week’s paper to ensure the public is aware of the hearing and the public forum which will follow. Lila will work with the Herald to create an ad to remind voters of the special election on October 8. c. Electrical Infrastructure – RVW notified JR that two bids were received for the electrical project but they were very high. RVW and JR feel it is likely because of the short time frame for work completion that was part of the project scope. RVW recommended that the City resubmit the request for bids with an extended completion deadline time of 6 months to a year. The Council agreed. d. Property Cleanup – There are additional properties that have been added to the cleanup list which include junk and dilapidated properties in addition to the weeds. Attorney Day recommended commencing with condemnation procedures on two properties, 417 E. Jackson and 600 S. Adams. Many of the properties that were on the tax sale have been cleaned up. It was also noted that there are two properties which have had inoperable and untagged vehicles parked on the street for several months, 215 E. Webster and 315 E. Fourth. Clerk Whitmore will contact Sheriff Beeson regarding these. e. Projects Pending – There was some interest recently in the old pool property but JR has not heard anything more. 8. Keller Pond Committee – no updates 9. Building Permits – A motion was made by Dara and seconded by Roger to approve the following building permits: Janet Carman – 415 W. Spencer, fence; Gilbert Carroll – 322 S. Benton, pole barn; Paul Morrison – 203 S. Benton, garden shed; Adam Guthmiller – 420 E. Whittier, fence; Drew Zweygardt – 103 E. Spencer, fence; Sherri Van Horn – 515 S. Denison, garden shed; Clifford Semler – 419 S. Valley, residential wood frame with metal roof; and pending JR’s approval Rick Kriegh – 629 E. Jackson, retaining wall. Motion passed. 10. Superintendent Report – a) Tyler Hillmer with Miller & Associates will take a look at Valley Street when he is in town on Monday for the CDBG Hearing. b) Progress is being made on the water valve isolation and the City crew will continue to make this a high priority into the fall. Dara asked about the natural spring issue on Spencer Street. JR is aware of it and is working on a possible solution. It was moved by Kale and seconded by Dara to accept and file the Superintendent report. Motion passed. 11. Attorney Report – Mike requested 5 minutes of executive session for non-elected personnel to discuss supervision. 12. Clerk Report – a) The Council approved the offering of Liberty Mutual life insurance to employees as an additional employee benefit. This would be a payroll deduction at employee expense. Clerk Whitmore will contact Heather Miles, representative. b) Lila let the Council know that an inspector from the Kansas Department of Ag had been here to inspect the dog pound. The dog pound has not been used in a long time and does not meet code. The Mayor was contacted and it was decided to close the pound at this time. It can be reopened in the future if it is needed and brought up to code. c) Because of the electrical infrastructure improvement being put on hold for now, the Council approved Clerk Whitmore reinvesting the cd funds for the two cds which came up for renewal in September. She will contact the local banks regarding current rates. d) The Council signed a thank you letter to the St. Francis Community Foundation for the funds that they provided for the ADA parking and the Van Allen shade structure at Keller Pond. e) It was moved by Roger and seconded by Amanda to approve the 2020 Itron Hardware and Software maintenance agreement in the amount of  $2,719.17. Motion passed. It was moved by Dara and seconded by Kale to accept and file the Clerk report. Motion passed. 13. Council Comments: Kale – He has had numerous citizen complaints regarding dogs and also RVs parked on the Streets. City Ordinance 604 allows RV parking on City streets from April 1 thru October 1. He also asked about the stop sign in the pedestrian crossing by the pool. JR indicated it needs to be weighted down and will be put back soon. Amanda – Eric Harper with dispatch asked Amanda about publishing the police department stats. Previously Chief Thomas had requested they not be published. The Council approved having Sheriff Beeson publish the police stats if he feels that is appropriate. Roger – none Dara – none Larry – none 14. Mayor Comments – none 15. All bills on Ordinance #1030 were reviewed. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Larry to approve the bills in the amount of $147,516.56. Motion passed. 16. At 9:47 a motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Larry for the Council, along with all those present, to recess into executive session for the non-elected personnel exception to discuss supervision, the open meeting to resume at 9:52. Motion passed. At 9:52 the open meeting resumed. No action was taken. 17. Adjournment: It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Roger to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed. ___________________________________________ City Clerk