City Council

Regular Council Meeting October 15, 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 and City Clerk Lila Whitmore. City Attorney Mike Day and Interim Police Chief Cody Beeson were absent. 2. Minutes from the September 23 Council meeting were distributed and read. There was one spelling correction. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Roger 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 – none 5. Police Report: The September statistics for the police department/Officer Butler were shared with the Council. Officer Butler has received radar certification. 6. New Business: a. Internet Committee – Kelly Frewen, Jason Padgett, and Robert Grace presented to the Council a proposed plan for establishing an Eagle Internet hot spot at the City Park. The equipment would be placed at the Courthouse and the range would include the parks and the swimming pool. The cost of putting in the hot spot would be $3,262.88 for the equipment plus a monthly access fee. This fee is based on bandwidth/download speeds and ranges from $50 for 30MB to $280 for 1GB. Eagle has offered a 40% discount to the City on the fee. The Council discussed the possibility of establishing a hot spot at the Roadside Park as well. Clerk Whitmore pointed out that funds received from camping fees could be used for improvements like this at the Roadside Park. She will let the Council know how much has been received thus far. The Council agreed the hot spots would be a good thing for the community. Amanda will touch base with the County Commissioners to ensure they are agreeable to the project. Jason will check to see if there would be a discount available on the equipment if the City were to establish two hot spots. There will be more discussion at a future meeting. 7. Superintendent Report: a) JR is working with Stanion Electric on creating a solar lighting plan for Sawhill Park and also at the Keller Pond parking area. He is also seeking prices on medium to large sized trees in 6 to 8 locations at Sawhill Park to replace the ash trees that are dying. b) The sprinkler system at Sawhill Park needed repairs. JR had requested a written quote from an individual not to exceed $4,000 but the person started the project before approval had been given. The work was completed by the individual thru another contractor who had the appropriate liability insurance and a bill was received from Leonard Barnes/Barnes Tree Service for $3,998.50. A motion was made by Roger and seconded by Larry to approve the payment of the bill. Motion passed. c) The County had brought a milling machine to town and JR received approval from Mayor Schultz to authorize millings to be put down on Whittier Street while the machine was available. A packer was also rented to do the work. A bill for this has not yet been received for this work. d) The Council authorized JR to obtain bids for the installation of concrete on the east side of the pool. e) Fall cleanup begins on October 21. JR clarified that the purpose of the cleanup is to keep properties clean and is meant for residential only. It is not intended for businesses or renovations other than homeowner renovations. f) JR has not yet received a contract from Sunflower for review, but once received and approved it will be retroactive back to October 1. g) There was discussion regarding the removal of trees for the street project. JR will discuss this with Tyler Hillmer/Miller & Associates to determine the next steps. h) RVW indicates that the bid openings for the electrical improvement project will be October 31 and a recommendation made at the 1st meeting in November. i) The condemnation proceedings have started on the Toler property and notices have been sent to the heirs. Lila stated that Attorney Day had indicated that a notice will also need to be published for 3 weeks with a hearing date to be in mid to late November. j) A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale to approve the following building permits: Cheyenne County Head Start – Elementary School, utility shed; General Dynamics/AT&T – 393 S. College Water Tower, concrete pad for generator. Motion passed. It was moved by Roger and seconded by Dara to accept and file the Superintendent report. Motion passed. Mayor Schultz asked  if the Council might consider selling the west lots of the industrial park. JR will look at the property and Scott will touch base with the interested party. JR left the meeting. 8. New Business Continued: a. Farmer’s Market Update – Karen Knauer has resigned as the coordinator. She is going to focus more on the Cheyenne Family Food Collective and a project called the Taste of Cheyenne County. Kelley Milliken shared the Farmers Market bylaws with the Council. A Board of Directors has been organized. The market was overall a good experience for the community with many vendors participating. The Council thanked Ms. Milliken and the board for their work. Ms. Milliken, representing the library board, also let the Council know that the roof replacement at the library has been completed but there are some window screens that still need to be replaced. Karen Knauer then addressed the Council regarding her role in the farmers market and the Council thanked her for her contributions to its success. b. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Dara to approve Ordinance No. 619 – AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING A NEW STARTING TIME FOR THE REGULAR MEETINGS OF THE ST. FRANCIS, KANSAS CITY COUNCIL AND AMENDING SECTION 203 OF ARTICLE 1 OF THE 2015 CODE OF THE CITY OF ST. FRANCIS, KANSAS. Kale – yes, Amanda – yes, Roger – yes, Dara – yes, Larry – yes. Motion passed. The new start time of 7:00pm will take effect after publication of the ordinance in next week’s St. Francis Herald. 9. Old business: a. Street Project – discussed in Superintendent report b. Electrical Infrastructure Project – discussed in Superintendent report c. Property Cleanup – discussed in Superintendent report d. Projects Pending – There was some discussion regarding the Empire Motel property. Helen Dobbs is working on a package of information that could be given to interested investors. 10. Keller Pond Committee Report – Larry has given a quote to Tom Keller for split rail fencing on the east side where the Riverwalk starts. The fence is needed to prevent people from driving into the Riverwalk. Larry does not believe this fencing should be a City responsibility as it was not the City’s decision to remove the trees. Mayor Schultz commented that solar lighting around the walking path would be a nice improvement. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Kale to accept and file the Keller Pond committee report. Motion passed. 11. Theater Report – The popcorn machine at the theater is in need of repair or replacement. It is leaking oil. The cost to repair just the kettle is $700 while a new machine would cost $1,576. A motion was made by Dara and seconded by Roger to approve the purchase of a new popcorn machine for $1,576. Motion passed. It was moved by Larry and seconded by Kale to accept and file the Theater Report. Motion passed. 12. Building Permits – approved in Superintendent report 13. Attorney Report – none 14. Clerk Report – a) The official canvas of the sales tax vote showed 165 in favor and 125 opposed. b) Hayley Brown returned the required signatures for the variance request for a daycare at 116 E. Second. A motion was made by Roger and seconded by Amanda to approve the variance. Motion passed. This is not a zoning change and the re-designation from residential to commercial is for Hayley Brown only. c) A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Larry to approve a utility incentive application for Hayley Brown/Bright Beginnings for up to $100 a month for 6 months. Motion passed. d) A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale to approve a tree trim license application for Matthew Finley/Rocking Tree Services of Atwood pending receipt of the license fee. Motion passed. e) A motion was made by Dara and seconded by Kale to waive the peddler’s license fees for the St. Francis Girl Scouts to sell nuts and candy. Motion passed. f) The Council approved a letter of support for the Cheyenne County Hospital’s application for grant funding for operating expense for their transportation van. g) A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Larry to approve a letter of commitment for $5,500 that is budgeted in 2020 for the county transportation van. Motion passed. h) Lila presented an updated quote from Computer Information Concepts for the payroll software which included an additional $799 for the software to use up to 20 mobile devices for clocking in/out, per JR’s request. The Council would like to discuss this further when JR is present. i) FNB CD 2066788 is coming up for renewal on October 19. It is a 1 year CD for $100,000. The Council decided to renew for 6 months. Lila will contact FNB Bank. j) On behalf of Fire Chief Dan Blair, Lila presented a quote of $1,290 for the purchase of radio battery packs with the City’s share being $645. A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Amanda to approve the purchase. Motion passed. It was moved by Dara and seconded by Larry to accept and file the Clerk report. Motion passed. 15. Council Comments: Kale – none Amanda – none Roger – none Dara – none Larry – Jenny Busse has stepped down from the pool board. They will be looking for a replacement volunteer. 16. Mayor Comments – none Mande Moberly with the St. Francis Herald requested to address the Council. She spoke of plans that are being formulated for the upcoming Holiday Season to include a possible community Christmas tree lighting in the park along with other events. She will speak with JR to get his input but wanted to give the Council a heads up. 17. All bills on Ordinance #1031 were reviewed. It was moved by Roger and seconded by Dara to approve the bills in the amount of $318,202.50. Motion passed. 18. Adjournment: It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Larry to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed. ___________________________________________ City Clerk