City Council

Regular Council Meeting December 30, 2019 1. Mayor Scott Schultz called the meeting to order at 7:00. Present were Council members Kale Dankenbring, Amanda Milne, Roger Jensen and Larry Finley. Also present were City Superintendent JR Landenberger, City Clerk Lila Whitmore and Interim Police Chief Cody Beeson. Council member Dara Carmichael and City Attorney Mike Day were absent. 2. Minutes from the December 9 Council meeting were distributed and read. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Larry to approve the minutes as written. Motion passed. 3. Visitors – Carla Lampe, Rodney Bracelin, Kelly Frewen, and Tom Keller were present to recognize outgoing Council member Roger Jensen and express thanks for his service to the community and the City Council over the last 20 years. Mayor Schultz presented Roger with a plaque in recognition of his service. 4. Police Report: Cody shared the statistics for the first half of December. Dog complaints make up a large number of the calls the department receives. There was considerable discussion regarding the status of the dog pound. Previous Police Chief Thomas had indicated the pound was in need of extensive renovations in order to pass inspection and the pound has been closed. Sheriff Beeson will find out what it would take to bring the facility up to code so that it could once again be utilized. The Council agreed that the existing ordinances need to be enforced, starting with dogs being properly licensed and tagged. The Council discussed the changes that will be effective the first of the year. Cody indicated that there will be six officers, including himself, once fully staffed. There is currently one deputy position needing to be filled. It was moved by Kale and seconded by Roger to accept and file the Police report. 5. Law Enforcement Agreement – Both City Attorney Day and the County Attorney Beims have reviewed and approved the agreement. The agreement had been previously sent to all Council members for review and there were no further questions or discussion. A motion was made by Larry and seconded by Amanda to approve the Law Enforcement Agreement. Motion passed. Mayor Schultz signed the agreement and Amanda will present it to the County Commissioners at the December 31st meeting for their signatures. Sheriff Beeson left the meeting. 6. New Business: a. A motion was made by Larry and seconded by Kale to elect Amanda as Council President. Kale – yes, Amanda – abstained, Roger – yes, Larry – yes. Motion passed. b. Clerk Whitmore presented the quit claim deed for the industrial park property which Tim and Robyn Raile are interested in purchasing. Amanda pointed out that the deed did not contain the first right of refusal clause that the Council had previously identified as needed. Lila will contact Attorney Day to make the correction. c. A motion was made by Roger and seconded by Kale to approve the CMB License renewal for the Pizza Hut. Motion passed. d. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Larry to approve the following year end transfers: $175,000 from Utility to General; $250,000 from Utility to Capital Improvement; $75,000 from Utility to Equipment Reserve; $20,000 from Sewer to General; $30,000 from Sewer to Equipment Reserve; $40,000 from Sewer to Capital Improvement. Motion passed. e. The Council discussed and updated the list of Mayor Appointments. Mayor Schultz will be absent from the first meeting in January and Council President Milne will make the appointments at that time on his behalf, with Council approval. f. The Council reviewed and approved the City Attorney scope of services. Lila will send the information to Attorney Reyelts. g. A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Roger to approve the tree trim license for Leonard Barnes. Motion passed. 7. Old Business: a. Projects Pending – There was considerable discussion regarding the old pool property. Larry indicated that the Recreation Commission has talked about possible ways to utilize the property. No decisions were made. The Council also briefly discussed the Sawhill Park improvements. JR is working on obtaining estimates for trees, lighting, and the repair of the band shell seating. 8. Building Permits – none 9. Superintendent Report – a) At the request of KDOT, a representative from Penco Engineering visited with JR to discuss the crossovers and frontage road and possible options and solutions. JR has requested they provide a scope of services and cost estimate to put together a plan. Funding options were also discussed. b) Capacity and efficiency testing of the wells are scheduled for early 2020. c) JR has spoken to Prairie Land regarding the electrical infrastructure upgrades. They have indicated that it would not be favorable to them to do such a large scale project. They may consider doing smaller areas that are of the highest concern. JR will contact other contractors. d) The Council approved a vacation carryover of 31 hours for JR. e) JR requested 1 minute of executive session for non-elected personnel to discuss an employee’s status. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Kale to accept and file the Superintendent report. Motion passed. 10. Attorney Report – none 11. Clerk Report – none 12. Council Comments: Kale – none Amanda – none Roger – none Larry – Thanked Roger for his service to the Council 13. Mayor Comments – none 14. At 8:14 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 an employee’s status, the open meeting to resume at 8:15. The open meeting resumed. A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Amanda to accept the resignation of JT Woodcox. Motion passed. 15. Adjournment: It was moved by Roger and seconded by Amanda to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed. ___________________________________________ City Clerk