City Council

Regular Council Meeting June 22, 2020 1. Mayor Scott Schultz called the meeting to order at 7:00. Present were Council members Kale Dankenbring, Amanda Milne, Dara Carmichael, and Larry Finley. Also present were City Superintendent JR Landenberger, City Attorney Lauren Reyelts and City Clerk Lila Whitmore. Council member David Butler and Sheriff Beeson were absent. 2. Minutes from the June 8 Council meeting were distributed and read. There was one spelling correction. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Larry to approve the minutes as corrected. Motion passed. 3. Consent Agenda - none 4. Sheriff Report - none 5. New Business: a. Municipal Court Judge Paula Keller addressed the Council to request approval to relocate Municipal Court hearings from the District Court Courtroom to City Hall. The restrictions in place for District Court due to COVID-19 do not apply to Municipal Court. Any restrictions would be up to the City Council. City Court is not a court of record so recording of proceedings does not need to be done. No changes would need to be made to the Council Chambers to accommodate Municipal Court. After discussion, a motion was made by Kale and seconded by Amanda to move the location of Municipal Court to the City Hall Council Chambers, effective August 1, 2020. Motion passed. b. On behalf of the Recreation Commission Larry Finley presented their plans for a community event to be held at the Courthouse Park and Sawhill Park/Bandshell on July 4. They are planning a kids parade and games in the parks along with free swimming at the Aquatic Park, food vendors and possibly a BBQ contest. After a review of the applications and discussion, a motion was made by Kale and seconded by Amanda to approve the Bandshell rental application and the Special Event Permit Application for the Recreation Commission for July 4 and to waive all fees and liability insurance requirements. Motion passed. c. Hannah Zimbal and Haley Richards, representing the Cheyenne County Health Department, presented plans for three summer special events. The first is in conjunction with the July 4 activities sponsored by the Recreation Commission. The Health Department is planning a cornhole tournament for all ages in the afternoon in Courthouse park. The second event will be held July 15 at the Courthouse Park and will be a celebration for children ages 5-13 with food, games, and water activities. The third event will be held July 17 and will be a bonfire for teenagers ages 14-19 with food, drinks and cornhole to be held on Denison street between the two parks. The Council reviewed the applications and discussed the bonfire and agreed that it could be held as long as the event organizers contact the Fire Department and arrange for a firetruck to be on site during the bonfire. A motion was made by Larry and Seconded by Kale to approve the Special Event Applications and to waive all fees and liability insurance, contingent upon arrangements being made with the Fire Department for the bonfire. Motion passed. d. Larry and Terri Finley presented plans for a Concert in the Park to be held August 29. This event is still in the planning stages. The Long Run Band will perform in the evening in the Bandshell and Deliberate Kin Band will perform prior to that in the park. There will be games for adults and kids, along with food vendors and a beer garden. Larry asked if the Council would allow BYOB vs having a beer garden. Attorney Reyelts advised against this. Attorney Reyelts indicated that Milliken Reyelts P.A. would sponsor payment of the $100 special event permit fee that is required for the creation of the Resolution to allow the sale of alcoholic beverages. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Dara to approve the Bandshell Rental and the Special Event permit, pending proof of liability insurance for the beer garden, and to waive the bandshell rental fees and vendor fees. Motion passed with Larry abstaining. e. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale to approve the Fireworks License Application for Flash Enterprises/Gary Lillich for sales at 122 W. Washington. Motion passed. f. A motion was made by Larry and seconded by Kale to approve a Fireworks License Application for Brunk Brats Fireworks/Julie and Laura Brunk for sales at either 204 E. Business Hwy 36 OR 709 S.  Benton. Motion passed. Once the City Clerk is notified of the location to be used a license will be issued. g. Bond Documents: • Bids for the purchase of General Obligation Bonds, series 2020, dated July 16, 2020, along with a tabulation of the bids were received. The Governing Body reviewed and considered the bids and determined that the bid of Country Club Bank, Prairie Village, Kansas was the best bid for the Bonds. Councilmember Milne moved that the bid be accepted and that the Mayor and Clerk be authorized and directed to execute the bid form selling the Bonds to the best bidder on the basis of the bid and the terms specified in the Notice of Bond Sale. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Dankenbring. The motion was carried by a vote of the Governing Body as follows; Yea: Dankenbring, Milne, Carmichael, Finley; Nay: none. • Attorney Reyelts presented an Ordinance entitled: AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING AND PROVIDING FOR THE ISSUANCE OF GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS, SERIES 2020, OF THE CITY OF ST. FRANCIS, KANSAS; PROVIDING FOR THE LEVY AND COLLECTION OF AN ANNUAL TAX FOR THE PURPOSE OF PAYING THE PRINCIPAL OF AND INTEREST ON SAID BONDS AS THEY BECOME DUE; AUTHORIZING CERTAIN OTHER DOCUMENTS AND ACTIONS IN CONNECTION THEREWITH; AND MAKING CERTAIN COVENANTS WITH RESPECT THERETO. Councilmember Dankenbring moved that the Ordinance be passed. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Carmichael. The Ordinance was read and considered and the motion for the passage of the Ordinance was carried by the vote of the Governing Body as follows; Yea: Dankenbring, Milne, Carmichael, Finley; Nay: none. The Mayor declared the Ordinance passed and it was numbered Ordinance No. 622, was signed and approved by the Mayor and attested by the Clerk and the Ordinance or a summary thereof was directed to be published one time in the official newspaper of the City. • There was presented a Resolution entitled: A RESOLUTION PRESCRIBING THE FORM AND DETAILS OF AND AUTHORIZING AND DIRECTING THE SALE AND DELIVERY OF GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS, SERIES 2020, OF THE CITY OF ST. FRANCIS, KANSAS, PREVIOUSLY AUTHORIZED BY ORDINANCE NO. 622 OF THE ISSUER; MAKING CERTAIN COVENANTS AND AGREEMENTS TO PROVIDE FOR THE PAYMENT AND SECURITY THEREOF; AND AUTHORIZING CERTAIN OTHER DOCUMENTS AND ACTIONS CONNECTED THEREWITH. Councilmember Finley moved that the Resolution be adopted. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Milne. The Resolution was read and considered and the motion for the adoption of the Resolution was carried by the vote of the Governing Body as follows; Yea: Dankenbring, Milne, Carmichael, Finley; Nay: none. The Mayor declared the Resolution adopted and the Resolution was numbered Resolution 2020-4 and was signed by the Mayor and attested by the Clerk. 6. Old Business: a. Property Cleanup – Letters were created for two properties on the list. One of these was not able to be served, the property owner has moved, and the property is vacant. Amanda indicated it will be on the next tax sale. Attorney Reyelts will be working on the complaint and summons for the other. There are 3 more properties needing attention and JR will get addresses and pictures. Weed letters are now being sent and mowing for these has begun and will be ongoing throughout the summer. b. Projects Pending – a) Lila shared information regarding the City’s actual cost for the Empire Motel property after the rebates were received on the property taxes. b) There has been no further interest expressed by the food pantry for the use of the old pool property. JR indicated it would not be feasible to convert the building for this use. c) Mayor Schultz opened two bids for the fascia and soffit work to be done at the Library: Finley Energy, Atwood - $7,605 + $1,500 for smart trim for a total of $9,105; TJ’s Improvements, St. Francis - $11,259.81. Because of the large difference between the bids, the Mayor questioned whether they were identical in the work specified to be done. A motion was made by Dara and seconded by Kale to approve the low bid from Finley Energy  contingent upon the estimate being for the same work as the alternate bid. Motion passed. Mayor Schultz will contact Finley Energy to confirm. c. Streets Project – Rocking Tree Services should be getting started soon on the removal of the trees for the street project. JR confirmed that the trees will not be completely removed at this time and stumps will remain until the street work actually begins. d. There was discussion regarding an ongoing fencing dispute between Neva and Stan Wahrman and a neighbor. The Mayor and JR pointed out that it is a civil matter between the property owners and the City should not be involved. The fence is along the property line and is shared. Attorney Reyelts stated that she has a conflict of interest in this matter. The Council instructed Clerk Whitmore to write a letter to the Wahrmans explaining the Council’s understanding that this is a civil matter. 7. Pool Report – Larry, along with the pool Assistant Manager Terri Finley, updated the Council on the pool. Everything is running smoothly. Attendance has been good, averaging 90-100 a day. There are several private parties booked. Many people have requested bringing back pool passes, and this is something the board may consider for next year. Lila asked about the status of an AED device and if we there was any information available to move forward with a grant application. Larry will request board member Bruce Swihart get in touch with the Clerk’s office. A motion was made by Dara and seconded by Amanda to accept and file the pool report. Motion passed. 8. Building Permits – none 9. Superintendent Report – a) Materials for the electrical infrastructure improvements have been ordered from Resco. JR has been in contact with Ward Electric and should be receiving estimates soon for the work that needs to be done. b) JR talked about a simplified mapping software for utilities that is available from RVW Engineering. It would be an improvement over the current ARCGIS live mapping system which is more complicated and has foreign based support. The RVW software is more user friendly and they offer their own support for the product. It would cost approximately $600 a year. JR is looking into it further and will come back with more information and a recommendation. c) The original bid from Resco for the electrical materials did not include transformers. A motion was made by Larry and seconded by Dara to approve approximately $16,000 for the purchase of transformers. Motion passed. d) The street sweeper has been repaired and should be back in service within a week and a half or so. e) A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Amanda to approve 40 hours of vacation carryover for Dan Blair. Motion passed. f) The rock used for the chip sealing on Whittier Street has been ordered and the work is scheduled for late July. g) JR requested 5 minutes of executive session for non-elected personnel to discuss employee wages. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Kale to accept and file the Superintendent report. Motion passed. 10. Attorney Report – a) Attorney Reyelts indicated that the Summary of Ordinance 622 document for the bonds has a publication date of July 2 but she will be able to get it to the paper for publication June 25. She will confirm with Courtney Howard that it is ok to publish this week. If it is, she will update the documents and will get them to Clerk Whitmore Tuesday morning so they can be sent to Gilmore & Bell and Piper Sandler as required. b) Attorney Reyelts indicated it had been brought to her attention that there are food trucks selling food in town who have not obtained a transient vendor license. There was considerable discussion. The current City Code does not specifically address food trucks. They would fall under the transient vendor/street salesman portion of the code and would be required to pay the license fees. There is nothing specific in the code requiring proof of a Kansas food establishment license. Lauren will work on defining a mobile food unit ordinance. Lila will find out what other communities require. She will also check with the League of Kansas Municipalities regarding sample ordinances for mobile food units. Lila will also contact the vendors and let them know of the current ordinance and fees. It was moved by Kale and seconded by Dara to accept and file the Attorney report. Motion passed. 11. Clerk Report – a) Clerk Whitmore shared the latest quote from Granite for the phone system. Per the Mayor’s direction Clerk Whitmore has also contacted Nex-Tech to give them the opportunity to provide an updated cost proposal before the Council makes a decision. b) A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Larry for the Clerk to open two non-interest bearing checking accounts at FNB Bank, one for the CDBG Funds and one for the Bond Funds with the following authorized signers: Mayor Scott Schultz, Council President Amanda Milne, Councilmember Dara Carmichael, City Clerk Lila Whitmore and City Treasurer Jennifer Blair. Motion passed. c) Lila has been working with Angela Ketterl on the 2021 budget.  An initial draft budget should be ready for review and discussion by the July 13 Council meeting. The Council scheduled a budget workshop to be held on July 20. It was moved by Kale and seconded by Amanda to accept and file the Clerk Report. Motion passed. 12. Council Comments: Kale – none Amanda – none Dara – none Larry – thanked the Council for their support of the Concert in the Park special event. 13. Mayor Comments –Mayor Schultz reminded everyone of the Cheyenne Cruisers Car Show to be held Saturday June 27 at the Roadside Park. Attorney Reyelts left the meeting. 14. At 9:12pm a motion was made by Larry and seconded by Kale for the Mayor and Council along with City Superintendent Landenberger and Clerk Whitmore to recess into executive session for the non-elected personnel exception to discuss employee wages, the open meeting to resume at 9:17. Motion passed. The open meeting resumed. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Dara to approve the employee wage recommendations made by the department heads. Motion passed 15. At 9:21pm a motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Dara for the Mayor and Council to recess into executive session for the non-elected personnel exception to discuss department head wages, the open meeting to resume at 9:26. The open meeting resumed. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Dara to approve a salary increase of $2,000 per year for all department heads. Motion passed. 16. Adjournment: It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Kale to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed. ___________________________________________ City Clerk