City Council

Regular Council Meeting August 10, 2020 1. Council President Amanda Milne called the budget hearing to order at 6:45. Present were Council members David Butler, Kale Dankenbring, Dara Carmichael, and Larry Finley. Also present were City Superintendent JR Landenberger and City Clerk Lila Whitmore. Mayor Scott Schultz was absent. There was no public comment. A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Larry to adopt the 2021 Budget. David – Yes; Kale – yes; Dara – yes; Larry – yes. Motion passed. The budget hearing was adjourned. 2. Council President Amanda Milne called the regular meeting to order at 7:00. Present were Council members David Butler, Kale Dankenbring, Dara Carmichael, and Larry Finley. Also present were City Superintendent JR Landenberger and City Clerk Lila Whitmore. Mayor Scott Schultz, Sheriff Cody Beeson and City Attorney Lauren Reyelts were absent. 3. Minutes from the July 27 Council meeting were distributed and read. It was moved by David and seconded by Dara to approve the minutes as written. Motion passed. 4. Minutes from the August 4 special meeting were distributed and read. It was moved by Dara and seconded by Larry to approve the minutes as written. Motion passed. 5. Consent Agenda – It was moved by Dara and seconded by Kale 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. 6. Sheriff Report – none 7. New Business: a. CDBG-CV Grant – Justine Benoit, NWKP&DC Grant Administrator, was present via conference call to discuss details of the CDBG-CV grant which the City received. Justine went over the details of the grant funding. She explained that the first step is for the City Council to put a plan in place as to how the funds will be disbursed. Once this has been decided Justine will put together application packets. She recommended a 30-day application period. The Council discussed ways of getting the word out to local businesses, including Facebook posts, newspaper ads, the City’s Website, and sending information out with the next utility bills. A motion was then made by Kale and seconded by David to approve the CDBG-CV contract between the State of Kansas and the City of St. Francis. Motion passed. b. Fire Chief Dan Blair spoke to the Council regarding volunteer firemen pay for “on call” situations, such as when they are asked to man a fire truck at a special event. Currently they are not compensated for this time. Chief Blair asked for them to paid $10 per event. A motion was made by Kale and seconded by David to approve this. Motion passed. c. A motion was made by Larry and seconded by Kale to approve Ordinance No. 623: AN ORDINANCE REGULATING PUBLIC OFFENSES WITHIN THE CORPORATE LIMITS OF THE CITY OF ST. FRANCIS, KANSAS; INCORPORATING BY REFERENCE THE “UNIFORM PUBLIC OFFENSE CODE FOR KANSAS CITIES”, EDITION OF 2020, AMEDING SECTION 101 OF ARTICLE 11 OF THE 2015 CODE OF THE CITY OF ST. FRANCIS, KANSAS AND REPEALING ORDINANCE NO. 616. Butler – yes; Dankenbring – yes; Carmichael – yes; Finley – yes. Motion passed. d. A motion was made by David and seconded by Kale to approve Ordinance No. 624: AN ORDINANCE REGULATING TRAFFIC WITHIN THE CORPORATE LIMITS OF THE CITY OF ST. FRANCIS, KANSAS; INCORPORATING BY REFERENCE THE “STANDARD TRAFFIC ORDINANCE FOR KANSAS CITIES”, EDITION OF 2020, AMENDING SECTION 101 OF ARTICLE 14 OF THE 2015 CODE OF THE CITY OF ST. FRANCIS, KANSAS AND REPEALING ORDIANCNE NO. 617. Butler – yes; Dankenbring – yes; Carmichael – yes; Finley – yes. Motion passed. e. Heidi Plumb/Fresh Seven Coffee submitted plans for a beer garden at the Concert in the Park to be held August 29 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 Dara and seconded by Larry to approve the application. Motion passed with Kale abstaining. Attorney Reyelts had drafted a resolution to  allow consumption of alcoholic beverages on City streets within the boundaries defined on the application. A motion was made by Larry and seconded by Dara to approve Resolution 2020-6: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF ST. FRANCIS, KANSAS APPROVING A TEMPORARY PERMIT ALLOWING FOR THE CONSUMPTION OF ALCOHOLIC LIQUOR ON CITY STREETS. Butler – yes; Kale – abstained; Carmichael – yes; Finley – yes. Motion passed. 8. Old Business: a. Property Cleanup – JR has spoken to Attorney Reyelts who is trying to get a court date set on the ongoing property cleanup issue. Currently weeds are the primary concern. b. Projects Pending – a) Washington street fall banners are ready to hang. b) Lila shared information that was gathered from surrounding communities regarding the fees that are charged for peddler’s licenses and mobile food units. After considerable discussion, the Council agreed on an annual fee of $75 a year for Cheyenne County Residents and $100 for out of county which includes a background check fee, or $10 a day plus a $25 background check fee. The background check would be good for a year. Current City Code does not require background checks for Cheyenne County residents, but the Council believes to be fair and consistent all applicants should have a background check completed. Attorney Reyelts will need to be consulted on this. Lila will have Kodi get the actual ordinances and applications that the surrounding communities have for the Council to look at for comparison. c) Library Improvements will be removed from the projects pending list. c. Streets Project – JR has requested an updated timeline from Miller & Associates but has not yet received it. Fog sealing was completed on College street last week. This was unscheduled work. However, the reason for having the work done was that mobilization fees are paid each time the company comes to town and since they were already here working on North Street and Whittier Street it was more cost effective to have them go ahead and do College Street as well. 9. Pool Report – Larry updated the Council on the pool. The pool is scheduled to mostly close on the 12th. There are some additional private parties scheduled past that date. Aquacise and lap swimming will continue through the end of the month. It will also be open on Sundays from 1-6 thru August 30. Holly Hingst has requested the pool to be used by the 5th grade from August 24-28 from 2:45 – 3:15. The Council gave approval. Larry assured the Council that cleaning will continue until the pool is completely closed. A motion was made by Dara and seconded by Kale to accept and file the pool report. Motion passed. 10. Theater Report – The Theater board met but did not have quorum, so no business was completed. There is an opening for a concessionaire and applications have been received which the board will need to review at their next meeting. There was a problem with the projector which JR was able to fix. The Theater received a $3,000 donation from FNB Bank. The board is not sure yet how to utilize those funds. They are considering using it as a match for a potential grant application for renovations to the Theater. JR has worked with Miller & Associates on this and received a preliminary report earlier this year. They provided a probable cost of $220,000 - $270,000 for the improvements that were identified which include the restrooms, acoustic ceiling tiles, insulation, electrical work, lighting, and the sound system. The electrical would be a priority. JR would like to have Miller & Associates provide a specification and plan that could be prioritized and used when requesting grant funding. A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Dara to approve up to $5,000 in engineering fees for Miller & Associates to provide this. Motion passed. It was moved by Kale and seconded by Dara to accept and file the Theater report. Motion passed. 11. Building Permits – A motion was made by Larry and seconded by Kale to approve the following building permits: Unger Chiropractic – 120 N. Scott, install handicap ramp to back door; Robert Owens – 318 N. Frances, replace fence; Leonel Mayorquin – 321 N. Scott, remove and replace garage; Methodist Parsonage – 115 S. Scott, new concrete steps; Gilbert Carroll – 322 S. Benton, fence; Robert Martinez – 115 E. Webster, fence. Motion passed. 12. Superintendent Report – a) JR shared the proposed contract with Ward Electric for the labor cost for the electrical infrastructure improvements. Prior to the meeting Attorney Reyelts reviewed the contract and in an email to the Council voiced some concerns with a few sections. JR contacted Lauren to discuss it. He indicated that most of her concerns are clarified by the bid documentation where the work to be done is specified very clearly. Lauren indicated she would advise there to be revisions to the contract, but JR recommended the Council go ahead with the contract as it is to move the work forward. The Council did not have any questions regarding the concerns expressed by Attorney Reyelts. A motion was made by Kale  and seconded by Larry to approve JR signing the contract with Ward Electric. Motion passed. There will be a pre-construction meeting on August 18th. It was moved by Kale and seconded by David to accept and file the Superintendent report. Motion passed. 13. Attorney Report – none 14. Clerk Report – a) Helen Dobbs has asked the Council to provide feedback on the 2016 First Impressions report which Lila shared with them. b) If funding is received from the County from the SPARKS funding we may need another bank account specifically for those funds. A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Larry to open a non-interest bearing checking account with Western State Bank. Motion passed. It was moved by David and seconded by Larry to accept and file the Clerk report. Motion passed. 15. Council Comments: David – none Kale – none Dara – asked about the CDBG-CV planning. The Council agreed to have a special meeting on August 17 if the Mayor is available. Larry – things are coming together for the Concert in the Park on August 29 16. Council President Comments – none 17. All bills on Ordinance #1041 were reviewed. It was moved by Kale and seconded by David to approve the bills in the amount of $231,831.09. Motion passed. 18. Adjournment: It was moved by David and seconded by Dara to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed. ___________________________________________ City Clerk