City Council

Regular Council Meeting September 14, 2020 1. Mayor Scott Schultz called the meeting to order at 7:00. Present were Council members David Butler, 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. Sheriff Cody Beeson was absent. 2. Minutes from the August 24 Council meeting were distributed and read. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Dara to approve the minutes as written. Motion passed. 3. Minutes from the September 1 special meeting were distributed and read. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Kale to approve the minutes as written. Motion passed. 4. 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. 5. Sheriff Report – none 6. New Business: a. Fire Chief Dan Blair was present to request the Council’s approval to hire Chris Zimmerman as a new volunteer fireman. A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Amanda to approve the hiring of Chris Zimmerman. Motion passed. Chief Blair also let the Council know that the department will be needing new bunker gear for the firemen. They cost approximately $3000 per fireman and the plan is to purchase two or three each year. 7. Old Business: a. Property Cleanup – Attorney Reyelts indicated they have been unable to locate one property owner to serve the property cleanup papers. A new complaint and summons with an October court date will be issued. She also indicated that the original notification letter for another property owner was unable to be served as well. JR will touch base with Sheriff Beeson. b. Projects Pending – a) Kodi has finished gathering transient vendor ordinances and applications from surrounding communities but Lila has not had a chance to review them. b) An individual has approached both the Mayor and Council member Finley regarding a possible use for the old pool property. Mayor Schultz has asked them to submit a proposal to the Council. c. Streets Project – no updates. 8. Theater Report – The Theater board met on September 8 and Dara provided an update to the Council. Bridgette Antholz has resigned from the board and the board approved Tim Burr as a replacement. Motion sensing hand sanitizer stations have been installed in several locations within the theater. The board discussed the donation they received from FNB Bank and using it as a local match when applying for grant funding for the renovations project. The board voted to hire Caleb Todd and Dylan Emerson for the concessionaire positions. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale to approve the applicants. Motion passed. A motion was made by Larry and seconded by David to accept and file the Theater report. Motion passed. 9. Building Permits – A motion was made by David and seconded by Amanda to approve the following building permits: Margyre Antholz – 502 W. Webster, fence; Travis Milne – 211 W. Washington – raze a building; Ericka Wieck – 212 E. Jackson, fence; Motion passed. 10. Superintendent Report – a) JR met with John Hathaway, an architect working with Miller & Associates, to discuss the theater renovations. Because of the layout of the theater it may not be possible to bring it into full compliance with ADA requirements, in particular the restrooms and the ramps. However, there are modifications that can be done. When formulating plans, they will try to keep the Theater as close to original as possible. b) Ward Electric has their equipment on site and work began today. There may be minor outages as the work is being completed. c) JR presented a quote for $2,800 from Hotline Electrical Sales & Service for the Itron software installation and training for the upgraded meter read system. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale to approve the quote. Motion passed. d) The pool has been drained and the city crew will be working on the winterization. e) Tom Smull approached JR with an idea he and  others in the community have to create a dog walk area near the roadside park that is closest to the Highway. It would be a chain link fence enclosed area just west of the restroom. It would not interfere with the frisbee golf. They would be seeking grant funding. The Council gave their approval of the project. f) The primary boiler at the power plant is 35 years old and while it is still working and can be repaired when necessary, it will at some point need to be replaced. JR will get pricing. It was moved by Dara and seconded by Larry to accept and file the Superintendent report. Motion passed. 11. Attorney Report – a) Attorney Reyelts updated the Council on the President’s Memorandum on the deferral of the employee share of Social Security taxes. She explained the details of the memorandum. It is not mandatory for employers to implement the deferral. The Council agreed that it would not benefit employees as the taxes would still need to be paid at some point in the future. After much discussion, a motion was made by David and seconded by Larry for the City to opt out of the payroll tax deferral. David – Yes, Kale – Yes, Amanda – Yes, Dara – Yes, Larry – Yes. Motion passed. b) Lauren asked the Council how they would like her to proceed in the future with the serving of documents. The choices are for her to personally serve them, send via certified mail, or have the Sheriff’s department serve the documents. The Council agreed that the Sheriff’s department should be utilized when possible. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Kale to accept and file the Attorney report. Motion passed. 12. Clerk Report – a) The SPARK funding plan was approved by the State and the task force will present it to the Commissioners tomorrow. Once the Commissioners give their final approval the funds can be disbursed. Lila will let JR know as soon as possible so that the materials for the public facility improvements can be ordered. b) So far 5 businesses have picked up application packets for the CDBG-CV grant. One has been returned, but it was not complete. Lila has contacted the business to request the missing documentation. c) On behalf of Helen Dobbs Lila shared a sample of the ad for the Ultimate Guide to Northwest Kansas. The Council recommended a few minor changes and Lila will relay these on the Helen. d) The St. Francis Music Club and CC4C had reserved the bandshell for Sunday September 20 for a woodwind quintet concert and have requested extending this to Monday so that the group can offer concerts for the school students. The Council approved. e) FNB CD 18620 is coming up for renewal. It is a $50,000 CD and the current rate is .11%. The Council decided not to renew the CD at this time. f) Lila asked about the status of the Dodge Charger from the police department. JR indicated we are still waiting for the Sheriff’s department to remove equipment from it before it can be sold. It was moved by Kale and seconded by David to accept and file the Clerk report. Motion passed. 13. Council Comments: David – none Kale – a movie production company will be in town mid to late September and are planning to begin filming late November into December. They have requested use of the old police department to stage some filming. Lila pointed out that there is a lot of stuff still in the police department that would need to be moved before they could use it. Amanda – asked if the City would consider an ordinance to enforce the placement of house numbers on homes. Lila will check the clerk link for what other communities have. Dara – none Larry – Thanked everyone for their support of the Concert in the Park. 14. Mayor Comments – Reminded everyone about the Biketemberfest Motorcycle Rally on September 19. Attorney Reyelts left the meeting. 15. All bills on Ordinance #1042 were reviewed. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Kale to approve the bills in the amount of $428,174.76. Motion passed. 16. Adjournment: It was moved by Amanda and seconded by David to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed. ___________________________________________ City Clerk