City Council

Regular Council Meeting October 13, 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 was City Clerk Lila Whitmore. City Superintendent JR Landenberger, Sheriff Cody Beeson, and City Attorney Lauren Reyelts were absent. 2. Minutes from the September 28 Council meeting were distributed and read. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Kale to approve the minutes as written. Motion passed. 3. Consent Agenda – It was moved by Larry and seconded by David 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. Sheriff Report – none 5. Visitors – Bill Dungan was present to listen to the discussion regarding the Scout Hut and ADA accessibility. There was considerable discussion, but the Council is waiting for guidance from the City Attorney before making any decisions. 6. New Business: a. Elmer Kellner – Welcome Wagon. Elmer did not attend the meeting. On his behalf, Bill Dungan shared that the Lions Club is working on a project to put together a packet of information to welcome new citizens to our community. The Council supports the idea. 7. Old Business: a. CDBG-CV Grant – Justine Benoit, grant administrator, joined the meeting via phone. She shared a summary of the nine businesses who had applied for grant funding and how much each qualified for. The total eligible expenses were more than the grant funds that are available. A prorated formula was used to generate the amounts to be awarded to each business. Every business that applied will receive some funding with the total amount of grants awarded being $123,600. The food pantry will also receive reimbursement for the invoices they have submitted thus far. NWKP&DC will receive $12,000 for administration costs. The balance of the grant funds will be $34,659.87 with $3,000 of this for final administration costs and $31,659.87 remaining for the food pantry. These remaining funds must be used by August 1, 2021. A motion was made by Kale and seconded by David to make the request for payment of CDBG funds, request number 1, in the amount of $138,940.13 for grant number 20-CV-116. David – yes, Kale – yes, Amanda – yes, Dara – yes, Larry – yes. Motion passed. Mayor Schultz and Clerk Whitmore signed the request for payment of CDBG funds. Council President Amanda Milne signed the Environmental Review forms for each of the businesses. A motion was made by Dara and seconded by David to approve out of cycle payments in order to disburse the funds within 3 days of receipt. Motion passed. b. Property Cleanup – no updates c. Projects Pending – no updates d. Streets Project – no updates 8. Pool Report – Larry reported that revenue for this year increased while expenses decreased compared to last year. Lila pointed out that some of the decrease in expenses was due to payroll being reduced because of the delayed opening. Concession revenues were up. There were several private parties this year and the pool board will be discussing rates for private parties next year. Admission will likely remain as it was this year. Everything ran smoothly and it was a good season. They received many positive comments from the community. David asked about sponsoring opening day and how the cost of that is determined. Larry explained that it is not a set rate but is the cost of admission, and so depends on attendance for the day. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale to accept and file the pool report. Motion passed. 9. Theater Report – The Theater Board met on October 12 but did not have quorum. One of the new employees has resigned so they will be looking to hire another concessionaire. 10. Building Permits – none 11. Superintendent Report – none 12. Attorney Report – a) On behalf of Attorney Reyelts Lila shared Ordinance 625 regarding address numbers. The Council reviewed and discussed the ordinance. The ordinance was not approved as is and the Council agreed on the following modifications for fines for non-compliance: There will be a 90-day period after publication of the ordinance to comply. If non-compliant after the 90 days, there will be a fine of $25. If still non-compliant after another 30 days, there will be a fine of $50. If still non-compliant after another 30 days, and every additional 30 days thereafter, there will be a fine of $75. Lila will relay this on to Lauren. 13. Clerk Report – a) Previously the Council had approved $6,000 for additional work on the alley approaches. The bill received from Brock McAtee construction was for $6,878. A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Larry to approve the additional $878. Motion passed. b) A motion was made by Dara and seconded by Amanda to make an out of cycle payment for the Kansas Sales Tax. Motion passed. Lila requested 5 minutes of executive session for non-elected personnel for shared sick leave. A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Amanda to accept and file the Clerk report. Motion passed. 14. Council Comments: David – none Kale – none Amanda – none Dara – asked about the progress on the electrical improvements. Scott indicated that the crew had been pulled off the job to help with hurricane relief efforts in Louisiana. There was more discussion about the movie that is being filmed here in town. Larry – Jack Lampe had contacted Larry with concerns about how dirty the alley is behind his apartment. The alley has a considerable amount of traffic. JR is aware of the concerns but there is not much that can be done with an alley to alleviate the dust. 15. Mayor Comments – The VFW will be attending the next meeting to talk about putting a Veteran’s memorial in Sawhill Park. The proposed site will be flagged for the Council to look at prior to the next meeting. 16. All bills on Ordinance #1043 were reviewed. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Kale to approve the bills in the amount of $277,291.13. Motion passed. 17. At 8:15 a motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale for the Council along with Clerk Whitmore to recess into executive session for the non-elected personnel exception to discuss shard sick leave, the open meeting to resume at 8:20. The open meeting resumed and a motion was made by David and seconded by Kale to approve the shared sick leave request. Motion passed. 18. Adjournment: It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Kale to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed. ___________________________________________ City Clerk