City Council

Regular Council Meeting December 28, 2020 1. Mayor Scott Schultz called the meeting to order at 7:00. Present were Council members Amanda Milne, Dara Carmichael, and Larry Finley. Also present were City Superintendent JR Landenberger, City Clerk Lila Whitmore, and City Attorney Lauren Reyelts. Council members Kale Dankenbring and David Butler were absent. 2. Minutes from the December 14 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 – none 4. New Business: a. A motion was made by Larry and seconded by Dara to approve the CMB License renewals for Colorado Retail Ventures, Diamond R Bar, and Majestic Service Truck Stop & Restaurant. Motion passed. b. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Dara to approve the tree trim license for Barnes Tree Service/Leonard Barnes. Motion passed. c. A motion was made by Larry and seconded by Amanda to approve the RV Park license renewals for Homesteader Motel & RV Park and Zimbelman RV Park. Motion passed. d. After discussion, a motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Dara to approve the following year end transfers: $140,000 from Utility to General; $205,000 from Utility to Capital Improvement; $65,000 from Utility to Equipment Reserve; $90,000 from Sewer to General; $129,535.32 from Infrastructure Sales Tax to Infrastructure Improvement. Motion passed. 5. Old Business: a. Property Cleanup – The 1st property will be on the tax sale, the 2nd property has shown significant improvement and Jr expects that will continue as weather permits, and the 3rd property has been notified. b. Projects Pending – Attorney Reyelts shared the updated Ordinance 626 regarding transient vendors. References to the chief of police have been removed and replaced with either the city clerk or the Sheriff’s Office/law enforcement. There were two options shared with the differences being in section 5-103 (i). Lila had pointed out that in the Clerk’s office they had been requiring photo identification such as driver’s licenses or passports but not photographs taken within 90 days of the application, which is what the original city code required. Option 1 contained wording the same as the original code with regards to the photo identification, and Option 2 added wording to allow the use of current and valid government issued photo identification. After discussion, a motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Larry to approve option 2 of Ordinance 626: AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE SOLICITORS, CANVASSSERS, PEDDLERS CODE OF THE CITY OF ST. FRANCIS, KANSAS UNDER CHAPTER 5 BY AMENDING SECTION 5-103(i), 5-104, 5-105, 5-107, 5-109, AND 5-110. Dara – yes, Amanda – yes, Larry - yes. Motion passed. c. Streets Project – no updates 6. Building Permits – none 7. Superintendent Report – a) JR has spoken to Brock McAtee but has not yet received any updates on the bandshell sandblasting. b) JR discussed with the Council the topic of loose trash. He had contacted Byron Moberly with the County landfill and clarified that it is the County’s landfill requirement that all household trash must be bagged. This is a County wide policy, not specific to St. Francis. The loose trash policy is based on KDHE regulations and blowing trash issues at the dump. c) JR presented the chemical bid for the parks department. However, Lila requested that the Council hold off until January to approve the bid so that it can be paid in 2021 rather than period 13 of 2020. The Council agreed. The bid will be re-presented at the 1st meeting in January. d) JR and Theater board president Robert Grace will be meeting with Betty Johnson, the strategic doing facilitator for the Dane G. Hansen Foundation, on January 13 to discuss the Theater renovations to determine if it could be considered for placement on the list for strategic doing projects as a community priority. d) Larry asked for clarification regarding snow removal priorities. JR explained that the storm routes and Washington street are priorities. Whether or not snow removal is done depends on  the type/density of snow and the amount that has fallen. Typically, removal is done when 3-5” of snow has fallen. Time of day and traffic are also factors that are considered. e) Larry has also received complaints about trash at the recycling center. The Council discussed the possibility of installing surveillance cameras and also closing the recycling center at night. The question is who would be responsible for closing it. JR will get with Cody Beeson to see how the Sheriff’s department might be able to assist with that. The Mayor also suggested putting in a donation box so that out of town people could contribute to the upkeep of the recycling center. It was moved by Larry and seconded by Amanda to accept and file the Superintendent report. Motion passed. 8. Attorney Report – none 9. Clerk Report – a) Lila pointed out that some of the encumbrances for 2020 were made for street projects that were not completed and will likely not be completed until later in 2021. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Dara to remove the following 2020 encumbrances: McAtee Construction – intersection of Spencer and Benton - $22,500; curb and gutter along the Courthouse park - $420; intersection of Washington Street and Angle Road - $7,560. Motion passed. These amounts will be re- encumbered in 2021. b) There is an individual who has purchased the mobile home park at 502 S. Valley. He would like to know if it would be possible to have both a Mobile Home Park License and an RV park License for the lots on this property. The Council agreed that it would be possible, but he will need to obtain a zoning variance for an RV park since that would be a business. Lila will provide him with the information needed to apply for the variance. He is aware that he needs to submit an application and payment for a Mobile Home Park License. c) Lila updated the council on the SPARK movie theater grant. The majority of expenses that the City had that were eligible have already been reimbursed from the County SPARK funding. However, there is funding for Theaters in the stimulus package that was just passed that would be for revenue replacement and municipal theaters are eligible to apply. Lila and Robert Grace will look into this further. d) A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Dara to approve the following out of cycle payments for the County SPARK funding project: Heartland HVAC - facility improvements - $48,112; Owens True Value – batteries for portable hand sanitizer stations - $41.97; City of St. Francis Office Debit/Amazon – portable hand sanitizer stations and hand sanitizing gel - $1,156.05; Cheyenne County Treasurer - $1.68 – balance of the funds. Motion passed. A motion was made by Dara and seconded by Larry to accept and file the Clerk report. Motion passed. 10. Council Comments: Dara – none Amanda – none Larry – none 11. Mayor Comments – none 12. Adjournment: It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Larry to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed. ___________________________________________ City Clerk