City Council

Regular Council Meeting February 22, 2021 1. Council President Amanda Milne called the meeting to order at 7:00. Present were Council members David Butler, Dara Carmichael, and Larry Finley. Also present were City Clerk Lila Whitmore and City Attorney Lauren Reyelts. Mayor Scott Schultz, Council member Kale Dankenbring, and City Superintendent JR Landenberger were absent. 2. Minutes from the February 8 Council meeting were distributed and read. It was moved by Larry and seconded by David to approve the minutes as written. Motion passed. 3. Consent Agenda – It was moved by Dara and seconded by Larry to approve the following item on the Consent Agenda: Permission for Clerk to pay Northwest Kansas Planning & Development Commission Dues of $3,164. Motion passed. 4. Visitors – none 5. Attorney Report: a) Attorney Reyelts shared an engagement letter from Michael J. Baxter with Jeter Law Firm for legal representation for the City regarding the Highway 36 Frontage Road issue. There was considerable discussion after which a motion was made by David and seconded by Dara to approve. Motion passed and Council President Milne signed the engagement letter. Lauren will maintain contact with Jeter Law Firm and will request periodic status updates. b) Lauren presented Ordinance No. 627: AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE KELLER POND CODE OF THE CITY OF ST. FRANCIS, KANSAS UNDER CHAPTER 12 BY CHANGING THE TITLE OF THE ARTICLE AND ADDING SECTION 12-207. Section 12-207 states that the laws of the City shall extend to and cover Keller Pond and Riverwalk. A motion was made by Larry and seconded by Dara to approve Ordinance 627. David – yes, Dara – yes, Larry – yes. Motion passed. It was moved by Dara and seconded by David to accept and file the Attorney Report. Motion passed. Attorney Reyelts left the meeting. 6. New Business: a. A motion was made by Dara and seconded by Larry to designate JR Landenberger as the KRWA voting delegate and John Larson as the alternate. Motion passed. 7. Old Business: a. Property Cleanup – no updates b. Projects Pending – no updates c. Streets Project – no updates 8. Building Permits - none 9. Superintendent Report – a) On behalf of JR, Amanda shared information regarding the recent energy emergency. The SPP mandated that the City generate power to offload the demand on the grid. The City generated a total of 39 hours. It is expected that there will be some cost issues and JR will discuss this with the Council in detail at the next meeting. 10. Clerk Report – a) Lila requested that the Council consider continuing to offer COVID emergency sick leave to employees following KDHE quarantine guidelines and/or local health department orders and to also include adverse reactions to the COVID vaccine as an approved use of the sick leave. A written notice from the Health Department or a Healthcare Provider showing the dates of quarantine would be required to be eligible for the sick leave. Proof of vaccination would be required to be eligible for the sick leave due to an adverse reaction. Lila discussed this with JR who also believes this would be the right thing to do for the employees. A motion was made by Dara and seconded by Larry to approve the request. Motion passed. This will be effective thru the end of September 2021 at which time it will be re-evaluated. b) Lila shared information from Western Kansas Child Advocacy Center. The City allocated $1,500 this year to the organization. c) The Cheyenne County KS Community Foundation is potentially interested in renting the Police Department space. Currently the Foundation does not have its own location and meets at various places. They have a secretary who works out of her home. They are wanting to hire an administrator and would like to have a place that is visible and accessible to the public. The Council discussed it. Lila pointed out that there would be some work that would need to be done such as changing locks and adding the door between the holding cell and the police department. Most of the furniture, such as the desks, could be left for their use. The utilities for the entire building are on one meter so costs could not easily be split out.  Dara indicated that the Foundation would be agreeable to paying a set amount for rent each month. Because of the significant work that the Foundation does for the benefit of the Community the Council approved renting the space to them at no cost for the first year and with an agreement in place that could be reviewed annually. The Foundation will be meeting Monday and Lila will show them the space. She will contact Attorney Reyelts to draft an agreement for the Council to review and approve. d) Lila will be submitting the grant application for the Theater renovation to the Community Foundation as soon as letters of support are received. It was moved by David and seconded by Dara to accept and file the Clerk report. Motion passed. 11. Council Comments: David – none Dara – none Larry – Requested approval from the Council to write a pass thru grant through the City to CC4C to partially fund the Concert in the Park community event in August. A motion was made by David and seconded by Dara to approve. Motion passed with Larry abstaining. 12. Council President Comments – none 13. Adjournment: It was moved by David and seconded by Dara to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed. ___________________________________________ City Clerk