City Council

Regular Council Meeting April 26, 2021 1. Mayor Scott Schultz called the meeting to order at 7:00. Present were Council members 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. Council member David Butler and Sheriff Cody Beeson were absent. 2. Minutes from the April 12 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 April 15 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 US 36 Highway Association Dues of $100; Permission for Clerk to pay International Institute of Municipal clerks Dues of $200. Motion passed. 5. Sheriff’s Report – none 6. Visitors - none 7. New Business: a. Tom Smull / Dog Park – Mr. Smull presented plans for the dog park to be put in at the Roadside Park just off the highway. He has met with Kary Zweygardt to ensure that it will not interfere with the frisbee golf course. He also met with JR who approved the location. He shared a cost breakdown which showed the total cost for the dog park to be $8,690. Brock McAtee construction will be digging and setting the posts. They have received approximately $2,000 in donations. Since the dog park is on City property, he is requesting the City apply for grant funds for the project. There are two potential grant sources. One is the Cheyenne County KS Community Foundation (CCKCF) Hansen pass thru grant which accepts applications year-round, and the other is the CCKCF New Generation Fund which opens for applications June 1. The amount requested would be split between the two. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Larry to approve the City applying for the grants. Motion passed with Dara abstaining. Lila will work with Mr. Smull in writing the grant applications. b. Kelly Frewen/Roxie Neitzel – Insurance Review – Mr. Frewen and Ms. Neitzel were present to review and discuss in detail the City’s insurance coverage. After reviewing it was noted that the City still has the 2015 Dodge Charger from the Police Department. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Larry for JR to list the 2015 Charger on Purplewave. Motion passed. c. A motion was made by Dara and seconded by Kale to approve the following Mayor Appointments to the Library Board: Pete Davis, Karen Neitzel, Ramona Raile, Kelley Milliken, Marilyn Hnizdil, Sandy Bandel, and Lynette Nolan. Motion passed. d. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Larry to approve the Bandshell Rental Application for Natalie Knodel/AWANA and to waive the rental fee. Motion passed. 8. Old Business: a. Property Cleanup – The Zweygardt case was continued until the May 19 court date and JR will get a status on the progress. There has been no update on the Poulson property. There are still concerns with the Lampe Motorsports property on Quincy. Lauren is requesting pictures showing the violations be submitted to her. There are other inoperable and unlicensed vehicles in town that need to be addressed as well. b. Projects Pending – Lauren has heard back from Jeter law firm regarding the KDOT issue and will be requesting an attorney client executive session to discuss it. Dave Flemming might have an idea for the old pool property and Larry will visit with him. c. Streets Project – Miller & Associates have sent the requested contract documents to Lauren and she will review them prior to the May 10th meeting. The start date for the project is July with an end date of October 1. 9. Pool Report – Larry requested an executive session for non-elected personnel. They are planning to open the pool May 24th or 25th. A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Amanda to accept and file the pool report. Motion passed. 10. Building permits – It was moved by Kale and seconded by Larry to approve the following building permit: Kim and Mike McGinnis – 405 W. Webster, chain link fence; and chicken permits: Margaret Lister – 209 N. Scott; Travis Jensen – 409 E. Webster. Motion passed. 11. Superintendent Report – a) The bill we received from Sunflower has been paid. The amount that is being disputed is not the bill but the amount of the reimbursement that Sunflower will be paying the City for operating during the energy emergency. They are offering $15,000 but JR is seeking an additional $27,000. This is based on the amount of credits that other communities had received. Scott asked if the City’s intent was to not pass any of the cost on to customers. JR explained that because of our current code we are unable to pass the costs on. The reason JR has not proposed any ECA billing is because there are a lot of very complicated ones, some even requiring monthly calculations. He likes the idea of a threshold where once the bill goes up a certain percentage, such as 30-40%, above the average the City would have the ability to pass the excess cost on to customers. It would still be a Council decision whether or not to actually do that, but they would at least have that option. He is waiting to see what other communities are doing. Scott pointed out that everyone will be seeing increased gas bills at some point. JR stated that companies, both electric and gas, are trying to make it as easy for customers to pay as possible with some stretching the payments out over 3 years. Scott believes our residents need to know that the City did absorb the electric cost this time, but our reserves have been reduced. There has been an ongoing debate about the City holding money and not using it, but this is an example of why having emergency reserves is necessary. b) The refuse fund is going to be underfunded if we don’t raise our trash rates. This is because of the 2% increase per year for Hill Trash Service. In light of this, JR will be doing a utility rate comparison with surrounding communities of all rates. Our water rates are much lower and our electric rates are lower as well. Our taxes are also lower with the average being 70 mills and we are around 42 mills. Colby is the only mill levy less than ours and they are at 29. It is important to point out that the percentage of the property taxes that a person pays in Cheyenne County that is going to the City is very small. c) JR will be advertising for bids for contract labor at Keller pond once he and Larry have completed a description of the work that is needing to be done. The contractor will need to have liability insurance and possibly their own equipment. d) JR was approached by a citizen about putting a storage container on their property. Current city code prohibits shipping/storage containers in the city limits. However, this was an unusual request that JR felt warranted discussion. The person has a single level dwelling and would like to make a storm shelter out of one. It would be placed on a cement slab and enclosed within a framed up permanent structure. The Council agreed that it would be acceptable as long as the shipping container itself were completely enclosed and the door not visible from the street. He would still need to submit a building permit for Council review. e) JR will be scheduling Ward Electric to begin electrical work after the street work has been completed. f) Roger Jensen is working on getting the City a contract with Sunoco for the cardboard and chipboard at the recycling center. We do have the trash truck back and ready. The City should be in the position of getting some of the assets back from Colby. g) JR requested 5 minutes of executive session for non-elected personnel to discuss employee wages. h) Mayor Schultz noted that he had been in the Roadside Park restrooms and found that none of the doors have been installed yet. Ed Marin indicated he is having difficulties getting the doors. The City has received approximately $7,000 thus far from camping fees since the campground opened. The Council agreed that these funds could be used for much needed repairs of the restrooms including ceiling repairs, painting of the walls and outside canopies, and putting epoxy on the floors. Lila will place an ad in the paper seeking bids for this work with a noon May 10th deadline. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Kale to accept and file the Superintendent report. Motion passed. 12. Attorney Report – Lauren requested 30 minutes of executive session for two matters of attorney client privilege and two matters of non-elected personnel. She also noted that she had received comments from some residents regarding the house numbers. The ordinance requires that the numbers be visible from the street and that they be a particular size of ½” x 4”. The Council confirmed that as long as the numbers are visible from the street they are in compliance. The intent of the ordinance is to ensure the addresses are visible for emergency services. It was moved by Kale and seconded by Larry to accept and file the Attorney report. Motion passed. 13. Clerk Report – a) Lila let the Council know that the fine schedule that is being updated has apparently not been updated in quite some time. She found that there are several sections of the UPOC and STO that are not currently on the schedule. She will be working on creating new schedules in spreadsheet format that will be up to date and also easier to keep updated in the future. b) The auditors are scheduled to be here on April 27. c) Lila shared additional information on the American Rescue Plan. The estimated amount that the City is expected to receive is around $180,000, half this year and half next year. The City would have until the end of 2024 to spend the funds. She will be attending a webinar on April 28 and hopes to receive more guidance on how the funds may be spent. d) Lila attended a Municipal Finance webinar on the 16th. She shared information and details with the Council regarding Senate Bill 13 and how it will affect the budget process and timeline. She will be attending a virtual budget workshop May 13 and will get more information. e) The Council approved 6 hours of vacation carryover for John Larson. f) The Shuttered Venue Operator Grant portal is operational as of April 24 and the City will be able to apply after May 22. g) The Goodwill Truck will be here on May 5 through May 10. h) The Cheyenne County Cruisers submitted a special event permit for a car show at the Roadside Park on May 8th from noon until 4. A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Larry to approve the permit and waive liability insurance and vendor fees. Motion passed. i) Dara asked about the status of the LMI survey. Lila stated that she is going to go ahead and get started on that, anticipating that we will need to have it completed to apply for any additional CDBG funding. It was moved by Kale and seconded by Larry to accept and file the Clerk report. Motion passed. 14. Council Comments - Kale – none Amanda – may not be at the next meeting Dara – none Larry – will not be at the next meeting 15. Mayor Comments – none 16. Executive Session – At 8:48 a motion was made by Larry and seconded by Kale for the Council, Mayor and City Superintendent to recess into executive session for the non-elected personnel exception to discuss employee wages, the open meeting to resume at 8:53. The open meeting resumed. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale to approve the wage recommendations made by the department heads for all employees. Motion passed. JR left the meeting. 17. Executive Session – At 8:56 a motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale for the Council, Mayor, and City Attorney, and the possibility of bringing in the City Clerk if her expertise is needed, to recess into executive session for the attorney client privilege and non-elected personnel exceptions, the open meeting to resume at 9:26. Motion passed. The open meeting resumed. Attorney Reyelts requested an additional 5 minutes. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Larry to go back into executive session. Motion passed. The open meeting resumed. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Dara for Larry to move forward with the recommendations on the pool employment. Motion passed. The Mayor requested Lila contact Library Chairman Pete Davis to request he and at least 1 or 2 library board members attend the next City Council meeting. He also asked her to contact Cody Beeson to request he attend the May 24 meeting. 18. Adjournment: It was moved by Kale and seconded by Amanda to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed. 19. Mayor Schultz called the meeting back to order at 9:30. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale for the Mayor and Council to recess into executive session for the non-elected personnel exception to discuss department head wages, the open meeting to resume at 9:45. Motion passed. The open meeting resumed. A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Larry to approve a 3% raise for City Superintendent JR Landenberger and a 5% raise for City Clerk Lila Whitmore. Motion passed. The Mayor requested Lila keep track of all hours spent on Municipal Court work. 20. Adjournment: It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Kale to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed. ___________________________________________ City Clerk