City Council

Regular Council Meeting September 27, 2021 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 Clerk Lila Whitmore and City Attorney Lauren Reyelts. City Superintendent JR Landenberger and Sheriff Cody Beeson were absent. 2. Minutes from the September 13 Council meeting were distributed and read. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by David to approve the minutes as written. Motion passed. 3. Sheriff’s Report – none 4. Visitors – none 5. New Business: a. One bid was received for the exterior painting of the bandshell from Jensen Construction in the amount of $15,000. A motion was made by Kale and seconded by David to accept the bid. Motion passed. The City had previously received a $2,500 donation from the Bayer Foundation that had been designated for bandshell improvements. The Council agreed to use these funds for this project. They discussed the money that is currently in the Bandshell Fund and decided to retain those funds to be used towards a future project. They also agreed that the City should apply for a grant from the Cheyenne County Kansas Community Foundation for $5,000. The remaining $7,500 would come from the capital improvement fund. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale to approve using $7,500 from the capital improvement fund for this project if the grant is awarded, or $12,500 if it is not. Motion passed. b. The Council reviewed the pole rental agreement with Eagle Broadband. Attorney Reyelts recommended the addition of an addendum to include a section to cover damages or destruction to the City’s utility poles caused by Eagle Broadband. The topic was tabled to give Lauren time to create the addendum. Amanda asked about the Franchise agreement. Lila indicated the Franchise agreement that Eagle Broadband has is now with the State and the funds are disbursed to the City. Scott asked if we are current on our agreements with Verizon and AT&T for the Water Tower rent. Lila will confirm. c. Lila presented a special event permit from Karen Knauer for the flea market she is coordinating. The City is responsible for notifying the Kansas Department of Revenue of any special events held within its jurisdiction including flea markets which is why a permit application is required for all special events. The flea market is similar to the farmers market but will be held at a business location on Washington Street. A motion was made by Larry and seconded by Dara to approve the special event permit and to waive the vendor fees. Motion passed. 6. Old Business: a. Property Cleanup – The Council discussed several properties that are needing attention. Lauren is in the process of notifying property owners on some of them. Scott will follow up with JR on the others. b. Projects Pending – Scott has not been able to get in touch with Greg Kite regarding the bandshell grants. Amanda has not heard back from Michael Baxter with Jeter Law Firm. Larry attended the Strategic Doing Forum and indicated there was discussion regarding the Empire Motel property. A new committee has been formed to address lodging in the County. c. Streets Project – a) Most of the construction crew has left and will return in about 3 weeks. Some of the streets are now open. Several residents have expressed concerns regarding access to homes during the construction in case of emergencies. Amanda has spoken with emergencies services and was assured that emergency vehicles would still be able to provide services if needed. 7. Building Permits – none 8. Superintendent Report – none 9. Attorney Report – a) Attorney Reyelts has been working on the trash contract. Along with this she has been reviewing and updating City code chapter 15 article 5 on trash provisions to be amended. She is proposing that the rate be set by the Council by ordinance so the rates can be reviewed and adjusted as  necessary. She will meet with JR to discuss it and then will have a draft version of the code changes to the Council for review before the next meeting. Municipal court is busy and we are now at 17 cases for the year. A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Amanda to accept and file the Attorney report. Motion passed. 10. Clerk Report – a) Lila let the Council know that October 11 is a legal holiday, although not a City holiday, but per City Code the next Council meeting will need to be moved to October 12. b) There will be a CDBG public hearing at the beginning of the next meeting for phase 2 of the street project. Lila shared the public hearing notice with the Council that shows which streets are included in this phase of the project. She also pointed out that the notice states that the project will be keeping the existing curb and gutter in the identified streets which means there will be no cost passed on to adjacent property owners. The streets being proposed are heavily used and would qualify for the CDBG funds. The estimated project cost is $1,081,920. We will be applying for $600,000 in CDBG funds. Justine indicated we may need to hold a public hearing for the bond issue. Lila and JR met on September 14 with Kevin Cowan with Gilmore & Bell to discuss the bonds and he did not mention that a hearing would be required. Lila will be following up with him to confirm. A resolution will need to be passed authorizing the issuance of bonds. On the previous bond issue the City authorized up to $1.2 million which was the total cost of the project. The reason for that is to authorize enough to cover the total cost of the project so that it can still be completed if CDBG funds are not awarded. A motion was made by Kale and seconded by David to authorize $1.1 million in bonds for phase 2 of the project. Motion passed. Lila will let Kevin Cowan know so that a resolution can be drafted. Repayment on the bonds will be from revenue generated with the 1% sales tax. Lila will prepare reports for the next meeting showing the sales tax revenue we are receiving and what the current debt service is. c) Lila is still working on the ARPA funds revenue loss calculator. The auditors have indicated that there should be no need to amend the budget as the grant funds do not affect budget authority. d) We have received 2 applications for the City Clerk job. Applications will be reviewed at the next Council meeting. e) The VFW had tried to apply to the Cheyenne County Kansas Community Foundation (CCKCF) for a grant for the VFW memorial but because they are not a 501c3 they cannot apply directly. However, the City could apply for a Hansen pass thru grant on their behalf. They are requesting funds for flags and name plates for the memorial in the amount of $4,440.09. A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Larry for the City to apply for the grant. Motion passed. Lila will work on writing the grant request. f) The Council discussed how the City could help with the Veteran’s Memorial project by applying for a grant directly to the Hansen Foundation to purchase and install a gazebo to go over and protect the Memorial. This would not be a pass thru grant and the gazebo would be a City project. The estimated cost is $12,000 and the VFW has indicated they would donate $2,000 to the City for the project. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Dara for the City to apply for a Hansen grant of $10,000 for the gazebo. Motion passed. Lila will work on writing the grant application. e) The Council discussed renaming the Roadside Park to be Veteran’s Memorial and Roadside Park and putting up signage on the highway pointing to it. A motion was made by David and seconded by Kale to approve the signage. Motion passed. Scott will let JR know. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Larry to accept and file the Clerk report. Motion passed. 11. Council Comments: David – none Kale – none Amanda – none Dara – none Larry – none 12. Mayor Comments – There was discussion regarding recreational vehicles being parked on the streets. Our ordinances allow this from April 1 through October 1. After that, they will need to be moved off the street. Amanda called the Council’s attention to a shipping container that is at the Cheyenne County Village. There are others in town as well. City code prohibits shipping containers within the city limits. Amanda pointed out that exceptions could be made and the code could be modified to allow them in certain situations with Council approval but at this time they are not allowed. There was considerable discussion but no decisions made. 13. Lauren presented the addendum to the Pole Rental Agreement. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by David to approve the Pole Rental Agreement and Addendum. Motion passed. Lila will send it to Eagle Broadband for their review and approval. 14. Adjournment: It was moved by David and seconded by Amanda to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed. ___________________________________________ City Clerk