City Council

Regular Council Meeting October 12, 2021 1. Mayor Scott Schultz called the CDBG Public Hearing to order at 7:00. Present were Council members David Butler, Kale Dankenbring, Amanda Milne, Dara Carmichael, and Larry Finley. Also present were City Superintendent JR Landenberger, City Clerk Lila Whitmore, and City Attorney Lauren Reyelts. Sheriff Cody Beeson was absent. No members of the public were present. Tyler Hillmer with Miller & Associates joined via phone. Dan Steffen with Northwest Kansas Planning and Development Commission presented information regarding the City’s application for a community development block grant for the proposed phase 2 of the street project. There was no public comment. a. A motion was made by David and seconded by Amanda to approve Resolution 2021-8: A RESOLUTION CERTIFYING LEGAL AUTHORITY TO APPLY FOR THE 2022 KANSAS SMALL CITIES COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM FROM THE KANSAS DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND AUTHORIGIN THE MAYOR/COMMISSIONER TO SIGN AND SUBMIT SUCH AN APPLICATION. Kale – yes, David – yes, Amanda – yes, Dara – yes, Larry – yes. Motion passed. b. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale to approve Resolution 2021-9: A RESOLUTION ASSURING THE KANSAS DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE THAT FUNDS WILL BE CONTINUALLY PROVIDED FOR THE OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF IMPROVEMENTS TO THE STREET SYSTEM TO BE FINANCED WITH COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT FUNDS. Kale – yes, David – yes, Amanda – yes, Dara – yes, Larry – yes. Motion passed. Councilman Butler left the meeting. c. A motion was made by Larry and seconded by Dara to approve the CDBG Agreement for Administrative Consulting Services. Kale – yes, Amanda – yes, Dara – yes, Larry – yes. Motion passed. This agreement is contingent upon receiving the grant funding. d. A motion was made by Larry and seconded by Amanda to approve the Miller & Associates Agreement for Professional Services. Kale – yes, Amanda – yes, Dara – yes, Larry – yes. Motion passed. This agreement is contingent upon receiving the grant funding. 2. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale to close the public hearing. Motion passed. 3. Mayor Schultz called the regular meeting to order. 4. Minutes from the September 27 Council meeting were distributed and read. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Dara to approve the minutes as written. Motion passed. 5. Consent Agenda – It was moved by Dara and seconded by Larry 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. 6. Sheriff’s Report – Sheriff Beeson was absent. Lila shared the statistics for September. 7. Visitors – none 8. New Business: a. Tyler Hillmer explained the Street Improvements 2020 Change Order No. 1 in the amount of $10,266 to furnish and install additional curb and gutter and construct a flowline wall. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Dara to approve the change order. Motion passed. b. The Application for Payment No. 1 for the Street Improvements 2020 in the amount of $168,849.45 was submitted. A motion was made by Larry and seconded by Amanda to approve the application for payment. Motion passed. c. The Application for Payment No. 2 for the Street Improvements 2020 in the amount of $638,430.73 was submitted. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale to approve the application for payment. Motion passed. The total of the two payments due to McCormick Excavation is $807,280.18. d. CDBG 20-PF-014 drawdown request #1: A motion was made by Dara and seconded by Kale to approve drawdown #1 for project #20-PF-014 in the amount of $200,000. Kale – yes, Amanda – yes, Dara - yes, Larry – yes. Motion passed. Of this amount $190,000 is for street improvements (McCormick Excavation) and $10,000 is for administration (NWKP&DC). The drawdown request also  shows that bond funds will be used for the following: $435,931.18 for street improvements (McCormick Excavation), $80,600 for engineering design (Miller & Associates), $22,947.90 for construction inspection (Miller & Associates), and $750 for administration (NWKP&DC). e. CDBG 20-PF-014 drawdown request #2: A motion was made by Larry and seconded by Kale to approve drawdown #2 for project #20-PF-014 in the amount of $181,349. Kale – yes, Amanda – yes, Dara – yes, Larry – yes. Motion passed. The drawdown request shows that these funds will be used for street improvements (McCormick Excavation). There were no bond funds being designated for use in this drawdown request. f. A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Amanda to approve Resolution 2021-10: A RESOLUTION DECLARING IT NECESSARY TO PAVE, REPAVE, RECURB, REGUTTER AND OTHERWISE IMPROVE IDENTIFIED STREETS AND ASSESS A SPECIAL TAX TO THE PROPERTY OWNER THAT PORTION OF THE COST ATTRIBUTED TO THE CURB AND GUTTER. Kale – yes, Amanda – yes, Dara - yes, Larry – yes. Motion passed. Lila pointed out that for this phase of the project there will be no curb and gutter costs that will need to be passed on to the property owners. The Resolution will be published twice and is subject to a 20-day protest period following the second publication. g. A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Larry to approve Resolution 2021-11: A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED ONE MILLION ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS ($1,100,000) PAYABLE BY THE CITY AT LARGE TO REPAIR, RESURFACE AND RE-GUTTER AND RE-CURB IDENTIFIED STREETS AND GUTTERS. Kale- yes, Amanda – yes, Dara – yes, Larry – yes. Motion passed. The Resolution will be published once and is subject to a 30-day protest period following publication. JR left the meeting to check on storm water drainage. h. A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Amanda to approve the Small Business Utility Incentive Application for Spresser Agency. Motion passed. i. A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Larry to approve the Trash Waiver Application for Wade Krien/County Seat Greenery. Motion passed. 9. Old Business: a. Projects Pending – Greg Kite did contact the Mayor and is still working on a possible grant application for the bandshell. There was some discussion regarding what to do about the seating area. There have been no updates from Jeter Law firm on the KDOT crossovers. The ordinance for the ATV safety flags will need to be completed before year end. Lauren has it on her list to do in November. A resident inquired about having flowerpots on downtown Washington Street. The biggest problem is maintaining them. Amanda indicated the Beautification Committee has not met in awhile, but they will be meeting again at some point. b. Property Cleanup – A Letter will be sent to a property owner on Whittier regarding dog waste and weeds in the backyard. Lampe’s Motor Sports will be getting another letter. Attorney Reyelts and Amanda have both spoken to Sheriff Beeson about the numerous violations, but no citations have been issued. The Council discussed the issue with campers parked on the City Streets. City Ordinance allows this between April 1 and October 1. Lila will put a notice on Facebook, on the City’s website, and in the paper to remind residents of the ordinance. c. Streets Project – The construction crews will be coming back soon to complete the work. They have made a lot of progress and the streets are looking good. 10. Theater Report – Lila attended the last meeting. They are short staffed and have advertised but have not received any applications. The Theater employees have been volunteering their time to work at the thrift store and in turn the thrift store has donated $1,244.70 to the theater renovation project. 11. Building Permits – A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Amanda to approve the following building permits: Adam Guthmiller – 420 E. Whittier, fence; Roger Neitzel – 408 Parkway, remove carport and install a larger one; and pending receipt of payment for the permit, Arely and Alejandro Ramirez – 311 E. Whittier, front porch. Motion passed. 12. Attorney Report – Attorney Reyelts shared two draft ordinances which update the refuse regulations in City Code Chapter 15 and establish a fee schedule. These are preliminary and are pending the audit of the trash cans. JR returned to the meeting. The Council approved having JR share the draft contract with Hill Trash Pickup for their input. The Municipal Court is very busy and we are at 20 cases so far this year. A  motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale to accept and file the Attorney report. Motion passed. There was further discussion regarding property cleanup. There is a property on 4th street where numerous inoperable vehicles are parked in the yard and there is lots of trash as well. JR will provide pictures to Lauren. There is also an address on Webster Street that JR has received numerous complaints on regarding furniture and other things in the yard, and this property will be added to the list. The letters that are going out give the property owners the opportunity to comply or to request a hearing before the Council. If there is no response, they will be summoned to Municipal Court. 13. Superintendent Report – a) Ward Electric should be completing the work on the electrical infrastructure improvements this week. Some priorities were shifted and a portion of the work to complete feeder 3 will be done in the next phase. Most failure points have been fixed. b) McCormick should be back this week and should stay until the streets are completed. c) The new boiler has been installed at the power plant, but they are waiting on parts to finish the installation. The boiler is not able to be run at this time and will not be operational until the flue is received, which is expected within a couple of weeks. d) The street sweeper was used in Bird City and there was a lot more work completed than initially intended. JR will be working on a labor cost. e) JR is still waiting on an estimate from Brock McAtee for the east side of the pool as well as the City Hall steps. A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Larry to accept and file the Superintendent report. Motion passed. 14. Clerk Report – a) Lila shared information regarding the local sales tax revenue and bond payments that was requested at the last meeting. The local sales tax revenue in 2020 started to be received in June and the total for the year was $129,535.32. The total amount received thus far in 2021 is $168,894.45. The bond payments for 2021 totaled $49,625.63. The payments in 2022 will be $51,845. b) A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Dara for the Mayor to sign a letter of support for the Cheyenne County Hospital Transportation Van. Motion passed. c) Lila updated the Council on recent grant applications. She has submitted the application to the Cheyenne County Kansas Community Foundation (CCKCF) for the bandshell painting. She also submitted the application to the CCKCF on behalf of the Veteran’s Memorial for the flags and display panels. This application was submitted after the deadline as 3 letters of support were required and one of these was received late. She has also submitted the application to the Hansen Foundation for the Veteran’s Memorial Gazebo. d) The Goodwill trailer will be here on Friday October 15th thru October 22nd, or until it is full. The Council discussed the past issues with people leaving donations outside of the trailer after the trailer is already full. This is a problem. Once cameras are installed at the recycling center they may deter this from happening. The Goodwill trailer is a service that many residents appreciate, and the Council agreed to allow them to again park at the recycling center. e) A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Larry to approve an out of cycle payment to American Boiler in the amount of $30,051.00 for the boiler replacement at the power plant. Motion passed. f) Lila asked if the Council wanted to go into executive session for non-elected personnel for the Council to review the City Clerk applications that have been received. The Council agreed. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale to accept and file the Clerk report. Motion passed. 15. Council Comments: Kale – none David – on behalf of David, Lila indicated that he had been speaking with Justin Culwell regarding his proposal for the Empire Motel property. Justin stated he had not been contacted with a follow-up from the City following his presentation and was wondering what the status is. He has other ideas for the property that he could share. The Council will wait for an update from David at the next meeting. Amanda – none Dara – none Larry – none 16. Mayor Comments – none Attorney Reyelts left the meeting. 17. All bills on Ordinance #1055 were reviewed. It was moved by Kale and seconded by Amanda to approve the bills in the amount of $264,803.31. Motion passed. JR left the meeting. 18. At 8:50 a motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale for the Council, Mayor and City Clerk to recess into executive session for the non-elected personnel exception for review of City Clerk applicants, for 10 minutes to resume at 9:00. Motion passed. The open meeting resumed and the Mayor stated that after looking at the applicants the Council decided to interview all 4 candidates. The Council agreed to conduct interviews Monday October 18 beginning at 7:00 pm. Lila will contact the applicants to schedule the interviews. 19. Adjournment: It was moved by Kale and seconded by Amanda to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed. ___________________________________________ City Clerk