City Council

Regular Council Meeting November 22, 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, Assistant City Clerk Lila Whitmore, and City Attorney Lauren Reyelts. Council member David Butler and Sheriff Cody Beeson were absent. 2. Minutes from the November 8 Council meeting were distributed and read. It was moved by Kale and seconded by Larry to approve the minutes as written. Motion passed. 3. A motion was made by Larry and seconded by Dara to approve the following items on the Consent Agenda: Permission for Clerk to pay Itron Support Agreement - $3,959.40; Permission for Clerk to pay gWorks Support Agreement - $984.85; Permission for Clerk to pay CCMFOA Dues - $100. Motion passed. 4. Sheriff’s Report – none 5. Visitors – none 6. New Business: a. Helen Dobbs – NWKP&DC update. Helen did not attend the meeting. Randy Hrabe with NWKP&DC had sent an email regarding dues that the County owes to NWKP&DC. Dues are split between the County and the City of St. Francis and the City is up to date on their share. Lila confirmed that we are not at risk of losing the assistance we receive from the organization for CDBG grant administration. Amanda stated that Helen is encouraging a representative of the City attend the NWKP&DC meetings. 7. Old Business: a. Property Cleanup – A property cleanup notice was sent to the property owner of 616 S. Denison and some cleanup has been completed. The property at 512 E. Fourth is not in compliance and both Lauren and JR have taken photos. There are a couple of other properties with concerns that will be added to the list after pictures are taken. b. Projects Pending – The cracks on the bandshell have been repaired and the painting is in progress. Lauren has located unsigned letters in Mike Day’s records that were addressed to KDOT which she will send to JR. Larry has talked to Dave Flemming a bit about what to do with the old pool property. JR will talk to the County Commissioners regarding using County resources to remove the old pool. c. Streets Project – The majority of the work is completed. Weather has gotten to the point where the remaining work on Benton but will not be completed until next year. Tyler Hillmer with Miller & Associates has been in touch with Justine Benoit with NWKP&DC to make sure this will not affect the CDBG funding. 8. Pool Report – Larry has reviewed the revenue and expense data from the season. Expenses were more this year due to lifeguard training and equipment needs. With the increase in the private party fees this revenue was up quite a bit. Admissions revenue was comparable to last year and concessions was a little higher. The salaries paid were more this year compared to last year but the pool did not open until the middle of June last year which would explain some of the difference. Larry will be looking at the hours the guards worked to see if there is a need for both a manager and assistant manager. Larry was satisfied with the overall results for the season. He believes we will be in good shape with returning employees next year. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale to accept and file the pool report. Motion passed. 9. Building permits - none 10. Superintendent Report – a) The County has requested the use of the City’s tandem state truck for snow removal at the airport. It is one that we don’t typically use, and the City and County often share equipment. The Council agreed. b) The large Christmas banners at the corners on Washington Street are becoming worn and should be replaced. The small banners are still ok. Amanda, along with the beautification committee, will look into it. c) Cameras at the recycling center have been installed and working since last Friday. Recycling is going well. All of the city crew helps with the recycling since we are shorthanded. The County  took the last load to Hutchinson. JR will be talking to the County Commissioners regarding getting a better truck and possibly a different forklift. d) The City crew has been busy putting up and checking the Christmas lights. They have also been picking up the old trashcans but it will take several more weeks to get them all picked up. The fair board and thresher show may want some of the cans. e) JR requested 5 minutes of executive session for non-elected personnel to discuss city policy related to an employee’s medical leave. A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Larry to accept and file the Superintendent report. Motion passed. 11. Attorney Report – a) Attorney Reyelts shared Ordinance 631 which adds a section to the traffic code defining the requirement for a safety flag for recreational vehicles. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale to approve Ordinance 631: AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE ATV, WORK SITE UTILITY VEHICLES, GOLF CARTS, AND MICRO UTILITY TRUCKS ARTICLE OF TRAFFIC CODE OF THE CITY OF ST. FRANCIS, KANSAS UNDER ARTICLE 7 OF CHAPTER 14 BY AMENDING SECTION 14-703. Kale - yes, Amanda – yes, Dara – yes, Larry – yes. Motion passed. b) There was discussion regarding the ordinances that will be required in order to update the solid waste section of the City code. JR indicated the audit of the cans will not be done before next year. c) Lauren talked about the need to consider recodification of the City Code book. Many sections of the code make reference to the police department and need to be updated. There have been significant changes made with ordinances passed since the last recodification in 2015. She recommended the Council consider budgeting for this in the 2023 budget. Bird City has contracted with Ranson Citycode for their recodification service at a cost of approximately $3,250. Along with the recodification the company also offers ongoing updates of ordinances so that the code is always up to date. This service is $750 annually. The code is accessible online and could be linked to the City’s website. Currently the City code is on our website but in a format that is not easily updated. Lila will add this topic to the projects pending list. Lauren requested 5 minutes of executive session for communication subject to attorney client privilege regarding municipal court matters. A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Dara to accept and file the Attorney report. Motion passed. 12. Clerk Report – a) Lila shared the engagement letter from AdamsBrown for the audit and budget services. Per the engagement letter the fees will not exceed $13,720 for the 2021 audit, $14,130 for the 2022 audit, and $14,550 for the 2023 audit and $1,300 for the PBC audit each of the 3 years. The budget preparation fees will not exceed $1,670 for the 2023 budget, $1,715 for the 2024 budget, and $1,760 for the 2025 budget. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Larry to approve the engagement of AdamsBrown for the audit and budget services. Motion passed. b) The CCKCF lease agreement expires at the end of the year. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Larry to extend the lease agreement for another year at $300 a month. Motion passed. Lila will update the lease agreement, send it to Lauren for review, and then obtain the required signatures. The rent amount will be reviewed at the next renewal. c) Lila let the Council know that the wrong version of Ordinance 630 was published but the correct version will be published this week. d) A representative from the Kansas Department of Commerce will be here on December 8 to perform a CDBG audit. Justine will be here on that date as well, and she will also be here tomorrow to review all of our documentation to ensure everything is in order and ready for the audit. e) The City has received a $6,000 grant from the Hansen Foundation for the Veteran’s Memorial gazebo. A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Amanda to accept and file the Clerk report. Motion passed. 13. Council Comments: Kale – none Amanda – requested 5 minutes of executive session for non-elected personnel Dara – none Larry – none 14. Mayor Comments – Requested 5 minutes of executive session for non-elected personnel 15. At 7:48 a motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Larry for the Council and all those present to recess into executive session for municipal court communications subject to the attorney-client privilege exception, the open meeting to resume at 7:53. Motion passed. The open meeting resumed. A motion was made by Dara and seconded by Amanda to authorize Attorney discretion for pursuit of cases. Motion passed. Lauren left the meeting. 16. At 7:57 a motion was made by Larry and seconded by Kale for the Council and all those present to recess into executive session for the non-elected personnel exception to discuss city policy as it relates to an  employee’s medical leave, the open meeting to resume at 8:02. Motion passed. The open meeting resumed. No decisions were made. JR left the meeting. 17. At 8:05 a motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale for the Council, Mayor and Assistant City Clerk to recess into executive session for the non-elected personnel exception for job performance, the open meeting to resume at 8:10. Motion passed. The open meeting resumed. No decisions were made. 18. At 8:10 a motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale for the Council and Mayor to recess into executive session for the non-elected personnel exception for job performance, the open meeting to resume at 8:15. The open meeting resumed. No decisions were made. The Mayor requested Lila provide reports for City Attorney costs. 19. At 8:19 a motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale for the Council and Mayor to recess into executive session for the non-elected personnel exception regarding employee status, the open meeting to resume at 8:24. Motion passed. The open meeting resumed. David Fry has submitted his resignation from the City Clerk position effective November 19. The Council discussed how to proceed and decided it would be best at this time to move Lila back to the City Clerk position. In the next couple of months they will look to hire an Assistant City Clerk who will work and train in that position for a period of at least 3 - 6 months before transitioning to the City Clerk position. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale to reappoint Lila Whitmore to the position of City Clerk, effective November 26, and until the next regular time for appointment. Motion passed. 20. Adjournment: It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Kale to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed. __________________________________________ City Clerk