City Council

Regular Council Meeting March 28, 2022 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 Superintendent JR Landenberger, City Clerk Lila Whitmore, and City Attorney Lauren Reyelts. 2. Minutes from the March 14 Council meeting were distributed and read. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Kale to approve the minutes as written. Motion passed. 3. Consent Agenda – A motion was made by Larry and seconded by Dara to approve the following items on the consent agenda: US HWY36 Association Membership - $100, Northwest Kansas Planning & Development Commission dues - $3,081. Motion passed. 4. Sheriff Report - none 5. New Business: a. Clerk Whitmore presented the “State of Kansas Grant Agreement No. 22-PF-012 between the State of Kansas Department of Commerce and the City of Saint Francis”. This contract is for the $600,000 CDBG grant recently awarded to the City for phase 2 of the street project. A motion was made Kale and seconded by Amanda to approve and sign the contract. David – yes, Kale – yes, Amanda – yes, Dara – yes, Larry – yes. Motion passed. b. A motion was made by Dara and seconded by Amanda to approve the Trash Waiver Application renewal for Marla Ross. Motion passed. 6. Old Business: a. Property Cleanup – Citations were issued to the property owners of 616 S. Denison and 512 E. Fourth and they are both scheduled for a first appearance in municipal court on April 20. A notice will be sent to the property owner of 110 E. Whittier. This is the second notice, however since Ordinance No. 632 was not yet in place when the previous notice was issued this will need to be considered the first notice under the new process. The tenant of this property will also be receiving a notice from Attorney Reyelts specifically related to the dog feces issue. There are other properties needing attention and the Council approved having notices issued from City Hall whenever and as soon as an obvious violation is identified by JR. Lila shared with the Council the format of the letters that will be sent. Attorney Reyelts had recommended adding additional information to the second notice stating what the fines are for failure to comply. There is a property on East Second that has quite a bit of trash but there has been improvement and as long as progress continues to be made JR will just continue to monitor. Another property east of the Hospital will need to be sent notice. It was also noted that JR serves as the public officer for the City. b. Projects Pending – a) Jordan Zweygardt spoke with the Council about the design for the billboard signs. He shared pictures of various options to consider and there was considerable discussion. Mr. Zweygardt will take the suggestions made by the Council and will come back to the next meeting with a design for them to review. b) Amanda spoke with Michael Baxter with Jeter Law firm regarding the access road/crossover issue. The Council would like to have a one-on-one conversation with him to decide on the next steps to take. Amanda will contact Mr. Baxter to arrange a meeting. c) The Washington Street Beautification committee met and discussed the banners. The nine large holiday banners need replaced and they would like to get 20 new small banners as well. The quote received was in the amount of $6,200. A motion was made by David and seconded by Larry to apply to the Community Foundation for a $5,000 grant and for the City to cover the balance of approximately $1,200 with funds from the Guest Tax fund. Motion passed. d) There was discussion about the old pool property. Most likely the building will need to be removed before anything can be done with the property. JR will talk to Steve Wilhelm to find out if the County would be able to assist with the demolition of the building. c. Streets Project – McCormick Excavation will return in April to finish the work on North Benton which will complete phase 1 of the street project. Because of other commitments they will not be able to do any additional work for the City this year. The Council discussed phase 2 and the streets to be completed in 2023. 7. Visitors – Elmer Kellner addressed the Council with concerns regarding keeping the public informed. It was pointed out that audio recordings of the Council meetings are posted on the website. Approved minutes are also posted on the website. The public can request copies of the approved minutes at any time. Citizens are encouraged to attend Council meetings which are always held on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of the month except on Holidays. The Council meeting schedule is on the website and in the newspaper community bulletin board. 8. Pool Report – Larry indicated that interviews for lifeguards and manager will be held Tuesday, March 29. There was discussion regarding the hiring practices for lifeguards. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale that lifeguards will be hired contingent upon certification received and they will be reimbursed for the training fee once they are hired. Motion passed. A motion was made by David and seconded by Kale to accept and file the pool report. Motion passed. 9. Building Permits – A motion was made by Larry and seconded by Amanda to approve the following building permit pending JR’s approval: Eric and Leslie Hook – 217 W. Jackson, kitchen addition. 10. Superintendent Report – a) JR contacted Rod’s Locksmith shop to replace the locks at the library. b) The additional trash cans and replacement tops for Washington Street have been ordered. c) McCormick will be in town doing work for the County and will take care of some crack filling for the City. d) JR will be attending the next County Commissioners meeting to discuss recycling and the plan moving forward to take only cardboard, chipboard, and aluminum cans. e) The Council discussed the current personnel policies relating to sick leave payout, shared sick leave, and full-time employee status. Currently employees are compensated $1 an hour for accumulated sick leave upon leaving employment. JR pointed out that employees who use their sick leave as it is accrued are receiving the full 100% value of the sick leave, while those who seldom use sick leave are not. Lila shared information on how other communities pay out accrued sick leave time. JR asked the Council to consider options before making any decisions. If changes are made the annual budget may need to include a line item to cover potential costs if an employee terminates employment. The current policies also state that a full-time employee is one engaged to work 40 hours or more a week on an ongoing and continuing basis. Employees who are out of leave time could potentially fall below the 40 hour a week if time off is needed. This could affect eligibility for some benefits. Lauren clarified for the Council what it means to be “engaged to work.” The Council agreed it is open to interpretation based on circumstances and exceptions should be addressed on a case-by-case basis. Shared sick leave was briefly discussed and Lila requested the Council review this section of the policy for clarification. It was moved by Kale and seconded by Amanda to accept and file the Superintendent report. Motion passed. 11. Attorney Report – Attorney Reyelts shared the updated Gun Club Lease agreement. The agreement was modified to automatically renew unless terminated. It was also added that a copy of the liability insurance certificate must be provided to the City annually or upon renewal of coverage. Amanda indicated that the legal description did not appear to be accurate. JR noted this was supposed to have been corrected when the lease was renewed in 2012. JR and Amanda will identify the area used by the Gun Club and will update the legal description. It was moved by Dara and seconded by Amanda to accept and file the Attorney report. Motion passed. 12. Clerk Report – a) A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by David to approve the Chicken Permit renewal for Steven and Margaret Lister at 209 N. Scott. Motion passed. b) Lila talked about the need to consider engaging a collections company in order to be able to collect on outstanding fines and fees for municipal court. This type of service could also be used to collect outstanding utility bills. The Council gave approval for Lila to seek more information from Collections Bureau of Kansas. c) Lila shared the Senior Center report provided by Cinda Dankenbring. d) Fire Chief Dan Blair has indicated that Lance Ownes is no longer a volunteer fireman. The Council gave their approval of Jesse Laten as a new volunteer fireman. e) Lila let the Council know that there will be a Town Hall meeting with Senator Rick Billinger and Representative Adam Smith on April 4 at 12:30-1:30 at the library. It was moved by David and seconded by Larry to accept and file the Clerk report. Motion passed. 13. Council Comments: David – Commented on how nice Keller Pond is and asked if it would be possible to put in a larger covered pavilion at Keller Pond. Larry indicated that the Keller Pond committee have discussed many long-term projects such as lighting and bathrooms and it would be a question of funding. Kale – Asked if the City is giving away the asphalt millings from the street project. JR stated that the City  will sell them for $4 a ton. Amanda – Requested 5 minutes of executive session for non-elected personnel for job performance. Dara – Asked if there will be a Citywide cleanup this year. JR stated the cleanups are now done once a year in the fall. Last fall was missed but there should be one this year. Larry – Asked about pothole repairs and JR indicated it is dependent on weather and repairs are ongoing during the summer months. Also, the Rec Commission is wanting to put up a volleyball net at the Courthouse Park. This has been discussed in the past and the Council gave approval. 14. Mayor Comments – JR and Lauren left the meeting. 15. At 8:50 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 to discuss job performance, the open meeting to resume at 8:55. Motion passed. The open meeting resumed, and no action was taken. 16. Adjournment: It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Kale to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed. ___________________________________________ City Clerk