City Council

Regular Council Meeting August 8, 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 Interim City Superintendent Dan Blair, Assistant City Clerk Leann Lee, and City Attorney Lauren Reyelts. City Clerk Lila Whitmore was absent. 2. Minutes from the July 25th 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 – It was moved by David 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. 4. Sheriff Report - none 5. New Business: a. Chicken Permits: A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Larry to approve the chicken permits for Dustin Fromholtz and Dyh Anderson. Motion Passed. 6. Old Business: a. Property Cleanup • Dan has been working on identifying properties for cleanup and weed letters. Jen found and shared a posting on Facebook from the City of Goodland regarding how they are approaching the weed issues around town. Goodland’s posting covers the weeds in/on sidewalks, gutters, and alleys. Mayor approved Jen to replicate the posting for Saint Francis’s use. • The Mayor looked at 415 and 417 N. Benton after a complaint was received regarding feral cats, raccoons, skunks, opossums, and rats. Pictures were distributed and reviewed by the Council. There is a lot of lumber on the property, some stacked and some not creating a potential habitat for the animals as well as a fire hazard due to the weeds. After discussion the Council approved issuing a cleanup letter. • Lauren brought up 616 S. Denison. There is a judgement against the owner of the property in municipal court, but the owner recently passed away. There are two options on how to proceed: Option 1 – the city may choose to dismiss the current case and once the family or the estate has been confirmed the city can start the proceedings again; or Option 2 – the city may attempt to prosecute and collect the amount of the judgement from the estate which would need to be filed in the district court. After discussion the Council agreed to dismiss the current court case and wait for a minimum of 1 month before moving forward. • The Council discussed abandoned vehicles on Spencer Street and agreed that they need to be towed. Cody will be notified. • The Mayor identified a property needing cleaned up and discussed with Dan. Dan has spoken to the owners of the property. • Dan shared photos for four properties for the Council to review, one on East Whittier, one on East Fourth, and two on East Third. Dan has notified the property owners. Lauren pointed out that if there is a hole in the roof of one of the properties, it should be a condemnable property. No decision to issue letters was made. b. Projects Pending  Trash cans have been placed along Washington Street.  The Council reviewed and approved proofs of the signs for the Veterans Memorial and the Roadside Park & Camping. Funds from Guest Tax fund will be used to purchase these signs.   Amanda has not had a chance to get a hold of Jordan Zweygardt regarding the City billboard signs. Mr. Zweygardt sent updated options which the Council reviewed and discussed. Amanda will contact him with the Council’s feedback. c. Streets Project – No updates d. Hill Trash Pickup Contract – The Council discussed purchasing of a trash truck in the future and manpower. No decision made. Lauren went over the change to the contract paragraph two of section one regarding the fuel surcharge. A motion was made by Kale second by Dara to approve the contract. David – no, Kale – yes, Amanda – no, Dara – yes, Larry – yes. Motion passed with a majority vote. 7. Visitors – none 8. Pool Report – Larry reported that last full day of the pool was Friday, August 5. The pool board is planning to still have it open on weekends through the end of the month, as well as laps and aquacise. There was an issue of getting the required help to be able to keep the pool open fully for at least another week. The pool did have a few issues this season on weather related days and not enough manpower. Larry suggesting hiring adults during August to be able to keep the pool open since the younger employees are leaving for college or have other commitments. A motion was made by David and seconded by Amanda to accept and file the Pool report. Motion passed. 9. Building Permits – A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Larry to approve the following building permits: Cheyenne County Hospital – 210 W. First, add on to storage shed; Eric Hook – 217 W. Jackson, extension of existing fence; Freddy Pacheco – 315 E. Emerson, covered porch on front of house; and, pending verification of insurance for the contractor, Glenn Schliep – 623 S. Quincy, cement work on driveway, steps, and small patio. Motion passed. 10. Superintendent Report • Dan informed the Council that not everyone is paying for the hookups they are using at the Roadside Park campground. • The Cheyenne County Museum board plans to put in rock in the half circle where they would like to place the astronaut memorial and asked if the City could rock the other half of the circle. Dan will get pricing from Enrique Lopez. The group has also shown interest in painting the bathrooms. • The lower roadside park restrooms still do not have the new doors on the stalls. • A claim of a damaged bicycle was brought to the city. Dan had spoken to the citizen and took pictures for the Council to review. A citizen claims that the sweeper on the skid steer damaged her child’s new bicycle while street sweeping. Her evidence was finding a bristle in the spokes of the tires. The bike was left at the curb on First Street with the tires hanging over into the street. Employee that was operating the skid steer has claimed that he did not see it. The Council reviewed the pictures, discussed the damage, and determined that there is insufficient evidence to indicate the damage was caused by the City’s street sweeper. No action will be taken at this time. • The city’s digger truck is currently broken down. Andrist is going to look at on August 9th. Another pickup needs some work done to it. Dan asked what can be done with the blue Charger and the Council agreed to trade it for useful vehicle. • Enviroline was out for annual inspection of lift station. Everything passed except the city needs to purchase a flow meter. A motion was made by Kale and seconded by David for the purchase of the new flow meter at a cost of $1,541.48. Motion passed. • One new employee has been hired for the city crew and another is soon to be hired. • Dan has two quotes for a new water control system. The previous quote obtained by JR is now $10,000 higher than when it was first quoted in 2018. Dan is currently waiting on one additional quote. • We are waiting on the technician for the generator to repair it. • We are waiting on the transformers to be hauled off. • We are waiting on the boiler fan to be repaired.  • Ward Electric has completed work for this year as of August 8th. Dan has determined that the City has everything that it needs regarding the big items that will be needed for next year. He will still need to order some of the smaller parts this winter. • There have been lots of weed complaints. • The Mayor asked about the issue regarding the tree removals on Benton street and how we are addressing the wood that is cut down. Dan stated that if it is not cut to a small enough size the property owner cannot use it. Dan suggested to cut it all one length and use the digger truck to haul it all away. • A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale to accept and file the Superintendent report. Motion passed. 11. Attorney Report • Lauren shared Ordinance 639 which takes the place of Article 5 of Chapter 14 Trash Provisions. It changes the billing from an account based to a volume-based system and defines “cart,” “dumpster,” and “trash receptacle.” A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Larry to approve Ordinance 639: AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE SOLID WASTE CODE OF THE CITY OF ST. FRANCIS, KANSAS BY REPEALING ARTICLE 5 OF CHAPTER 15 OF THE 2015 CODE OF THE CITY OF ST. FRANCIS, KANSAS AND ESTABLISHING A NEW ARTICLE 5 OF CHAPTER 15 OF THE 2015 CODE OF THE CITY OF ST. FRANCIS, KANSAS. David – yes, Amanda – yes, Dara – yes, Larry – yes. Motion passed. • A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Dara to approve the Ordinance Summary. Motion passed. • A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Dara to accept and file the Attorney report. Motion passed. 12. Clerk Report – none 13. Council Comments: David – none Kale – none Amanda – none Dara - none Larry – Concert is coming up on the 20th. A lot of people are coming in from out of town. 14. Mayor Comments – The Mayor wanted to give kudos to the city crew for cleaning up, as much as they could, along the highway and down College Street for the fair. 15. All bills on Ordinance #1065 were reviewed. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Dara to approve the bills in the amount of $292,615.52. Motion passed. 16. Lauren noticed a typographical error on dates for Ordinance 639 and requested ordinance to be approved as amended to correct the month error from June to August. A motion was made by Amanda seconded by Larry. David – yes, Kale – yes, Amanda – yes, Dara – yes, Larry – yes. Motion passed. 17. Adjournment: It was moved by Amanda and seconded by David to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed. ___________________________________________ Assistant City Clerk