City Council

Regular Council Meeting September 12, 2022 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 Interim City Superintendent Dan Blair, City Clerk Lila Whitmore, and Assistant City Clerk Leann Lee. Council member David Butler and Attorney Lauren Reyelts were absent. 2. Minutes from the August 22nd RNR Hearing, Budget Hearing, and Council meeting were distributed and read. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Dara to approve the minutes as written. Motion passed. 3. Consent Agenda – It was moved by Larry and seconded by Kale 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; Permission for Clerk to pay City Attorney bills when due. Motion passed. 4. Sheriff Report - none 5. New Business: a. Kris Oldsen – CCDC Update. Kris shared the results of a community survey she recently completed. She has revamped the welcome packets and would like to apply for a $1,500 grant from the Cheyenne County Kansas Community Foundation for additional packets. However, CCDC is not a 501c3 and she is requesting the City apply for a pass-through grant on their behalf. Kris has created a County wide events calendar and is requesting that the City Website include a link to it. Lila will look into that. Members of the Cheyenne County Museum would like to paint the Roadside park information center. Lila pointed out that when volunteers painted it before the City provided the paint and supplies. CCDC along with the CCKCF will be applying for a $50,000 beautification seed grant through the State with plans for murals to be painted in both Bird City and St. Francis. The HW36 Treasure Hunt is this weekend and the Council gave permission for a sign to be placed on the old Empire Motel property owned by the City. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Larry to approve applying for the pass-through grant for the welcome packets. Motion passed. Lila will get with Kris to discuss what is needed for the application. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale to approve the Roadside park painting project and supply the paint. Motion passed. b. Gerald Lauer was present to talk about his concerns regarding the access road and crossovers. The Council let him know that Attorney Michael Baxter with Jeter Law Firm has been hired to help the City address this issue. Any discussion on the topic is subject to attorney-client privilege and therefore cannot be discussed in open meeting at this time. However, the Council hopes to meet with Attorney Baxter soon and come to a decision to be able to move forward. The Council thanked Mr. Lauer for his input. c. JW Milliken addressed the Council with his concerns regarding cats roaming around town. It was confirmed that the city code for animals at large applies to cats as well as dogs and other animals. Enforcement of the ordinance was discussed. Amanda will speak with Sheriff Beeson about it and will follow up with Mr. Milliken. A notice will also be posted on the City’s Facebook page regarding the animals at large ordinance. The Council also discussed sending a letter to an individual known to have more than three cats. d. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Larry to approve a Chicken Permit for Reid Kriegh. Motion passed. e. Noise Ordinances – The Council reviewed information that Leann had obtained from other communities regarding noise ordinances. There was considerable discussion. The Council agreed that the City does need an ordinance in place to address a variety of noise complaints and it should apply to any time of day. Leann will draft a document for the Council to review at the next meeting with the restrictions discussed. 6. Old Business: a. Property Cleanup  • The Council discussed the properties at 415 and 417 N. Benton and pictures were reviewed. The Mayor pointed out the cleanup that has been completed and the work that remains to be done. The Council agreed to a 30-day extension for these two properties to be brought into compliance. There had been a previous complaint received regarding feral cats and other animals on the property but this has not been witnessed by the Mayor or any of the Council and there have been no other complaints received. • Pictures were shared of the property at 616 S. Denison. Multiple vehicles are on the property and it appears that mechanic work is being done. The previous owner of the property is deceased and ownership of the property needs to be determined by the court. Amanda will talk to Cody on whether or not a letter could be sent regarding a business variance or property cleanup. • The Council discussed a property on East Spencer that may need a second letter sent. Another property on Whittier is making progress. • Dan asked for guidance from the Council with regards to weed letters and the criteria to use when determining who should receive them. The Council instructed Dan to use his best judgement and be as fair as he can. b. Projects Pending  Dan let the Council know that multiple replacement modules for the LED sign cannot be purchased at this time. Watchfire guarantees that the replacement modules will be available for another two years and after that they will put the remaining stock up for purchase. The sign is functioning again, however we have lost all of the saved templates. Lila is working on accessing the data on the old drive but we may need to create new templates from scratch. Leann has been working with Leon Volk on this.  Jordan Zweygardt sent updated billboard sign drawings for the Council to review. The Council selected one and Lila will contact Mr. Zweygardt. We will need to contact Commercial Sign in Colby for a price to create and install the signs.  Amanda will contact Attorney Baxter to determine the best time for a special meeting to discuss the access roads and crossovers.  Lila asked the Council to consider changing the personnel policy Sick Leave to be Discretionary Leave. By doing so, this would allow flexibility for employees to utilize this time off. It would be a benefit to those employees who have accumulated significant amounts of sick time, it would not negatively affect employees who currently use sick time on a regular basis, and it would not be a financial burden to the City as the payout at the termination of employment would not change. She also recommended that the policy require Department Head approval if more than three consecutive days are requested. This will help prevent misuse of the leave. The Council approved. Lila will work on modifications to the current Sick Leave policy for the next meeting. c. Streets Project – no updates 7. Visitors – none 8. Pool Report – none 9. Building Permits – A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale to approve the following building permits: Jim Soehner – 621 S. Scott, concrete; Karren Uplinger – 210 E. Emerson, remove and replace existing fence; Ricky and Julie Reyelts – 504 E. Fourth, post frame building; Nathan and Noelle Lamb – 410 S. Scott, privacy fence; Darlene Feikert – 405 Birch, concrete; John Larson – 509 S. Scott, vinyl fence; Joan Petro – 422 S. Benton, metal around carport; Dalton Straub – 521 S. Frances, carport. Motion passed. 10. Superintendent Report • Dan shared information from Viaero regarding bringing fiber optic to their tower on Lorraine Street. A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Larry to approve the installation on the City’s right-of-way. Motion passed. • The transformers that needed disposal have been taken care of.  • The 12-cylinder engine has been repaired at a cost of $2,376. The 9-cylinder has not been run in awhile and is leaking water. It was determined that all 120 gaskets will need to be changed along with a water pump. The water pump is approximately $5,500. Dan will get an estimate. • Dan is looking into capacity credits. The power plant would need to become RICE NESHAP compliant. It is possible that what we would receive in capacity credits in the first year could cover the initial cost of becoming compliant and the ongoing credits could be a significant amount of money. However, the downside is that the power plant must then be available to generate on demand. Dan will check into this further. • Connor Brogan is requesting three-phase power for his garages. The Council discussed who would be responsible for the cost. The consensus was that the customer should pay for the upfront costs but could be reimbursed if they start using the power. The City would set the pole. Dan will find out what other cities do. • There was a power outage last weekend due to a tree branch falling into the power lines. • Dan received two quotes for the sweeper parts: Berry Tractor - $10,447; Sweeper Parts Sales - $6,183.90. The quotes do not include shipping. The Berry Tractor quote was for an entire assembly, which isn’t needed. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Dara to approve the quote from Sweeper Parts Sales. Motion passed. Dan believes the city crew will be able to complete the repairs. • Dan brought to the Council’s attention that Travis Jensen has not yet paid the City for the property in the Industrial Park but has moved some of his equipment onto the lot. Amanda indicated that she and Lauren are still working on the legal description. • The local KDOT is requesting the City’s assistance with the pothole machine to repair potholes on the bridge west of town. The Council approved. • We have received the signs for the Veteran’s Memorial and the Roadside Park Camping. Dan is figuring out a way to them to the poles. The Museum has requested signs be put up for the Ron Evans memorial as well. Lila pointed out that the signs for the Veteran’s Memorial were paid for with donations that were in the Weinstein Recognition fund. There will be a dedication on November 11 for the Veteran’s Memorial and the Ron Evans Memorial and the Mayor would like to have the signs installed before then. • A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Larry to accept and file the Superintendent report. Motion passed. 11. Attorney Report - none 12. Clerk Report • Lila shared a Records Retention Policy with the Council. This policy was created by compiling information from the Kansas Historical Society Records Retention Schedule, the City of Topeka Records Retention Schedule, and from sources received during City Clerk training. The proposed policy covers the types of records that we generally have at City Hall. Lila indicated it is important to have this in place before we begin the process of purging old records. Lauren has reviewed and approved the policy as well as a Resolution to adopt the policy. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale to approve RESOLUTION 2022-6: A RESOLUTION ADOPTING A RECORDS RETENTION POLICY FOR THE CITY OF ST. FRANCIS, KANSAS TO PROVIDE GUIDANCE TO CITY OFFICIALS FOR RETAINING OFFICIAL CITY RECORDS. Kale – yes, Amanda – yes, Dara – yes, Larry – yes. Motion passed. • Lila shared a picture of a proposed sign that the Hardt Gallery would like to install in one of the grates in front of the 202 on Washington building. It is a 3-dimensional sign approximately five foot tall. A motion was made by Larry and seconded by Kale to approve the sign. Motion passed. • One of our CDs at FNB Bank is up for renewal. It is $117,000 and is currently a 3-month CD. The council reviewed the current interest rates. A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale to renew the CD for a term of 1 year. Motion passed. Lila also pointed out that the interest rate earned on the idle funds currently deposited with Bankwest is considerably less than that received from FNB. The Council gave Lila permission to move the funds as needed to obtain a better interest rate.  • Lila had requested Judge Keller relieve her from her position as Municipal Court Clerk and recommended the appointment of Leann Lee to that position effective September 1. Lila shared a letter from Judge Keller requesting Council approval of this appointment. It was approved. • A motion was made by Amanda and seconded by Kale to approve the Itron Maintenance contract renewal in the amount of $4,355.34. Motion passed. • Lila received a call from District Court Administrator Jo Argabright requesting approval from the Council to hold District Court in the Council Chambers where Municipal Court is held should a situation arise where the Courthouse is unavailable. The Council approved. • A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Larry to approve placing a full-page ad in the Ultimate Guide to Northwest Kansas at a cost of $1,700. Motion passed. • The Council approved the removal of a tree in front of City Hall that is mostly dead. • The Council discussed the marquee sign on the highway. The sign used to be a Chamber of Commerce sign. It is in disrepair and would be costly to replace. The Council determined that the best option is to have it removed. Dan will check into it. • A motion was made by Kale and seconded by Larry to accept and file the Clerk report. Motion passed. 13. Council Comments: Kale – none Amanda – none Dara - none Larry – none 14. Mayor Comments – The owner of a building in the Industrial Park has asked if the two tractors he has stored there will need to be removed when the City begins to enforce the abandoned vehicles ordinance. The Council agreed that these are ok where they are. 15. All bills on Ordinance #1066 were reviewed. It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Dara to approve the bills in the amount of $419,066.70. Motion passed. 16. Adjournment: It was moved by Amanda and seconded by Larry to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed. ___________________________________________ City Clerk