April 2, 2026
The Jetmore City Council met in regular session on April 2nd, 2026. Mayor Bill Goebel called the meeting to order and led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance. Roll call was answered by Councilmen Jeff Channell, John Neeley, Kenton Ubelaker & Ron White. Also attending were City Administrator Michael Ort, City Clerk Casey Dansel, City Attorney Clayton Kerbs, Samantha Parish & Shyanne Dickey.
Councilman Ubelaker made a motion to approve the consent agenda containing the March minutes & Appropriation Ordinance #2026-03. Councilman Neeley seconded the motion; vote unanimous.
SHERIFF’S REPORT:
Sheriff Walker sent his monthly report for the council to review.
CITY ATTORNEY REPORT:
Clayton reported to the council that things are going well with court and we have been seeing a lot of tickets.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT:
Samantha Parish introduced new ED Director Shyanne Dickey. Shyanne discussed with the council the fire on main street. She is looking into an urgent disaster grant. Council asked her to check with county landfill to see if they’d be willing to work with the main street business on price and restrictions to help the cleanup process go quicker. Shyanne expressed her concerns with the fire damage and process moving forward.
BUSINESS ITEMS:
Mayor Goebel appointed Amanda Kasiska & Deanna Bradford to a second term each on the current Library board. Councilman Channell made a motion to approve the mayoral appointments of Amanda Kasiska & Deanna Bradford to the library board. Councilman White seconded the motion; vote unanimous.
Mr. Ort discussed the need for a new greens mower at the golf course. After discussion the council agreed they would prefer to purchase a new one rather than used. Councilman Channell made a motion to authorize Jared to purchase of the new mower for $50,000. Councilman Neeley seconded the motion; vote unanimous.
Council discussed the need for summer help. Councilman Channell made a motion to advertise the position for a full time summer position. Councilman Neeley seconded the motion; vote unanimous.
Mr. Ort discussed with the council the recent issue at Well 14. The variable frequency drive (VFD) on well 14 has been serviced numerous times and is still not operating correctly. On the most recent visit to address it, last week, our contractor said that it is making a strange sound that he is unable to correct and recommended replacement. The cost of the new device is $12,500. It can be rebuilt, but it will take 5-8 weeks and rebuilding will cost $8,000. A new one has been ordered but if we have the current one rebuilt then we would have a spare on hand for the next time one is needed. Councilman Channell made a motion to have the VFD rebuilt. Councilman Ubelaker seconded the motion; vote unanimous.
Mr. Ort informed the council that Stewarts looked at the AC Unit that runs the King Center hallway and bathrooms and because of its age and trouble getting the parts for it, they recommended replacing the unit as well as the heat unit for that zone. Stewarts left a bid and we are waiting on bids from Weber & Healzer. Council would also like Mr. Ort to get a bid from Dustin Horn as well. Councilman White made a motion to authorize up to $12,000 for the replacement of the units. Councilman Channell seconded the motion; vote unanimous.
CITY ADMINISTRATOR REPORT:
*Mr. Ort presented his travel and training schedule for the month.
*Main St. Fire Business Meetings-Mr. Ort notified the mayor and council of meetings that he had hosted at the city office with the owners of the Main St. businesses affected by the fire during the month of March. The first was with the CDBG folks from the state. That meeting took place on Mar. 12. A follow up meeting took place on Monday the 16th with Charles, the Shafers, Susan, and Mark present. Per the conversation everyone is on the same page and the conversation went very well. In the wake of that meeting, Charles has begun cleanup activities, and he and Susan have declined the community foundation funds. The word that we have from Charles and his contractor is that the demolition should take no more than 2-3 weeks. On March 20, Sen. Marshall’s state director came to Jetmore. Though Michael was going to be out of town that day, he arranged for her to meet with our business owners to see if there was anything that the federal government might do to assist.
*Well 12/15 Project Report-Michael told the mayor and council that Ned Marks planned to be in Jetmore the following week to begin drawing samples from Well 13 at various rates of pumping to see where the combined radium is sufficiently reduced so as to drop below the 5 picoCuries/Liter max contaminant level (pCi/L, MCL). This testing will also be used to see if it can be determined at what depth the radium is being introduced into the well. That information can possibly be used then to rework the well so that the radium may not enter the water supply. KDHE will pay for this testing to see if Well 13 may safely be used for public consumption. If that effort proves unfruitful, the plan is to search for an opportunity to drill a new well in the vicinity of Well 13.
*2027 Budget-Administrator Ort informed the mayor and council that he had recently started work on the 2027 budget earlier than normal this year, wanting to get a headstart. He will let them know when it is ready for their review.
*New City Seal-Michael told the council that he has reached out Josie Gage, the HCHS shop teacher, to ask her to make the new design to replace the seal on the wall here at city hall. She stopped by to take measurements. She previously received the new design by email. Her recommendation due to the detail in the new design was to go about six inches bigger for the plaque. Her estimate to complete the design is $550-$800, based on work she recently did for the Hays police department.
*Lead Service Line Inventory-Mr. Ort told the mayor and council that we have received funding from KDHE to work with Sasha Haehn of JEO Consulting to finish the LSLI and that Sasha would be in Jetmore the next day (Wednesday Apr. 1) to kick off the effort. The LSLI is mandated by the EPA and enforced by KDHE, but is an effort that is quite large for smaller communities like ours, so provision has been made for funds from KDHE to pay for consultants to help communities complete the task. It will take several months to complete. Afterward, other requirements under the new Lead and Copper Rule will be released that we will need to comply with at later dates. It is known now that there are no lead service lines in the city of Jetmore as the last of them, in the 500 block of Main St. were replaced perhaps 20 years ago, but the requirement from EPA is to inventory the materials used in every line in town on the public side and as much of the private side as possible.
*K-156 Project-As far as we know at this point all city utilities have been moved from the project area. They should need nothing more from us.
*Main St. Project Update-Mr. Ort received a copy of the Office Check and Final Check Plans from Chad Lawson on Mar. 10 which he reported having recently submitted to KDOT for their review. In addition to those plans he submitted his second invoice which is included in this month’s bills, which will be submitted for reimbursement as soon as it is paid.
*Red Tag Poles Project Update-We received an invoice from KMEA/Mid-States on Mar. 12 for engineering services and materials planning. That invoice is included as well in this month’s invoices and it will be sent to KCC for reimbursement after it is paid.
GOVERNING BODY COMMENTS:
Councilman Channell expressed concerns about a few lots in town that need cleaned up. Mr. Ort will have Connie contact the owners.
Council discussed lending one of our city guys as well as a dump truck to assist in hauling off debris at Charles Leets building to help clean up move a little quicker.
Councilman Ubelaker made a motion to adjourn. Councilman Neeley seconded the motion; vote unanimous. Meeting adjourned at 8:37 p.m.