April 2017 Meeting Minutes

Meeting Minutes for April 6th

                                                                                                                                            April 6, 2017

The Jetmore City Council met on April 6, 2017.  Mayor Derek Olson called the meeting to order.  Roll call was answered by Councilmen Mike Hendrickson, Jesse Pitts, Orval “Pete” Shewry, Scott Smith and Larry Steinbring.  Also attending were City Administrator Michael Ort, City Attorney Eric Harman and City Clerk Deb McKivergan.

Minutes of the previous meeting were approved as presented.

Councilman Hendrickson made a motion to pay the claims for March, Appropriation Ordinance 2017-03.  Councilman Pitts seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT REPORT: ED Director Lea Ann Seiler presented the following report:  The KSU Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge will be held on April 17th and the FHSU challenge will be held on April 24th.  There will be one Hodgeman County student going.  The ICE House Camp will be offered in Jetmore May 18th -June 13th.   This is available for adults and students.  Camp Wild Woman will be held on April 29th and 30th at HorseThief Reservoir.  Ms. Seiler is working on an opportunity with Wingshooting USA for Dodge City and Jetmore.  Her first call will be later this week.  She is also working on a possible opportunity for a restaurant from something she witnessed in Lubbock, TX.  There will be more details to follow.  She has spent significant time working on the WhiteCliff tax issues and possible pending legislation to correct.  She is finalizing the Glamping Grant paperwork and will be able to apply for another Mariah Fund Grant in the fall.  She asked the council for ideas.  HorseThief the Festival will be held in June and Ms. Seiler has had calls concerning activities available Memorial Day weekend since there won’t be an all-school reunion and asked for suggestions from the council.  She is also working on a Jetmore Jingle that can be used to promote Hodgeman County.

Tracy Nusser visited with the council about the City’s tree trimming policy and requested that residents be notified and given the opportunity to trim trees out of the power lines themselves on their property.  The City is working on a policy for tree trimming.

CITY ATTORNEY REPORT:  City Attorney Eric Harman reported that court is going well.  Ticket numbers continue to be high and he fields between 15-20 calls each month.

CITY CLERK REPORT:  City Clerk Deb McKivergan reported that the American Legion Auxiliary is collecting donations for a bench and engraved stone to be placed in front of the American Legion building.  Councilman Steinbring made a motion to donate $100 toward the project.  Councilman Hendrickson seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

CITY ADMINISTRATOR REPORT:  City Administrator Michael Ort presented the council with his April schedule.

*The bids for the summer mowing contract were opened.  Three bids were received:  Trace Klein – $9,000; JT’s Lawn Care – $11,900 and Treyton Coats – $10,340.   Councilman Hendrickson made a motion to accept the Bid of Trace Klein for $9,000.  Councilman Smith seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

*Mr. Ort reported that the Howard Price mower for the golf course is down again and because of its age and repair history a replacement was needed.  Bids were received from 4 dealers for 6 mowers:

61” Grasshopper 329B rear discharge from Moridge Manufacturing in Moundridge – $8,876.25

60” Hustler X-One rear discharge from American Implement in Dodge City – $7,416.00

60” Hustler SuperZ rear discharge from American Implement in Dodge City – $10,540.00

60” Hustler SuperZ rear discharge from Delaney Implement in Burdett – $10,118.85

60” John Deere Z930R rear discharge from American Implement in Garden City – $9,500.00

60” John Deere Z997R rear discharge from American Implement in Garden City – $19,000

104” Hustler Super 104 rear discharge from Delaney Implement in Burdett – $23,295.50

Councilman Smith made a motion to purchase the 60” SuperZ mower for $10,118.85 from Delaney Implement and ask them to add flex forks and specify a Kawasaki engine. Councilman Pitts seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

*In October we received a final estimate based on feedback that KMEA had received to that point from SPP of $5,062.50 which was billed in four installments.  The final numbers were sent to KMEA in February and Jetmore’s portion was determined to be $2,924.24 for a difference of $2,138.26 which was credited on our March bill.

*The City Administrator received radiological test results for Well #14 from KDHE on March 21st which indicated radium level that is just above the Maximum Contaminant Level.  We are not required to publish a notice or cease using the well at this time.  Mr. Ort has made the water tower project engineer aware of the reading and he will determine if any changes need to be made in the final plans of the water tower.  Mr. Ort will keep the council posted on any changes.

*The Petition for Vacation for Tucker Street has been published and the public hearing will be held on May 4th along with the council meeting.

*Mr. Ort received a letter from KDHE stating that our water system has incurred a violation for failure to report the results of the lead results from last year’s lead and copper testing to the residents from whose homes they were collected.  We had never done this before and were unaware of this requirement.  The City will send a letter to the residents explaining our obligation to them and acknowledging our negligence in the matter.

*The City was awarded the 90/10 KAIP grant for the Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS) which Dennis O’Connor indicated was one of the three steps needed for the modernization of our airport. The City’s portion would be approximately $15,000.  Monies cannot be expended until July 1st or after.  The council asked the administrator to find out if the AWOS is necessary for our airport, who would be responsible for repairs and what it would cost to insure the equipment before moving forward with the project.

*Lake permits are being stolen from the self pay station.  Recently 50 permits were placed in the holder but only 5 were retrieved.  Mr. Ort suggested a camera be placed at the entrance of the lake.  He was authorized to spend up to $1000 on a security camera for the lake.

*The addition of a full time employee was discussed at it was decided that we would continue with temporary help for a total of 90 days.

*An e-mail from Dale  Luedke was received stating that the Consent to Annex drawn up and sent to KDOT in October was incorrect.  The only way to correct the error was to pass another ordinance.  Councilman Hendrickson made a motion to pass Ordinance #651, an ordinance annexing a portion of K156 and repealing Ordinance #646.  Councilman Smith seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

*The bulk water rate didn’t increase with the recent city-wide water rate.  Mr. Ort asked if the council would like to consider raising it.  Councilman Hendrickson made a motion to increase the bulk water rate from $4.00 per thousand gallons to $5.00 per thousand gallons.  Councilman Steinbring seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

*Mr. Ort told the council about KAPIO – the Kansas Association of Public Information Officers.  The administrator is typically the information officer.  Mr. Ort would like to have a KAPIO membership for $40 per year.  The council agreed as there will be trainings that go along with the membership.

*The City Administrator has been observing the drainage at several areas around town.  When Dennis Bowman was here recently he looked at the areas and took pictures to take back a person with Earle’s Engineering who specializes in this type of engineering.  Mr. Ort will work on a plan to develop an understanding of the drainage in town and see how it would help us consider what we might do in future budgeting to possibly address the problem in an effective manner.

*The electrical system is aging and Mr. Ort has learned of an opportunity through KMEA that will allow for their member cities to assess the health of their electrical systems.  Mr. Ort has let them know of our interest, but that he had to clear it through the council.

*Mr. Ort also visited with an engineer from Schwab Eaton about our streets and the building up of our roads from our chat & seal program.  The engineer stated that some cities who also use chip seal to maintain their roads use a less aggressive program.  Because of that input and the expectation that we will be working on the water tower project this summer, Mr. Ort recommended that we skip this year’s chat and seal project.

CITY FOREMAN REPORT:  City Foreman Brian Beil reported that the city crew has been working on the electric lines and trimming trees from the lines.  They are working on equipment maintenance and getting the mosquito fogger ready for the summer season.   They continue the upkeep on city property and changing out electric and water meters.  Brian reported that Dale Younker would like to purchase rock for his road and would like the City to lay out the rock for him. This will make it easier to keep the road up.

Mayor Olson reported that $110 was donated for the recent clean-up day.  The city will add $390 for a total donation of $500.  He also reported that they are still working to place the trees from the tree farm.

Councilman Hendrickson made a motion to adjourn.  Councilman Pitts seconded the motion; vote unanimous.