September 2017 Meeting Minutes

Meeting Minutes for September 7th and 12th

                                                                                                                                           September 7, 2017

The Jetmore City Council met in regular session on September 7, 2017.  Mayor Derek Olson called the meeting to order.  Roll call was answered by Councilmen Mike Hendrickson, Jesse Pitts, Orval Shewry, Scott Smith and Larry Steinbring.  Also attending were City Administrator Michael Ort and City Clerk Deb McKivergan.

Minutes of the previous meeting were approved as presented.

Councilman Hendrickson made a motion to pay the bills for August, Appropriation Ordinance #2017-08.  Councilman Smith seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

Alison Guthrie met with the council to tell them that she is working to reorganize the alumni reunion.  She expressed several ideas, but will form a committee to work out details.  She would like to hold it the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, yearly.  She requested support from the city in the form of street closings, use of public facilities and possibly event insurance, as well as moral support.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT REPORT:  ED Director Lea Ann Seiler reported to the council that she has updated the Hotel Guide Books, gave out 4 loan application worksheets and met with two potential new Main Street businesses.  Hodgeman County will be the Spotlight Community at the State Fair on Tuesday.  She began working on another possible project through the Advanced Manufacturing Institute, matched with Network Kansas Innovation Funds, for a regional plastic recycling facility.  Hidden Genius, at KSU, in interested in helping with this project.  Ms. Seiler has been working with SBDC to complete the Retail Gap Analysis.  The past six weeks she worked on a Downtown Destination Survey and now she has the results from a small group of individuals from outside the region as well as the ED board.  Even with this info there was frustration gathering some numbers so she applied for a Development Opportunity Profile from Network Kansas and was awarded.  Don Macke from the Center for Rural Engagement will be performing the assessment.  This is a great opportunity to get this information provided free of charge.  This information could be helpful in determining how this community wants to grow and being proactive in creating the culture and community to support it.   Ms. Seiler recently attended a wKREDA workshop in Hays and visited with the Western Kansas Legislative delegation to get a feel for some of the issues that they think are going to affect us in the next session.

Kade Sherrill met with the council and requested a variance to place a fence at his residence.  Councilman Hendrickson made a motion to approve the variance pending an inspection of the City Foreman and Sheriff to make sure it doesn’t block the visibility on the street.  Councilman Pitts seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

 

Undersheriff Jeff Channell visited with the council asking direction on how to proceed with solicitors in town.  Would the council like them to be ticketed or would they like them to be sent out of town.  The council left it at the discretion of the officers and will back the decision they make.

Brandon Harms, fire chief, reported that the fire department is gathering information to replace the bunker gear.  The material the gear is made of is being changed and the department would like to replace theirs before the legislation goes into effect to be ahead of the game.  The cost is $2,000 – $2,200 per fireman.  He proposed splitting the cost three ways between the City, the County and the Fire Department.  The Administrator stated that he had money in the budget for the gear so the City would be able to cover their share if they move forward.

Sheriff Walker shared his monthly activity report.  He also asked how the Council would like him to proceed with golf carts being driven by underage drivers.  He will begin with a warning and if not heeded, will then issue tickets.

CITY CLERK REPORT:  The City Clerk presented two ordinances for council review, one for the 2017 Uniform Public Offense Code and one for the 2017 Standard Traffic Ordinance.  Councilman Hendrickson made a motion to approve Ordinance #653, an ordinance regulating public offenses in the City of Jetmore.  Councilman Smith seconded the motion; vote unanimous.  Councilman Hendrickson made a motion to approve Ordinance #654, an ordinance regulating traffic within the corporate limits of the City of Jetmore.  Councilman Pitts seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

The Park-It Committee has determined that their project this year will be to remove some of the sand from the play area and replace it with fine play sand.  The cost of the sand is approximately $6400.  The committee will apply for a grant for 50% – 75% of the cost of the sand, but the city will be responsible for removal, prep and part of the sand.  The Lions Club has also agreed to be a supporting entity and possibly be a vehicle to bring funds into the City by applying for grants.

County Commissioners Marsha Ewy and Jeff Rydquist and Hospital Board members Mike Ochs and Dave Burkhart, met with the council to discuss how the county, city and hospital could work together to ease the financial issues at the hospital.  Mr. Ort also discussed the demolition of the wind towers and who will dismantle and receive the proceeds from the scrap metal.  The County and City will continue to work on a solution for this.

CITY FOREMAN REPORT:  City Foreman Brian Beil reported that the city crew has been getting pressure reading for Dennis Bowman to assist with the water tower project.  A culvert was placed at the intersection of Jayhawk and Carousel to help with the drainage issues there.  They continue to mow and work on weed control on the streets in the alleys and other city properties along with their regular duties.

CITY ADMINSITRATOR REPORT:  City Administrator Michael Ort gave the council his September travel schedule.

*The Administrator has been asked by Casey Fitzgerald to use the former race track area for an off road military training on October 14th.  The council granted permission

*Mr. Ort has been in communication with our librarian regarding her board.  He studied the statutes governing the formation of libraries and the appointing of library boards.  City libraries have seven member boards serving staggered terms starting each April.  It occurred to him that since the two years he has been here the council has not appointed a board member.  Mayor Olson appointed Dotty Moore for the term of 2016-2020, Maria McKinney for 2017- 2021 and Paulette Knobbe for 2017-2021.  Councilman Steinbring made a motion to approve these appointments by the Mayor.  Councilman Smith seconded the motion; vote unanimous. Mr. Ort will make sure that we remember to consider Library Board appointments at the April meetings from here forward.

*The Administrator and Larry Fagen have gone over the proposals that have been gathered for a new pickup and Larry has identified his top choices.  Wanting to get the best deal possible, since dealerships are trying to move 2017 models, he is asking the council to give an upper limit and permission to search for a pickup and a deal that will meet those criteria.  The council determined that $30,000 was set aside in the budget and they would like him to stick to that budget.

*Mr. Ort presented an ordinance for Budget Pay for the council to consider.  Councilman Steinbring made a motion to approve Ordinance #655, an ordinance implementing a budget payment program for the City of Jetmore utilities.  Councilman Pitts seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

*Mr. Ort visited with the council about the new SEMS program and the app that is needed to use the program.  It was determined that the City Foreman would get a smart phone and all work orders would go through that phone then he can delegate the work orders to the other employees.

*As mentioned before, Osmose has become unresponsive concerning our utility pole inventory.  There are two possibilities for the council to consider for the data.  Kimball Mapping is used by the county and after talking with a representative from the company, they could devise a tool to maintain these records and potentially even the water and sewer infrastructure information.  The cost would be approximately $1200 with no annual subscription.  The updates would be billed out at $75 per hour.  The second option is SEMS which would cost an initial investment of $3400 and an annual subscription of $1000.  Councilman Steinbring made a motion to use Kimball Mapping for the utility pole inventory.  Councilman Smith seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

*The installation of lights at the gun club was discussed.  The City will purchase the lights and install them, then send a bill for the lights only to the rec commission.

Councilman Smith made a motion to recess into executive session to discuss an individual employee pursuant to the non-elected personnel matter exception, K.S.A. 75-4319 (b) (1), with the Mayor, Council and Administrator attending.  The open meeting will resume in the council chamber at 11:10 p.m.  Councilman Steinbring seconded the motion; vote unanimous.  Councilman Steinbring made a motion to come out of executive session.  Councilman Pitts seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

Councilman Steinbring made a motion to authorize the Administrator to issue a one week suspension for an unelected member of the staff. Councilman Hendrickson seconded. The vote was 4-0 with Councilman Shewry abstaining.

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

 

September 12, 2017

The Jetmore City Council met in special session on September 12, 2017.  Mayor Derek Olson called the meeting to order.  Roll call was answered by Councilmen Mike Hendrickson, Jesse Pitts, Orval Shewry, and Larry Steinbring.  Absent was Councilman Scott Smith.  Also attending were City Administrator Michael Ort, City Attorney Eric Harman and City Clerk Deb McKivergan.

The meeting was called to discuss non-elected personnel.

Councilman Pitts made a motion to recess into executive session to discuss an individual employee pursuant to the non-elected personnel matter exception, K.S.A. 75-4319 (b) (1), with the Mayor, Council, Administrator and Attorney present.  The open meeting will resume in the city council chamber at 7:20 p.m.  Councilman Steinbring seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

Councilman Steinbring made a motion to come out of executive session.  Councilman Pitts seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

Councilman Pitts made a motion to recess into executive session to discuss an individual employee pursuant to the non-elected personnel matter exception, K.S.A. 75-4319 (b) (1), with the Mayor, Council, Administrator and Attorney present.  The open meeting will resume in the city council chamber at 7:30 p.m.  Councilman Steinbring seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

Councilman Steinbring made a motion to come out of executive session.  Councilman Hendrickson seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

Councilman Pitts made a motion to recess into executive session to discuss an individual employee pursuant to the non-elected personnel matter exception, K.S.A. 75-4319 (b) (1), with the Mayor, Council, Administrator and Attorney present.  The open meeting will resume in the city council chamber at 7:35 p.m.  Councilman Hendrickson seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

Councilman Steinbring made a motion to come out of executive session.  Councilman Hendrickson seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

Councilman Hendrickson made a motion to end the suspension of the individual employee.  Councilman Pitts seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

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