March 2018 Meeting Minutes

Meeting Minutes for March 1st

                                                                                                                                            March 1, 2018

The Jetmore City Council met in regular session on March 1, 2018.  Mayor Derek Olson called the meeting to order.  Roll call was answered by Councilmen Jeff Channell, Mike Hendrickson, Jesse Pitts, Orval Shewry and Larry Steinbring.  Also attending were City Administrator Michael Ort, City Attorney Clayton Kerbs and City Clerk Deb McKivergan.

Councilman Hendrickson made a motion to approve the consent agenda.  Councilman Steinbring seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

CITY ATTORNEY REPORT:  City Attorney Clayton Kerbs reported that it has been a busy month for municipal court and that two trials are scheduled for the March court date.

BUSINESS ITEMS:

Asst. City Clerk Kelsey Keese reported that she is planning another city wide cleanup day for either April 21st or April 28th, depending on when the high school youth can help.  It will be held from 8:00 – noon.  She also visited with the council about upgrades for the bathrooms in the city park and suggested replacing the sinks.  Council gave her permission to look into pricing to replace the sinks.  She also asked the council how they wanted to proceed with residents who haven’t renewed their animal permits.  Kelsey will again contact those who have had permits in the past and have them renew if they still have the animals.  She will also add a box to check on the application if nothing has changed from the previous year.  We will also notify people through the newspaper and Facebook that dog tags are due and farm animals need to be permitted.

The City Administrator presented a clothing policy for the council to review.  Councilman Channell made a motion to approve the clothing policy as presented.  Councilman Steinbring seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

City Administrator Michael Ort reported that we have been asked again to be a welcoming sponsor for the 2018 Horsethief Festival.  Councilman Steinbring made a motion to approve the sponsorship.  Councilman Pitts seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

Mr. Ort presented Ordinance #658 for review, an ordinance amending Chapter 3, Article 2 of the City Code Book.   This would allow the City to charge up to $35 for a background check and allow the City Clerk’s office to conduct an investigation to determine whether the applicant is qualified as a licensee under the provisions of this chapter.  Councilman Channell made a motion to approve Ordinance #658.  Councilman Shewry seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

Mr. Ort presented Ordinance #659 for council review, an ordinance amending Chapter 3, Article 3 of the Jetmore City Code, addressing hours and days of sales of retail liquor.  Councilman Shewry made a motion to approve Ordinance #659.  Councilman Pitts seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

Mr. Ort reminded the council that it is time to advertise for summer mowing help.  Councilman Steinbring made a motion to advertise the mowing contract.  Councilman Hendrickson seconded the motion; vote unanimous. Applicants will be presented at the April 5th council meeting.

There is a vacancy on the housing board due to the resignation of Gene Webb.  Mayor Olson appointed Kim Shewry to a four (4) year term of the Jetmore Housing Authority Board to replace Mr. Webb.  Councilman Hendrickson made a motion to approve the appointment.  Councilman Pitts seconded the motion; the vote was four (4) in favor with Councilman Shewry abstaining.

Mr. Ort made note that another library board appointment will need to be made in April of 2018.  Mr. Ort will pursue people willing to serve and give the information to the Mayor for consideration.

CITY ADMINISTRATOR REPORT:  City Administrator Michael Ort presented his March travel schedule.

*Mr. Ort reported that the water tower project is finally ready to proceed to bid, as soon as we have the green light from USDA.

*Mr. Ort reported that he had sent a code enforcement letter to a resident in Jetmore who is currently drawing water from a domestic well.   City code requires residences within the city limits and within reach of public water to connect to the public water.  It is also a stipulation of the USDA funding that this is a requirement.  A letter was sent and asking them to complete the repairs and connect to city water by April 1st.

*After discussing the project idea with the KDWPT agent in charge of the City Lake, Mr. Ort was told that the project including a new bathroom and shower would not conform to the goals of the CFAP grant program because showers would not serve the needs of anglers.  Thinking he had discussed the idea with the KDWPT administrator of the grant program, he contacted him again and asked him to shed some light on the issue.  He stated that a $20,000 project that included just bathrooms might qualify for a full 75% grant while a $20,000 project that included showers would likely qualify for a lesser level of funding.  Mr. Ort will create an RFP and send that to vendors who could give us proposals to choose from to present to KDWPT.  With that in hand he can prepare the application and also be looking into other funding sources to fill in the gap between project cost and KDWPT grant funding.

*The KMEA-EMP3 meeting on February 15th went well, but no final conclusion was reached that day.  The movement was toward full reimbursement, but Girard made a request for more time to discuss the matter with their governing body.  He felt they were leaning to some type of reimbursement – somewhere between one half and the whole amount.  Mr. Ort was asked to ask his council if they would be willing to entertain an offer of less than the full reimbursement.  Council will hold out for full reimbursement.

*After visiting with folks in town and via Facebook about the possibility of a trash service, most of the feedback was positive, but there were some concerns.  After reaching out on the list serve, Eric Smith from the League cautioned Mr. Ort to make sure we observe the process for starting a trash service, which is rather extensive.  Mr. Ort will study the process and provide a cheat sheet when he has a better chance to absorb and condense the information.  So at this time, the trash service is on hold.

*There was a mistake with regard to the Library budget for 2017, causing a shortfall of approximately $8200 for the Library.  The Library has been made aware of the mistake and the shortfall will be paid out through the next year.

Mayor Olson shared a thank you from the fire department for the donation to their Fireman’s Ball.

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