April 2021 Meeting Minutes

April 1, 2021

The Jetmore City Council met in regular session on April 1, 2021. Mayor Derek Olson called the meeting to order and led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance. Roll call was answered by Councilmen Jeff Channell, Connie Chavez, Kyler Fetters and Larry Steinbring. Absent was Councilman Mike Hendrickson. Also attending were City Administrator Michael Ort, City Attorney Clayton Kerbs and City Clerk Deb McKivergan.

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

Casey Fitzgerald with Family Outdoor Recreation met with the council to fill them in on things his group is doing. They are teaming up with Lions Club and donating tools and seeds for the community garden and sponsoring the High School Trap team. They will be hosting an Outdoor Day in Jetmore on May 15th. Their annual banquet will be held on September 11th at the 4-H building in Jetmore. They are also donating seven, cottonless cottonwood trees to the city lake and asked for help in watering them to get them established.

CITY ATTORNEY REPORT: City attorney Clayton Kerbs had nothing to report.

 CITY CLERK REPORT: City Clerk Deb McKivergan reported that the new water bottle filler for the King Center has been delivered and will soon be installed. The Red Cross Bloodmobile recently used the King Center for a blood drive and requested the donation of the building for upcoming drives. The council agreed to donate the use of the building for up to four times per year.

BUSINESS ITEMS: Mr. Ort presented Ordinance #671, an ordinance amending and replacing ordinances 575 and 619 authorizing operation of golf carts, micro-utility trucks, all-terrain vehicles and work-site utility vehicles. After discussion it was determined that there were questions and no action was taken at this time.

Mr. Ort reported that he had requested bids for the removal of the old water tower. He has received one bid from Iseler Demolition out of Fort Hope, Michigan in the amount of $27,100. If the project can be coordinated with other projects in Kansas there could be a $3,000 savings. Councilman Fetters made a motion to approve the bid. Councilman Channell seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

A bid of $20,950 was received from Rainmaker of Great Bend to replace the sprinkler system at the city park. Councilman Channell made a motion to approve the bid. Councilman Chavez seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT REPORT: ED Director Lea Ann Seiler presented resolution 2021-04, a resolution providing for ad valorem property tax exemption for Dodge Petroleum of Dodge City, Kansas. Councilman Channell made a motion to approve the resolution. Councilman Chavez seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

CITY ADMINISTRATOR REPORT: City Administrator Michael Ort presented his April training/travel schedule.

*The fund health report for the first quarter of 2021 was presented.

*The bathrooms at the lake and park were opened this week.

*The jacket water at the power plant was replaced in March as recommended by Mike McEvoy. After that change the engine was run twice for six hours and all went well.

*Matt Schindler with WDM Architects in Wichita is working on the formal design and engineering for the bathroom park project. A plan is expected soon and the funding process continues with USDA Rural Development.

*Mayor Olson and Mr. Ort met with Bob Crabill at Farmers State Bank last week to sign the lease/purchase agreement for the new bucket truck. A down payment of $20,225.22 was made, making the lease purchase amount $99,000.00. The expected completion date of the truck is May 10th.

*There were a handful of high water readings that were not flagged by the computer system but were caught by the billing clerk Kelsey Keese. It is thought the readings were skewed because of a recent update. Kelsey has logged a call with the software companies and is working through the problem.

*J.E. Dansel has visited with someone from KDOT about the 65 mph speed limit on K-156 in front of his house, asking to have it reduced. He was told that he needed to bring it up to the Administrator and the City before anything could be done. Mr. Ort followed up with Galen Ludlow at KDOT and asked if KDOT would consider reducing the speed limit. He responded that he thought it could be done but that it wouldn’t require the annexation process that was required to the west, but would need a Traffic Impact Study (TIS); and he copied the District Engineer and the District Maintenance Engineer on his answer in case they thought differently. There has been no response as of yet, but Mr. Ort will follow up to move the process along.

*The editor at the Republican contacted Mr. Ort and suggested that more robust enforcement of the golf cart registration and safety rules need to be enforced. He offered suggestions for changes in the ordinance. Mr. Ort informed him that he was introducing an ordinance this month and would let him know the outcome.

Councilman Fetters asked about adding gravel and maintaining the road at the fairgrounds. Councilman Channell made a motion to adjourn. Councilman Steinbring seconded the motion; vote unanimous.