March 2021 Meeting Minutes

March 4, 2021

The Jetmore City Council met in regular session on March 4, 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, Mike Hendrickson and Larry Steinbring. Also attending were City Administrator Michael Ort, City Attorney Clayton Kerbs and City Clerk Deb McKivergan.

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

Linda Housman met with the council about erosion on her water line. Her meter is just northwest of the football field and the water line then runs north to her house. She was requesting help from the City to help control the runoff from the street. The City will look into how or if they can direct the runoff. It was also suggested that she look into the service line warranty program offered by Homeserve. 

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT REPORT:  ED Director LeaAnn Seiler presented a tax exemption request for a new truck stop to be built at the corner of Highway 156 and Roughton Street. Councilman Fetters made a motion to set a public hearing for the application on March 18th at 7:00 p.m. Councilman Channell seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

CITY ATTORNEY REPORT:  City Attorney Clayton Kerbs reported that he will not be available for City Court in March but Edgar Pando will be filling in for him.

CITY CLERK REPORT:  City Clerk Deb McKivergan presented a certificate of appointment for Earlene Tatman to serve on the Housing Authority Board. Councilman Chavez made a motion to approve the appointment. Councilman Hendrickson seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

BUSINESS ITEMS:  Mr. Ort revisited the lineman service agreement opportunity. The City will start from the $8,420.81 in ARR Optimization funds previously committed to KMEA and will need to add an additional $6,579.19 to reach the $15,000 contribution required. Councilman Fetters made a motion to add $6,579.19 to the funds and enter into the agreement. Councilman Steinbring seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

Mr. Ort presented Resolution 2021-02, a Bucket Truck Lease/Purchase Resolution. Councilman Steinbring made a motion to approve the resolution. Councilman Hendrickson seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

Mr. Ort presented Resolution 2021-03, a City Park Bathroom Project Resolution, needed to pursue grant funding through USDA. Councilman Channell made a motion to approve the resolution. Councilman Chavez seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

Jim Hutchinson from Vincent Oil recently sent a request for right of way/pipeline/tank siting for parts of Sections 6, 7, & 8-T245-R23W near the city airport. Vincent Oil would pay $1,000 for the temporary right of way and $1,500 for the tank site and permanent right-of-way if needed. Councilman Steinbring made a motion to approve the lease. Councilman Hendrickson seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

Mr. Ort received one bid from Mayer Specialty for the sewer maintenance, for a price of $41,400 over 4 years. Councilman Hendrickson made a motion to enter into the sewer agreement with Mayer Specialty. Councilman Chavez seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

CITY ADMINISTRATOR REPORT:  Mr. Ort presented a detailed chronicling of the power plant engine repairs during the cold weather event in February. It was also noted that we used a space heater from Roland Schmitt. Mr. Schmitt will be compensated $300 for the use of the space heater.

*Mr. Ort presented his March travel/training schedule.

*Mr. Ort explained the KMEA billing for the cold weather event and suggested that it was not necessary for the City to make any adjustments to our customer’s bills, due to our reserve funds and the fact that we were able to offset some costs by running the power plant. 

*Non pay disconnects were resumed in February with the return of warmer weather, however limited to customers who had a balance in the 60-90 day column. 

*The park committee and council have suggested a sidewalk around the park and Mr. Ort wanted to clarify with them if the sidewalk would ONLY be around the perimeter of the park or if there would be walkways into/through the interior of the park. He asked this to be clarified so he could work with irrigation contractors on the redesign of the irrigation system.

*Terry Harrold has begun replacing the A-Base meters and is expected to complete the project by next week.

*The Fire Resistant (FR) clothing agreement with Unifirst has recently expired. Other companies that could meet that need were contacted and asked to provide a quote for the service. Two quotes were received; from Unifirst and Cintas. Cintas came in with a lower bid and also better terms on their agreement. Additionally, the outside staff found the Cintas clothes to be more comfortable. It was therefore decided to sign an agreement with Cintas to provide the FR clothing.

*Mr. Ort checked with the Kansas Department of Emergency Management about the status of our emergency siren project. He was told the application was with FEMA and we would hopefully be notified soon if and when we are finally cleared to proceed.

*The outside staff has been directed by Mr. Ort to develop a list of known operable and inoperable shut off valves in our system. This information will be used to determine where strategically we can place new valves on our own or where we may need to have a few cut-in valves placed so we may fill in our system with operable valves. Once that list is established, Mr. Ort with work with Brian Beil to establish a plan and get a project cost to the council.

*Mr. Ort reported on the promotional pens he recently purchased and each council member was presented with one.

*No code enforcement letters were sent in February.

Councilman Hendrickson made a motion to enter into executive session for 10 minutes to discuss non-elected personnel pursuant to the non-elected personnel exception, K.S.A. 75-4319(b)(1). The open meeting will resume in the council chamber at 10:16. Councilman Steinbring made a motion to come out of executive session. Councilman Channell seconded the motion; vote unanimous. Councilman Chavez made a motion to give the City Administrator a $2500 bonus for his work above and beyond with the recent cold weather event and the power plant engine failure. Councilman Steinbring seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

Councilman Hendrickson made a motion to adjourn. Councilman Channell seconded the motion; vote unanimous. Meeting adjourned at 10:19 p.m.

March 25, 2021

The Jetmore City Council met in special session on March 25th, to hold the hearing for the tax abatement request from Dodge Petroleum. The hearing was opened by Mayor Derek Olson and the Pledge of Allegiance was recited. Roll Call was answered by Councilmen Jeff Channell, Connie Chavez, Kyler Fetters, Mike Hendrickson, and Larry Steinbring. Also attending were City Administrator Michael Ort, Economic Development Director Lea Ann Seiler and City Clerk Deb McKivergan.

Ms. Seiler presented and explained the Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) and Mr. Alhaj outlined his plans for developing the area.

Councilman Fetters made a motion to approve the request for the tax abatement. Councilman Channell seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

Councilman Channell made a motion to adjourn. Councilman Chavez seconded the motion; vote unanimous. Meeting adjourned at 7:40 p.m.