July 2024 Meeting Minutes

July 3, 2024

The Jetmore City Council met in regular session on July 3rd, 2024 at 8:00P.M. Mayor Bill Goebel called the meeting to order and led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance. Roll call was answered by Councilmen Cole Buffo , Jeff Channell, Charles Leet,  John Neeley & Mike Thornburg. Also attending were City Administrator Michael Ort , City Clerk Casey Dansel, City Attorney Clayton Kerbs, Economic Director Sailor Seiler & Auditor Matthew Medill.

Councilman Buffo made a motion to approve the consent agenda containing the June minutes & Appropriation Ordinance #2024-06. Councilman Channell seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

AUDIT PRESENTATION:  Matthew Medill with Medill & Thooft CPA presented the 2023 Audit. Councilman Thornburg made a motion to approve the audit and allow Medill & Thooft to file the audit report with the state. Councilman Channell seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT REPORT:  Sailor Anne Seiler presented her report; still administering the SEED grant, USDA Courthouse restoration grant & Black Hills Grant for American Legion building windows. Memorial Day was a big success, MYRI app was rolled out for 12 new/expecting mothers, Letters from home going out to recent grads, Donuts in the driveway with Horsethief Reservoir staff was held, currently looking for more organizations for the future donuts in the driveway. A new page was added to website for job openings to be posted for city, county & schools.

CITY ATTORNEY REPORT:  Attorney Clayton Kerbs gave an update on the Gil Burns property. Gil’s daughter has signed the contract and will deed the property to the land bank for $1000.

CITY CLERK REPORT:  Clerk Dansel presented the council with staff leave balances. Clerk Dansel reminded the council that City of Jetmore night is Wednesday July, 10th at the county fair.

BUSINESS ITEMS:

Mr. Ort informed the council we still need one more person to fill the opening on the library board. Encouraged them to ask around for interest.

Mr. Ort discussed the fireworks ordinance with the council. Several phone calls were received from concerned citizens requesting we add July 5th to the ordinance. The City Attorney and Mr. Ort advised it is too late to change the ordinance for this year but it could be changed to add the 5th for next year. Council agreed that the 5th should be allowed since it falls on a weekend and agreed to advise the sheriff’s department to go ahead and allow the citizens to shoot fireworks on the 5th.

Mr. Ort discussed with council that his contract is coming due soon. He requested the council to allow him to negotiate the terms of his contract renewal with Mayor Goebel. Council agreed and Mayor Goebel will present the terms of the contract to the council for approval after his discussion with Mr. Ort.

Mr. Ort advised the council it is time to set the 2025 Budget special meeting. Meeting will be held July 18th at 7:00 p.m. Motion by Councilman Channell, second by Councilman Buffo; vote unanimous.

Mr. Ort presented the resignation of Animal Control Officer Derek Weber. Councilman Thornburg made a motion to accept the resignation. Councilman Channell seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

Mr. Ort presented the council with four different options to replace the mower used at the golf course for the tee box and greens approaches. Jared and Larry stated a preference for the Bad Boy mower to Mr. Ort, which he shared with the council. Councilman Channell made a motion to purchase the Bad Boy mower presented for $10,800 to be paid out of the general equipment repair fund. Councilman Leet seconded the motion; vote unanimous. Council advised Mr. Ort to sell the old mower.

CITY ADMINISTRATOR REPORT:   

*Mr. Ort presented his travel and training schedule for July.

*Grant- The city received a $500 grant from Grain Belt Express. This grant paid for the park camera project as well as the cloud subscription for image storage.

*2025 Budget- Mr. Ort informed the council that he is currently working on the 2025 budget and expects to be finished up next week. At the budget meeting we will go through entire document so governing body can see what work was done. We will also review the land bank budget.

*K-156 Project- Met with KMEA & Midwest Energy staff last week via Teams. In that meeting Midwest staff discussed the demands that KDOT has made of them and their plans to carry out that work. Also discussed were the needs of Midwest Energy of the City of Jetmore to enable them to complete that work. A full one week outage will take place the first week. In the second week Midwest will need the city to generate during the day for perhaps 10 hours or more per day and then Midwest Energy staff will reconnect the transmission line to Jetmore for the evening. A plan is being worked up with KMEA staff and Mr. Ort presently to rent a smaller generator which will more efficiently serve the city load at that time of year and our unit will be used as backup generation. All of this, as has been discussed before, is part of a reimbursement agreement between Jetmore and KDOT because of Jetmore’s size, thus the city will be made whole by KDOT for all expenses involved in our part of the overall K-156 project and the movement of utilities.

*Power Plant Project- Work last week began on the project. Spoke with Kevin from Farabee Mechanical & work is expected to be finished middle of next week. Once work is done we will run a complete capacity test. This will demonstrate the engine’s ability and set the capacity for our engine for 5 years.

*Street Sealing Project- Received a call from Tyler Hess of B&H. They are scheduled to be in Jetmore to complete street sealing July 15th.

*Well 12 Project- Received email from Associated Drilling and after comparing schedules with Ned Marks, they will be here to begin the project on July 22nd.

EXECUTIVE SESSION:

Councilman Leet moved the city council recess into executive session to discuss non-elected personnel pursuant to the non–elected personnel exception, K.S.A. 75-4319 (b)(2). The open meeting will resume in the city council chamber at 9:29 p.m. Councilman Buffo seconded the motion; vote unanimous. Councilman Buffo made a motion to resume the open meeting at 9:29 p.m. Councilman Channell seconded the motion; vote unanimous. No action was taken.

GOVERNING BODY COMMENTS:

Councilman Thornburg discussed the cleanup project at the city lake that the group Outdoor Mentors did. He expressed he would like to see the city make a donation to the group in gratitude for this work. Councilman Thornburg made a motion to donate $500 to Outdoor Mentors. Motion failed due to lack of a second. More discussion was had concerning that there are multiple groups doing projects there so we should consider donating to more than just one. Councilman Channell made a motion to donate $250 to Outdoor Mentors. Councilman Thornburg seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

Councilman Leet discussed the continuing drainage issue in the alley behind Kevin Sherrill’s rental property and his home. Council discussed options on how to fix the issue.

Council discussed the deteriorating street by the new quick shop. Council discussed having David Mendez provide a bid  for the work.

Councilman Channell made a motion to adjourn. Councilman Buffo seconded the motion; vote unanimous. Meeting was adjourned at 10:11 p.m.

July 9, 2024

The Jetmore City Council met in special session on July 9th, 2024 at 7:00 p.m. Mayor Bill Goebel called the meeting to order and led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance. Roll wall was answered by Councilmen Cole Buffo, Jeff Channell, Charles Leet & Mike Thornburg. Also in attendance was Administrator Michael Ort, City Attorney Samantha Sweley, Sherriff Jared Walker, Undersheriff Andrew Paasch, County Commissioners Mick MacNair & Chris Klein & County Attorney Mark Cowell.

Business Items:  City Council discussed the Law Enforcement Contract with the Hodgeman County representatives.

No action was taken.

Councilman Channell made a motion to adjourn. Councilman Thornburg seconded the motion; vote unanimous. Meeting was adjourned at 7:51 p.m.

July 18, 2024

The Jetmore City Council met in special session on July 18th, 2024 at 7:00 p.m. Mayor Bill Goebel called the meeting to order and led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance. Roll wall was answered by Councilmen Cole Buffo, Jeff Channell, Charles Leet, John Neeley & Mike Thornburg. Also in attendance were City Administrator Michael Ort & City Clerk Casey Dansel.

Business Items:   Administrator Ort presented the 2025 budget and budget options were discussed. Councilman Channell made a motion to send notice of exceeding the revenue neutral rate to the Hodgeman County Clerk. Councilman Neeley seconded; vote unanimous.

Councilman Channell made a motion to hold the 2025 Budget Hearing on September 4th, 2024. Councilman Buffo seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

Councilman Channell made a motion to adjourn. Councilman Buffo seconded the motion; vote unanimous. Meeting was adjourned at 8:07 p.m.