September 2019 Meeting Minutes

Meeting Minutes for September 5th

The Jetmore City Council met on September 5, 2019. Mayor Derek Olson called the meeting to order. Roll call was answered by councilmen Jeff Channell, Mike Hendrickson, Jesse Pitts, Pete Shewry and Larry Steinbring. Also attending were City Administrator Michael Ort, City Attorney Clayton Kerbs and City Clerk Deb McKivergan. 

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

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT REPORT:  Economic Development Director Lea Ann Seiler reported that she recently attended a drone-port seminar and asked permission to research the possibility of using our airport as a drone port. She will bring any information back to the council. She is working on a grant for moderate income housing, but would need a match. The grant is due by the end of September. She shared a 3-D printer project from the recent Makers Camp. She reported that several local people, herself included, recently testified at Round 1 of the KDOT consult held in Dodge City.

Wayne Schwartz addressed the council with questions about the status of the power plant and if there was a contingency plan for this winter.

Darrell Abbott, representing the local American Legion organization, asked for help in purchasing approximately 60 flags for the main street poles. Councilman Hendrickson made a motion to provide funding for half of the flags. Councilman Pitts seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

CITY ATTORNEY REPORT:  City Attorney Clayton Kerbs reported that municipal court continues to go well.

CITY CLERK REPORT:  City Clerk Deb McKivergan reported that Alison Guthrie has purchased the exercise equipment for the park and has made arrangements for the cement pad and the installation. The “Longhorn Country” sign needs to be replaced. Jennifer Lampe can make a new, lighter weight banner for approximately $260.00. Councilman Pitts made a motion to purchase a new “Longhorn Country” flag for up to $260. Councilman Hendrickson seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

The meeting was then turned over to the City Administrator for the land bank budget hearing. There being no public comment, Councilman Pitts made a motion to approve the budget as published. Councilman Steinbring seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

CITY ADMINISTRATORS REPORT:  City Administrator Michael Ort presented his September travel schedule.

*Mr. Ort attended the Clean Air Act Advisory Group meeting in Manhattan on August 13th. KDHE Bureau of Air presented an updated version of their rate stabilization plan. The new plan is a tiered plan based on complexity. KMU continues to engage KDHE on the matter and Mr. Ort will inform the council with the final determination.

*Last week notice was received from KDHE’s Dan Clair that our solution for water testing/blending has been approved and our 6 months of testing may begin now. Jeff Mills at Earles Engineering will draft a change order for Lee Construction to move the fire hydrant near the tower to match KDHE’s approval and instructions to go ahead and make connection to the tower so that Gerard may fill, sanitize and flush the tower and we may begin the 6 months of sampling.

*Terry Bradford brought the crop insurance policy for the corn and milo to the city office last week. The corn did not qualify for the enterprise zone pricing as expected. 

*The power plant was run approximately a dozen times, all short runs, August 23rd through August 25th. All runs were completed without incident, with various changes each time in an effort to achieve the desired oil temperature. During the final run on Sunday, two bearings flashed. At this point Farabee Mechanical is reaching out to a recently retired tech from Fairbanks Morse to see if he would be able to travel to Jetmore to assist them in diagnosing the issue and identifying a solution; all at the expense of Farabee Mechanical.

*At this month’s EMP3 meeting, Mr. Ort learned that our average cost for energy for the month of July was the lowest among other EMP3 cities.

*Eight code letters were sent in August, with two currently in compliance and six outstanding.

*Mr. Ort presented the fund health report for August and discussed an effort to measure the health and performance of the various departments utilizing Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

The bathrooms at the lake and the plan for new bathrooms at the city park were discussed.

The library audit was performed by Dirks, Anthony and Duncan. Mathew Medill will be at the next library board meeting to pass the GAAP waiver and to complete the audit process. He will bring the audit report to the October city council meeting.

The larger rock that has been placed on the unpaved roads in the Cheyenne Hills development has helped a lot and we will continue to add rock to the unpaved roads in the city as the budget allows.

KDOT has introduced a grant program that could help with cementing the alley in the 300 block between Main Street and Bowlus street and the half block of Best at Circle K, and other needs around town. Mr. Ort will attend a webinar for this.

Councilman Hendrickson made a motion to go into executive session for 20 minutes pursuant to the attorney-client privilege exception K.S.A. 75-4319(b)(1), with the Mayor, Council, Attorney and Administrator present. The regular meeting will resume in the council chamber at 9:48 p.m. Councilman Pitts seconded the motion; vote unanimous. Councilman Hendrickson made a motion to come out of executive session. Councilman Pitts seconded the motion; vote unanimous. No action was taken. Councilman Hendrickson made a motion to adjourn. Councilman Pitts seconded the motion; vote unanimous.