WASHINGTON CITY COUNCIL MINUTES Regular Meeting August 1, 2011

Transcription

1 WASHINGTON CITY COUNCIL MINUTES Regular Meeting August 1, Call to order by President of the Council. Council President called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. 2. Roll Call. 3. Citizens Comments. None. 4. Minutes. Present: Justin Cordry Absent: Mayor Harold Jones, Jr. Staff Present: Denise Powell, City Clerk Barry Finlayson, Electric Superintendent Eric Gepner, Public Works Superintendent Elizabeth Hiltgen, City Attorney Others: Dan Thalmann, Washington County News Christine L Ecuyer, Washington County Economic Development Jackie Leck, Friendly Corners Becky Pannbacker, Washington Co. Senior Citizens Co-Director Norma Stamm, Friendly Corners, Co-Site Director Delmar Crawford, Washington Co. Senior Citizens board members Jim Scheetz, Washington Co. Senior Citizens board members Marvin VanWinkle, Washington Billy Shaffer, Washington Larry Stigge, Library Board Karen Stewart, Library Board Linda Nelson, Library Board Rebecca Fischer, Library Board Janet Keller, Librarian Blanche Graham, Library Board Carol Barta, North Central Kansas Libraries System Motion to approve the minutes of the regular meeting on July 5, and special meeting minutes of July 27, July 28, and July 29, 2011 by Gibbs and seconded by Cordry. Page 1 of 9

2 5. Appropriations Ordinance Motion to approve appropriations ordinance by Cordry and seconded by Kern. 6. Ordinance No No action taken on Ordinance No. 748, an ordinance attesting to an increase in tax revenues for budget year 2012 for the City of Washington Budget. Discussed the 2012 budget. No action taken. 8. Petition to Vacate Alley Hearing. Motion to adopt Ordinance 748, an ordinance vacating the alley which lies within the properties located at 103 North B Street and 111 North B Street, in the City of Washington, by Gibbs and seconded by Cordry. 9. Friendly Corners. Becky Pannbacker, county director of Washington County Senior Citizens Services; Jackie Leck and Norma Stamm, co-site manager of Friendly Corners; and Delmar Crawford and Jim Scheetz, Washington County Senior Citizens board members, attended the Council meeting at the request of the Council to discuss the previous contract the City had with Friendly Corners meal site. Under the original contract the meal site paid rent and utilities. Council Member stated the Council wants to open the dialog and begin negotiations of a new contract. Pannbacker will take the information back to the Washington County Senior Citizens Services Board and report back to the Council. Also discussed was the electricity of the building. The building seems to have too many outlets on one breaker and Friendly Corners staff is asking that a new breaker and new outlets be installed or current outlets be split to another breaker so equipment can function properly. Page 2 of 9

3 10. Library Board. Larry Stigge, Karen Stewart, Lynda Woodcock, Linda Nelson, Rebecca Fischer and Blanche Graham, Library Board members, Janet Keller, Library director and Carol Barto, North Central Kansas Libraries System, attended the Council meeting. The Council invited the Library board to the meeting to discuss their budget. The Council informed the Library board that anticipated expenses exceed the remaining cash balance for The Council discussed cutting payroll expenses to stay within their budget. Board President Larry Stigge stated the library is open 38 hours per week and budgets 43 hours per week for payroll. However, Zona Frost related hours are being paid through payroll but not reimbursed to the City by the Zona Frost bequest. Council members discussed reimbursement for hours related to the Zona Frost bequest. Karen Stewart, Library Board treasurer, stated the library must be open 35 hours a week to be considered a core library in the North Central Kansas Library System which allows them to receive a $5,000 grant to purchase books. If they are open less than 35 hours the grant drops to $2,500. Carol Barta, North Central Kansas Libraries System, will work with the library board on creating a budget for submission to the Council by June 1, Lynda Woodcock stated the library board meets the second Tuesday of each month and the Mayor is an ex official member of the board. Both parties agreed the goal is to keep communication open and get the budgeting process done. 11. Public Works Report. a. Street Sealing. Eric Gepner, Public Works superintendent, reported staff was short about five blocks of material to seal streets but street sealing went smooth. b. Radiator. Motion to purchase an all metal radiator for the 1995 Ford dump truck in an amount not to exceed $1,455 from Eaton Radiator and Auto Sales by Cordry and seconded by Gibbs. c. Well Houses. Gepner reported staff plans to begin construction of the three well houses the week of August 8. d. Short Stop. Staff prepared and mailed estimates for electric, water and sewer service for the new Short Stop to Leiszler Oil. Staff will not order the materials or perform the work until the signed estimate and payment are returned to the City. e. Main Lift Station. Discussed water in the oil in a pump at the main sewer lift station. A Gormann-Rupp representative says some water in the oil is normal. If staff would pull the pump and send to Gormann-Rupp and the water in the oil isn t within normal range they Page 3 of 9

4 will replace pump; if it is within normal range the City is responsible for the expense. Council Member will call Pat Cox, BG Engineering who were the engineers for the project, to discuss this issue. f. Sewer Roots. Gepner presented an estimate for root killer from Mayer Equipment at $350 for a 40 pound box and an applicator for $995. The cutter attachment runs from $1500 to $2400. No action was taken. Council asked staff to contact Utility Maintenance Contractors, Wichita, to find out when they will be here to do the sewer lining. g. Composting Area. Gepner had estimates for 2 x 2.5 x 5 concrete blocks at $55 apiece from Midwest Products. The blocks are to be used to designate an area for the dumping of grass and leaves. Council Member is to visit with Ken Powell, KDHE, and work with Gepner on preparing the composting area to be open by September Electric Department Superintendent Report. a. Truck. Motion to purchase 2009 Chevy K250 Truck for $17,200 from Federal Surplus by Cordry and seconded by Gibbs contingent upon inspection by staff. Nays: b. WSAC. Still waiting to hear from EMC insurance. c. Generation. Barry Finlayson, Electric Superintendent, stated staff generated electricity for Sunflower on July 20 th and all went well. d. Engines. 1) Engine #3 Staff has looked into the gas valve on Engine #3, and is recommending we have Fairbanks mechanic come look at it to try to fix it. It is beyond staff s expertise. Fairbanks Morse offered to come troubleshoot the engine free of charge as a courtesy and give a cost estimate to repair the gas valve. 2) Engine #4 Staff is still working on putting together numbers on how much capacity payment the City would lose if engine number four is decommissioned. e. Catalyst Estimate. Staff has received two quotes on engine testing. Test data would be used to size catalyst. Olsson and Associates, Manhattan, estimate was not to exceed $6,000 and Aeromet Engineering estimated $7,700. Staff would recommend moving forward with Olsson and Associates. Council discussed visiting with the staff at the cities of Hill City and Norton to find out the positive and negatives of closing their power plants. Page 4 of 9

5 f. RICE-NESHAP. Staff has been able to acquire an estimate from Farabee Mechanical to convert five engines to become compliant with Rice-Neshap at $378,033 from Farabee Mechanical. No action taken. g. Oil Filters. Oil filters for engines 1 and 6 have arrived, and staff will change them as time allows. h. Park Fountain. The park fountain appears to have a leak and is losing around six inches of water daily and in addition the chlorinator is not working. Staff is proposing to shut it down for the year. Council agreed to shut down for this year. i. Leaking Transformer. City staff recently discovered a leaking transformer while reading meters. Staff replaced with a new transformer and discovered the old transformer lost nearly all its oil. An oil sample was sent in for testing and the PCB level came back below hazardous limits. The oil must be cleaned up and staff is working with KDHE and Duane Bruna, Washington County Solid Waste, on the best way to dispose of the dirt. j. Casey s True-Up. Staff plans to remove the old Casey s electrical service the week of August 8 th and will due a true-up on utility installation. k. EMP2 Group switched banks. City had previously put cash up for collateral as required by the former bank. The City will receive a refund for cash put up as collateral. l. Electric Rates. Discussed electric utility rate study. Staff is to get an estimate on the cost of a rate study. 13. Kramer Oil Request. Kramer Oil made a request for reimbursement for penalty on the utility bill that was due July 10 th. No action taken. 14. KDOT Change Orders. Motion to approve and authorize the Mayor to sign change orders 7, 10 and 13 (revised) for KDOT Project ID: US K by Gibbs and seconded by Kern. 15. Street Use Permit. Motion to approve and authorize the Mayor to sign street use permit for Randy Jellison- Knock by Gibbs and seconded by Cordry. Page 5 of 9

6 16. KMGA Appointment. Motion to appoint Barry Finlayson as director and as alternate director to the KMGA Board of Directors by Cordry and seconded by Kern. 17. Hughes/Turner Request. Motion to allow Lacey Hughes and Josh Turner to have their wedding in the park October 8, 2011 and to allow the use of sparklers by Gibbs and seconded by Cordry. Council asked that a letter be mailed to Hughes and Turner asking them to make sure the sparklers are disposed of properly and not thrown on the ground. 18. Pawnee Mental Health Request. Denise Jenkins, Pawnee Mental Health worker, requested a donation of 10 pool passes for children at the city pool. No action was taken but the Council will allow Pawnee Mental Health group to charge at the pool and a bill will be sent at the end of the pool season. 19. B Street Project. Chris L Ecuyer was in to discuss the B Street project. L Ecuyer stated the County Commissioners told her last week they were okay with doing the preliminary study for the B Street project. L Ecuyer was in to see if the city was on board. L Ecuyer said a preliminary study would give both parties an idea of what the cost would be for the road and curb and gutter. An interlocal agreement between both parties would be needed. L Ecuyer thinks it is worth the investment to see what the project would cost and doesn t see the project getting any cheaper. Council Member Justin Cordry stated he is interested in doing the study but the Council needs to determine how to fund the project. Unfortunately at this time the budget is tight. 20. Sales Tax Issue. Motion to approve letter to commercial accounts to collect Kansas Sales Tax by Gibbs and seconded by Cordry. 21. KDOL Inspection. Council members were given the results of the inspection and deficiencies that need to be corrected by August 20 th. Page 6 of 9

7 22. Stone Sewer Request. Discussed Danielle & Gary Stone s request to connect to city sewer at 1002 South B Street. 23. Valnet Request. Linda Kirchoff, Valnet, asked the council to sign a letter confirming a previous agreement. The Council asked staff to contact Kirchoff for a copy of the original agreement referred to in the letter. 24. Fair Board. Motion to bill the Fairboard for parts only for installation of an electric service for an ice cream truck at the fairgrounds by Gibbs and seconded by Cordry. The Council asked staff to compile a spreadsheet of utilities during the month of July at the Fairgrounds. 25. City Clerk s Report. a. City Cemetery. Council Members reviewed a letter from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment regarding testing results on an integrated site evaluation which stated no further action was needed. Council would like staff to fill the top portion of graves with good top soil rather than using clay soil. b. Elaine Greenwood Water Bill. Motion to reimburse Greenwood for expenses from KMEP, LLC for a bill in amount of $39.87 for a temporary repair to a water line which was determined to be on the city s side of the meter by Cordry and seconded by Uhlrich. c. Chamber of Commerce Music. Chamber Member Mike Graham recently visited with staff about installing the speaker and music system owned by the Chamber at City Hall. Broadcasting the music requires a license at a cost of $305 per year. No action was taken. d. 15/36 Light. Dale Hershberger, KDOT, recently called needing more documentation as to why the Council is requesting a flashing light be installed on the stop sign on the south corner of the 15/36 junction. Council advised staff to write a letter stating it has poor visibility, poor lighting and the City has received numerous complaints about people driving through the intersection. Page 7 of 9

8 e. Gravel Roads. Gary Montague and Dave Fischer were in recently and suggested the City hire a former retired county employee to run the road maintainer on the city s gravel roads as they have experience in grading roads. f. Chamber Food Stand. Reviewed and discussed a recent inspection of the chamber food stand by the Kansas Department of Agriculture Division of Food Safety and Lodging. g. Campground Fair. Council instructed staff to bill registered owners of campers, Timothy and Barb Lange, Clifton, and John Schuessler. Hanover, who failed to pay the $10 a day fee for camping during fair week. h. Racetrack Water. Ben Tice on behalf of Washington Speedway called about free water for the track. Staff was told Dennis L Ecuyer made contact with the Council previously in the year and they approved allowing the race track to have water at no cost. Council stated they were okay with giving them the free water this year with Washington Speedway reporting to staff the gallons they use. City Clerk Denise Powell will visit with Tice. i. Code Violations. Staff reported two code violations were mailed to two property owners. j. Hours. City Clerk Denise Powell enclosed a spreadsheet on extra hours worked for the Council to review. k. Dam. City Clerk Denise Powell spoke with Jeff Goeckler, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, about available funds for improvement near the dam. l. Ball Diamond Bathroom. Staff reported the ladies bathroom at the ball diamonds has developed a water leak. Staff would like to close them and winterize them and repair the leak next spring. 26. Reports. a) City Attorney Elizabeth Hiltgen. 1) Contract. Motion to approve the Settlement Agreement and Release of All Claims for Janice Tegethoff by Cordry and seconded by Kern. Motion carried. b) Justin Cordry. 1) Pool Policy. Asked about creating a policy on closing at the Swimming Pool. Staff will work on a policy. 2) 4-Wheelers. Discussed a complaint by Shirrolyn Howland regarding 4-wheeler violations. 3) Sale Barn. Discussed issues related to the Washington Livestock Facility. c). 1) B Street. Council Member will visit with the County Commissioners stating the City is not interested in moving forward with the B Street project at this time. Page 8 of 9

9 2) EPA Regulations. Asked staff to compile a letter concerning the EPA regulations (RICE-NESHAP), and the financial burden it will place on the city. Martin stated Schwartz would hand deliver a copy of the letter to Senator Sam Brownback. b). 1) Dress Code. Ambulance Director Leland Cook asked if the Council would allow the ambulance crew to wear shorts. No action was taken. 27. Adjournment. Motion to adjourn to 6:30 p.m. August 3, 2011 by Gibbs and seconded by Uhlrich. Meeting adjourned at 10:47 p.m. Denise M. Powell, City Clerk Page 9 of 9