WASHINGTON CITY COUNCIL MINUTES Adjourned Meeting April 18, 2011 1. Call to order by Mayor. Council President called the meeting to order at 12 Noon. 2. Roll Call. Present: Justin Cordry Absent: Mayor Harold Jones, Jr. Staff Present: Denise Powell, City Clerk Others: 3. Citizens Comments. No comments were made by the public. 4. Tom Zabokrtsky Report. a) Sewer Lining/Cleaning/Camera. Bids will be opened at 4 p.m. April 25, 2011 for the sewer lining, cleaning and camera. Staff will prepare for May Council meeting. b) Water Line/Fire Hydrant Replacement. Staff would like to use remaining 2011 budget to replace some fire hydrants. Council will revisit after well house construction is complete. c) Signs. Reported school signs are being installed. d) Edgar Sewer. Staff is working with Edgar s contractor Randy Latta on replacement of sewer line, 112 East 7 th Street. e) Backhoe. Backhoe is in need of repair as it is losing oil and the boom is loose according to Zabokrtsky. Staff would like to have it overhauled or look into replacing with a mini excavator. Council asked Zabokrtsky to contact Herrs Machine and Ohlde Tractor to get cost estimate for repairs to the backhoe. f) Well Houses. Zabokrtsky stated he and Council Representative looked at the concrete at the well houses and determined no concrete work will need to be done. Also, discussed the installation of hour meters on the three wells and the two at the power plant. All hour meters and the water level at the wells should be read on a monthly basis. 5. Barry Finlayson Report. a) Voltage Conversion. Page 1 of 5
1) Substation. Finlayson reported that everything is on schedule May 3-5 to do the substation switch over. b) Sirens. Ka-Comm was here and fixed the siren near the high school according to Finlayson. Ka-Comm also checked the siren at the park as it had not been shutting off and the technician said there is really nothing that can be done other than replace the control panel. c) Services. 1) Ric Johnson. Staff has energized the service at Ric Johnson s, 700 West 3 rd Street. Zabokrtsky Hardware must run new wire into the panel and complete the switch. Staff will need to remove the old primary. 2) Casey s. Staff has visited with the contractor at Casey s and they do not want power until the building is up. They will coordinate with Finlayson when they are ready. 3) Signal wire. Signal wire is up. Staff has to install three steel poles. 4) Tom Dragastin. Finlayson hadn t visit with Tom Dragastin about installing a disconnect below the meter as required by policy. d) Energy Grant. 1. LED Street Lights. Motion to purchase 42 LED street lights as part of the Energy Efficiency Grant to be paid out of Capital Projects fund and reimbursed by the Electric Distribution fund by Cordry seconded by Uhlrich. Vote: Ayes: Justin Cordry e) Boy Scouts. Finlayson put together two different cost estimates for installing power for the Boy Scout storage container. Overhead service would cost $983.25 and underground service would cost $$693.50. f) Engines. Staff found the contact information from the parties in Carthage, Missouri, and Finlayson said he would make contact to see if they are interested in Big Bertha. g) WSAC. Staff is still waiting to hear from Bill Hilger, Mid States Erectors, on his recommendations for the WSAC. h) Engines. Motion to hire one Exline technician to troubleshoot and tune the number six and number one Nordberg engines by Cordry and seconded by Martin. Vote: Ayes: Justin Cordry Page 2 of 5
6. Governing Body Institute. Governing Body Institute & Mayor s Conference is May 13-14 in Topeka. No Council Member expressed an interest in attending. 7. Sidewalk Program. Council Members discussed how to proceed with the Sidewalk Program. City Clerk Denise Powell reported KSDS sent a letter stating they have changed the scope of their project. The City would still require and easement from the property owner in which they wish to place a sidewalk. No action was taken. 8. Portenier Utilities. Motion to bill Barns by Portenier for labor at $420 and materials at $477 labor and materials for water service installation by Martin and seconded by Uhlrich. Vote: Ayes: Nays: Justin Cordry 9. Fairground Survey. Council Member stated Pat Cox, BG Consultants, Inc, thought his firm had enough information on record to provide the city with the information needed concerning the fairground boundary lines. 10. City Clerk a) Playground Mulch. Mulch for the playground is scheduled for delivery on April 20 th. Caroline Scoville, fulltime EMT, is scheduling volunteers and finding equipment to spread the mulch April 21 st. b) Water Plant Phone Line. Finlayson is waiting to hear back from Sunflower as to whether they plant to install a switch or pay for the phone line. c) Old City Hall. Boy Scouts, Council Member and City Clerk Denise Powell spent Monday evening April 11, cleaning stuff out of Old City Hall. Council received a copy of a letter from Patrick Zollner, State Historical Preservation Officer, requesting the council to reconsider the demolition of old city hall. d) Delinquent Utility Bills. Pastor John Frye on behalf of the Ministerial Association put $185 towards the delinquent utility bill of Christina Sutton and Thomas Harding. Staff sent the customers a letter stating they are required to pay their current plus pay 10% of the past due every month. e) Table. Lacey Bott Parker gave the City a $20 donation for an old table out of City Hall. f) Cemetery Directory. Les Gauby reported the cemetery directory was not working. Barry Finlayson, electric superintendent, says it is working properly. Page 3 of 5
g) Cemetery. Kelly Tegethoff had an accident at the cemetery damaging headstones of Louis Stanton, Ralph Stanton and John Dickson. Relatives of the deceased have been contacted. An accident report was filed with the Sheriff s department. h) Election Results. City Clerk Denise Powell stated a certified copy of the abstract of votes from Washington County Clerk Lou Kern. i) Emergency Alert System. Staff checked into the system the school uses and feels it would be costly to use that system. The cost for 350 thirty second calls would be $750. Unlimited calls/messages/texts would cost $1 per month per contact which would cost approximately $7,200. Staff also investigated the option of using the IRIS system (reverse 911) which county residents are required to sign up for to receive notifications. Staff proposes to create and education campaign for the IRIS system. j) Budget. City Clerk Denise Powell determined $37,503.33 was paid out of the capital project funds for expenses related to the new city shop. The capital project funds will also take a hit of approximately $100,000 for the city s portion of the energy efficiency grant. The Council must decide if they choose to transfer money from utility funds and the general fund for these expenses. k) EMS Grant. Staff received notice that the ambulance service has been tentatively approved for the Kansas Board of EMS grant application requesting funds to purchase an airway mannequin. If approved the city would be responsible for 35% of the grant, approximately $360 which would be paid out of the Monica Dusin memorial monies. l) Siren Grant. Staff contacted the administrator of the siren program and sent a copy of the resolution adopting the Hazard Mitigation Plan. The city will be added to list and as money falls out they will fund ones that didn t make the first cut. m) Chamber Beautification Project. Brian and Dawnya Sasse are moving. The Chamber is looking for individuals/businesses to water the planters. Someone has volunteered to water all but the ones by the Museum, Schoen s and the Library. n) Vandalism at Park. Dennis Stigge, water/wastewater operator, reported damages done to the southwest shelter house in the city s park. Screens were cut, an attempt to pick the lock, and gain access to inside the building. A report was filed with the Sheriff s office. Council asked that the expanded metal be used to repair the windows. o) Water/Wastewater Class. KDHE has water and wastewater schools scheduled May 18-19 in Emporia and Aug. 2-5 in Lawrence. Eric Gepner, power plant operator, plans to attend the Aug. 2-5 class in Lawrence. Employees wishing to become certified must have one year s experience prior to testing. 11. Adjournment. Motion to adjourn by Uhlrich and seconded by Martin. Vote: Ayes: Justin Cordry Page 4 of 5
Meeting adjourned at 1:10 p.m. Denise M. Powell, City Clerk Page 5 of 5