City of Augusta Kansas

CITY COUNCIL

APRIL 6, 2009

7:30 P.M.

The Council of the City of Augusta, Kansas met in regular session on April 6, 2009, with Mayor Kristey Williams presiding.  Council present were Holly Harper, Matt Childers, Michael Huddleston, Michael Wallace, Tom Leffler, Mike Rawlings, Robert Griffith, and Roger Chrislip.  Also present:  City Manager Bill Keefer, City Attorney David All, Airport Manager Tyler Setchell, and City Clerk Erica Jones.  Visitors present were:  Mike McDermott, Shirlene Jacobs-Burleson, Martin Goedecke, and Willis Wilson.

Prayer:  Chaplin Michael Longden, Aseracare Hospice, gave the invocation.

Minutes:  Chrislip made a motion to approve the Minutes of the March 16, 2009 council meeting.  Wallace seconded the motion.  Motion carried without opposition.

Appropriations:                         

March (3A):  Council considered appropriations in the amount of $976,973.06. Griffith asked if staff has ever compiled a list that shows how much water Mulvane purchases from us monthly and how much they are billed.  Keefer stated it varies month to month.  Keefer stated staff could put a spreadsheet together for both the City of Mulvane and for Sedgwick County Rural Water District #3.  Wallace stated some items are paid out of Wastewater and some out of Wastewater Collection and inquired about the difference.  Keefer stated Wastewater is the Treatment Plant which treats the wastewater, and Wastewater Collection maintains the sewer systems.  Huddleston asked what month of service the payment to KPP was for.  Keefer stated it paid for February’s service.  Huddleston inquired about the payments to Kansas Gas for monthly service in the amount of $3,519.57 and $47.64.  Keefer stated the $47.64 is the monthly minimum charge for the gas provided at the south power plant for the generators.  Keefer stated the $3,519.57 is for gas service at multiple city facilities. Griffith inquired about the payments to Aqua Tech Engineering and asked what project those payments were for.  Keefer stated there were multiple projects, but the majority was for the Frontier waterline project and the Sewer Relief/Bypass project.  Chrislip inquired about the large payment to Ace Hardware.  Keefer stated it was larger than most of our monthly payments to Ace, but he reviewed all of the invoices and only one was over $1,000.  Keefer stated that invoice was for materials to repair the stairs at the power plant, and the rest were for smaller purchases by various departments.  Wallace stated the stairwell repairs look nice.  Chrislip made a motion to approve Ordinance 3A in the amount of $976,973.06.  Harper seconded the motion.  Motion carried without opposition.

April (4):  Council considered appropriations in the amount of $588,961.26.  Wallace made a motion to approve Ordinance 4 in the amount of $588,961.26.  Harper seconded the motion.  Huddleston inquired about the number of utility refunds in this ordinance compared to previous ones and asked what that might indicate.  Jones stated that people are moving and overpaying on their final bill.  Huddleston asked if that means we are losing citizens.  Jones stated a majority of these are rentals and they usually have new people moving in pretty quickly.  Motion carried without opposition.

Old Business:

Stone Lake Estates:     Chrislip made a motion to approve an Amending Petition for Internal Street Improvements for Stone Lake Estates, 3^rd Phase.  Harper seconded the motion.  Motion carried without opposition.

New Business:

Neighborhood Revitalization Plan:    A public hearing was conducted to take input on the new Neighborhood Revitalization Plan for the City of Augusta.  The public hearing was closed after receiving no comments.

            Harper made a motion to approve Ordinance 1981 adopting the Neighborhood Revitalization Plan and designating the area.  Leffler seconded the motion.  Huddleston inquired about the date of the plan.  Keefer stated it will be April 6^th, 2009.  Huddleston asked if any applications have been received since the expiration of the previous plan.  Keefer stated there has been one, but that he was not sure of the status of the application.  Motion carried without opposition.

            Leffler made a motion to approve Resolution 2009-07 authorizing the Mayor to execute an Interlocal Agreement with USD 402, Butler County, and Butler Community College for the Neighborhood Revitalization Plan.  Harper seconded the motion.  Motion carried without opposition.

Sewer Relief/Bypass Project:  Wallace made a motion to approve the bid from Nowak Construction in the amount of $328,682.25.  Childers seconded the motion.  Motion carried without opposition.  Keefer asked Willis Wilson when the project will start.  Willis stated it will begin in approximately three weeks.  Keefer asked if the brick that is removed will be recycled.  Wilson stated some of the bricks will be reused in the project, but those that are not will be returned to the City for future use. 

Airport Rules & Regulations:  Council considered approval of the Augusta Municipal Airport’s Policy Handbook of Rules and Regulations.  Airport Manager Tyler Setchell credited the previous manager Tim Reid for getting the ball rolling on the rules and regulations.  Setchell stated the rules and regulations were not meant to be restrictive.  Setchell stated staff worked with the advisory board and that there have been many drafts.  Williams asked if all tenants will receive a copy and whether they received copies of the drafts.  Setchell stated that all tenants were notified of the open forum that was held in March to discuss the proposed draft, and copies of the draft were posted on the city website and chamber of commerce website to provide an opportunity for a review of the draft.  Wallace inquired about the impact of the rules and regulations on the lease agreements currently in place.  Setchell said this will be an extension of the lease, and not something that would over-ride it.  Wallace made a motion to approve the Augusta Municipal Airport’s Policy Handbook of Rules and Regulations.  Huddleston seconded the motion and stated that it is great that we now have guidelines and commended Setchell and the advisory board on a job well done.  Motion carried without opposition.

            Williams asked if the hangars are all full.  Setchell stated there are a few open hangars, but said considering the economy things are going well overall.  Williams inquired about fuel sales.  Setchell stated it is going good and staying pretty steady.  Setchell stated there have been some jet fuel sales lately as well.

Kansas Wildlife and Parks:  Wallace made a motion to approve the annual Kansas Wildlife and Parks Maintenance Agreement.  Rawlings seconded the motion.  Huddleston asked if we are required to do this every year because of the grants the city has received.  Keefer said yes.  Huddleston stated item number nine says we will not change any structural features of the facilities without prior review and approval and asked if we received approval when we put up the shed a year ago.  Keefer stated he didn’t think so.  Mr. All stated he believes the grant we received was for dredging the lake.  Keefer stated we budgeted to do work on the electric service for the RV pads, but with the requirements of this document it could be more costly than what was budgeted.  Wallace asked what the consequence would be if we did not comply with the requirements.  Keefer stated he didn’t know.  Keefer stated that other agreements have also been a detriment with regard to the city lake too.  He said there has been a lot of interest in re-stocking the lake, but we have had to steer away from that because of some of the requirements that would be imposed.  Mr. All stated if we do not comply with the requirements it could affect our consideration for future grants.  Motion carried without opposition.

Firefighter’s Relief Fund:  Huddleston made a motion authorizing the Augusta Volunteer Fire Department participation in the State’s Firefighters Relief fund.  Wallace seconded the motion.  Motion carried without opposition.

Appointment:  Griffith made a motion to approve the Mayor’s reappointment of Eldon Laubhan to the Augusta Housing Authority Board for a four year term ending in April 2013.  Huddleston seconded the motion.  Motion carried without opposition.

            Harper made a motion to approve the Mayor’s appointment of Bill Ledgerwood to replace Jim Council’s unexpired term on the Library Board.  Leffler seconded the motion.  Motion carried without opposition.

Informational Memorandum & Questions:

Wallace – Wallace stated we are now a tree city and said we used to get trees for Arbor Day.  Keefer stated he thinks the Lion’s Club used to purchase the trees that were given out on Arbor Day.

Huddleston – Huddleston asked if something could be put in the places where the drive/curb cut has been taken out on State Street.  Keefer stated that is being looked at and evaluated.  Huddleston stated there needs to be a plan for snow removal on State Street because of the new layout.  Keefer stated he mentioned in the informational memorandum that staff is looking at that and fine tuning the process.  Keefer stated there were lessons learned during the last snow event.  Huddleston stated the street sweeper will need to do this too.  Keefer agreed.

            Huddleston stated that the contractor was doing a good job on the roundabout prior to the snow and asked what is holding up the paving.  Goedecke stated the snow was very wet, but they were scheduled to get the paving done quickly.  Goedecke stated he would check with the contractor.  Huddleston inquired about the time frame for the completion of the clock.  Goedecke stated he doesn’t know when it will be completed.  Huddleston asked how many lights will be used to illuminate the clock.  Rawlings stated it will be internally lit.  Rawlings stated he erred when he previously mentioned lighting, as that was included in an alternate bid that was rejected.  Rawlings stated if it were externally lit it would detract from the internal lighting.  Keefer stated that he, Goedecke, and the contractor spent three hours last Friday inspecting the work that has been completed to date.  Keefer stated there are things that were not budgeted for, but if funds are available they will need to be addressed.  Keefer stated one of those is additional brick work along State Street and looking at the 100 block of West 3^rd Street, as part of the curb and gutter is in very bad shape.  Keefer stated another underground tank was discovered today.  Keefer stated a lot of things like that are popping up that will need to be addressed.

Griffith – Griffith asked about the work the Electric Department is doing on 2^nd Street.  Keefer stated a primary line runs east and west on 4^th Street over State Street.  Keefer stated all the overhead lines along State Street with the exception of this one will be moved underground.  Keefer stated this line was rerouted to 2^nd Street for that reason.  Griffith asked if it was taken into consideration that area may be the site of a future civic center.  Keefer stated it had.

Williams – Williams told Jones the website turned out very good.  Williams thanked those that submitted pictures for use on the website.  Keefer stated he would like everyone to know the Spring Clean Up has been extended to include April 18^th and 19^th.

Wallace – Wallace commended the city employees for all of their hard work during the snow storm, especially the electric department.  Wallace inquired about the snow removal on snow routes and the cross roads.  Keefer stated the workers will and clear out the cross roads as time allows, but their first priority is to get the main streets cleared.  Keefer stated we have not yet had to declare a snow route emergency.

Final Comments:

Rawlings – Rawlings reminded the community to get out and vote.

Chrislip – Chrislip encouraged the community to get out and vote.

Williams – Williams stated the polls will be open from 6 am to 7 pm.

Harper – Harper thanked Sharon Sudduth, Clint Headley, and Kevin Unrein for the candidate’s forum.  Harper stated she would like to offer an apology and clarify her position on the matter of paving the road at the cemetery.  Harper stated she recognizes the need for research and protocol.

Griffith – Griffith asked the status of the Frontier waterline project.  Keefer stated the design process has been started. Griffith asked how long the process would take.  Willis Wilson said it would take approximately 90 days once is starts.

Adjourn:  At 8:15 p.m. Leffler made a motion to adjourn.  Harper seconded the motion.  Motion carried without opposition.