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CITY COUNCIL
JANUARY 5, 2009
7:30 P.M.
The Council of the City of Augusta, Kansas met in regular session on January 5, 2009, with Mayor Kristey Williams presiding. Council present were Holly Harper, Douglas Marr, Michael Huddleston, Michael Wallace, Tom Leffler, Mike Rawlings, Robert Griffith, and Roger Chrislip. Also present: City Manager Bill Keefer, City Attorney David All, Assistant City Manager JJ Allen, City Inspector Dan Allen, and City Clerk Erica Jones. Visitors present were: Michael McDermott, Shirlene Jacobs-Burleson, Eric Christinat, Bill Morris, Martin Goedecke, and Sharon Sudduth.
Prayer: Councilman Marr gave the invocation.
Minutes: Marr made a motion to approve the Minutes of the December 15, 2008 council meeting. Harper seconded the motion. Motion carried without opposition.
Appropriations:
December (12A): Council considered appropriations in the amount of $789,739.06. Huddleston inquired about the payments to NetSystems. Keefer stated the $917.50 was the deposit as required by the agreement. Keefer stated the second check was cut for the balance of the funds available for the website so the expense would be incurred in 2008. Keefer stated the check will be held at the City until the work is completed and any balance remaining would be credited back to the fund the check was issued out of. Keefer stated the same thing was done for a couple of other projects that were budgeted for in 2008 but have not yet been completed, such as the entrance signs. Huddleston asked about the $45 payment to Kansas Gas Service for Electric Production and to Midcoast Holdings for natural gas for Electric Production. Huddleston asked if this is the natural gas used to produce electricity. Keefer stated it is not, that the payment for the gas used to produce electricity is made to the Kansas Municipal Gas Agency (KMGA). Marr inquired about the payment to Restoration & Water in the amount of $33,070.00. Keefer stated it was for the brick repair work to City Hall and was included in the 2008 budget. Huddleston inquired about the payment to Vegetation Management in the amount of $412.32. Keefer stated Electric Distribution purchased blades for the department’s wood chipper. Chrislip asked if the city purchased a new salt and sand spreader. Keefer stated that was correct. Harper made a motion to approve Ordinance 12A in the amount of $789,739.06. Wallace seconded the motion. Motion carried without opposition.
Old Business:
Streetscape Project: Council considered authorizing the inclusion of the water feature as part of the Roundabout in the Streetscape Project. Williams stated the roundabout will have a garden and the Prairie State Bank clock regardless of whether there is a water feature or not. Williams stated the issue at hand is whether to add back $151,000 to the streetscape project to include the water feature. Williams stated the street sales tax committee is waiting on the council’s decision to determine what street repairs to recommend for 2009. Bill Morris presented the model of the fountain and explained that there would be a circular pool of water that will be pumped underneath the clock and cascade down the terraces. Morris stated it would be a gently flowing stream of ½ to 1 inch of water. Chrislip inquired about the height of the wall. Morris stated it would be about 30 inches. Williams asked if there are any other towns in this area with this type of water feature. Morris stated it would be unique in this area.
Huddleston asked if the clock would be lit. Morris said it will be lit internally. Huddleston asked if there were any projections on the cost to maintain the fountain. Morris stated it has been designed so it can be maintained as easily as possible. Morris stated it is very serviceable, and other than annual cleaning he doesn’t anticipate it to require monthly maintenance. Huddleston asked if the fountain would operate year round. Morris stated it would not, most likely only from April to October. Williams inquired about the life of the pumps. Morris stated he could not estimate the life of the pumps, but they would be of high quality. Morris stated there would be three of them and they would probably cost $400 to $500 to replace each one.
Williams stated the $151,000 figure seems excessive and asked if that project could be bid separately. Martin Goedecke stated it would be complicated to bid it separately since this project already involves a general contractor and several sub-contractors. It would require a lot of negotiating. Goedecke stated the contractor has worked with us by allowing us to wait until now to make the determination about whether or not to include the fountain. Goedecke stated he didn’t know that we could bid it separately.
Huddleston stated there is more cost to this project than $151,000 because there would be a cost to run the waterline to it. Goedecke stated if the fountain was included, the waterline on 3rd Street would have to be relocated. But, that cost was included in the estimate in the repair to brick work. Goedecke stated if it is just a terrace garden, then the waterline would not need to be moved which would eliminate $12,000 from the cost of the project. Keefer stated we’ve already had more brick work than what was estimated for.
Wallace asked how many tiers there would be. Morris stated there would be three. Wallace asked if they would be cast concrete without a liner. Morris stated they would be cast concrete and would be painted with swimming pool paint. Chrislip stated it would have to be annually patched and repainted. Morris stated the contractor will go to great lengths to ensure there is minimal cracking. Morris stated it would eventually have to be recoated, but not as often as the swimming pool is.
Huddleston stated many other cities with water features, such as Wichita, have shut them down and filled them in. Huddleston stated with the cost of construction, he does not want to see us shutting it down in a few years. Morris stated there has to be a will to keep it up and running, and that from time to time we would have to put money into it to keep it going. Williams stated she would like the ongoing maintenance of this to be included in the Capital Improvement Plan.
Eric Christinat, Executive Director of Downtown Augusta, stated he checked with the directors of Downtown Augusta Inc., the Chamber of Commerce, the Augusta Historical Society, and the Augusta Arts Council, and all four were in agreement that we should have the water feature. Christinat stated he has not spoken to anyone who does not want it.
Griffith stated it would be a nice feature, but we already know we will have problems in 2009 with sales tax funds and there are streets that will need to be repaired. Marr stated staff was asked to present a list of street repairs. Keefer stated the committee hasn’t recommended a list because they were waiting to see how much funding would be available. Keefer stated Goedecke has provided a list of projects that have been identified as needing to be repaired and he gave the list to the council. Huddleston stated the roads in and out of town on the highway are in terrible shape. Huddleston stated that, too, portrays an image of Augusta. Huddleston stated we don’t seem to be repairing the streets as they are needed now. Keefer stated the KLINK project will address some of the issues on the east side of town and our match will be around $100,000. Keefer stated more long term repairs to 7th street would include redoing it with concrete, which would cost in the millions of dollars. Williams stated she is amazed that the list of identified projects totals $1.5 million. Williams stated taking $151,000 out of those street repair funds could be looked at in different ways.
Wallace made a motion to go forward with the terrace gardens and to not include the water feature. Leffler seconded the motion. Motion carried with Marr’s opposition.
Marr stated that the council had found an excuse to follow rather than a reason to lead and finish this project; and the budget decisions come down to a trade off of the following items: a Human Resource Director for $41,000, two new patrol vehicles for $40,000, computing equipment for $30,000, repairs to Santa Fe Lake including new RV pads for $10,000, work at the Airport that is just beginning in the amount of $100,000, a wrought iron fence at the Cemetery for $8,000, a used truck for $75,000, Airport signage for $30,000, an electrical storage building for $35,000, and portable sewer line cameras for $35,000. Marr stated from the standpoint of being a responsible governing body and investing in our community with a long term view rather than a short term view, he reiterated they found a really good excuse to follow rather than a reason to lead. Marr stated that is the whole issue around the 2009 budget. Wallace stated he disagrees and thinks they have led very well and are looking at the future costs of the fountain. Marr stated the whole reason for the project is to attract people to our community so sales tax revenues will go up. Marr stated if you want to plan for success you have to build for success and if you are prepared to fail you will fail. Marr stated this is a very sad day for the citizens of Augusta. Marr stated “you guys” low-balled us when we had the discussion on the arch. Marr stated this project was started with the water feature in mind and we still didn’t have a vision to lead.
Williams stated the reason for this decision is the cost of $151,000. Williams stated when it was originally designed there was no way for the council to know what the cost would be, and in the case of the arch there was no cost to the taxpayers. Williams stated those sitting here on the council are making this decision with the best interest of the citizens in mind and they are also looking out to the future. Marr stated the council had 100% control of $385,000 during the budget planning process and they did not have the vision to include what it took to finish this project downtown. Marr stated he hopes the Vision Augusta strategy will help, and that they missed a prime opportunity tonight. Williams stated that the good thing to keep in mind is there will be $2.1 million invested in this project, and there is a vision in that. Williams stated we need to focus on what we do have, which is something pretty good.
Huddleston stated the memo included a letter from Goedecke referencing a building opening at 6th Ave and State Street. Goedecke stated when the sidewalk was removed in front of the Pigeon’s Roost; there was an opening to the building below the windows. Goedecke stated there is a unit price we will have to pay if we have to block that up. Wallace asked if we didn’t know about this in advance. Goedecke stated we did, and that was why a unit price for that was included in the estimate.
Wallace inquired about the handrails. Goedecke stated we have areas now that have one step. Goedecke stated we did not include ramps for just one step, but we did for those with two or more. Goedecke stated there have been some concerns now about those, especially north of 6th Avenue. Marr asked if the sidewalk at 5th Ave and State Street will have a hand rail. Goedecke stated there would be one located in that area. He stated they would be spaced out about every twenty feet.
Williams asked when this project was bid. Goedecke stated it was in July.
New Business:
Audit Services: Marr made a motion to approve an agreement for audit services with Edward B. Stephenson & Co. for Budget years 2008 and 2009. Wallace seconded the motion. Motion carried without opposition.
Zoning Classification: Chrislip made a motion to approve Ordinance 1979 amending the zoning classification for a tract of land located in the City’s Growth Area from AG-2 to R-6D. Harper seconded the motion. Motion carried without opposition.
Executive Session: At 8:15 p.m. Wallace made a motion to go into executive session for 30 minutes to discuss personnel issues for non-elected personnel. Harper seconded the motion. At 8:45 p.m. Wallace made a motion to exit executive session with no action being taken and go back into executive session for 20 minutes to discuss personnel issues for non-elected personnel. Harper seconded the motion. Motion carried without opposition. At 9:05 p.m. Wallace made a motion to exit executive session with no action being taken. Harper seconded the motion. Motion carried without opposition.
Williams stated that there was a positive annual review of the City Manager. Wallace made a motion to increase Keefer’s salary by 3.5% and extend his contract by two years to 2011. Huddleston seconded the motion. Motion carried without opposition. Williams thanked Keefer for his service.
Informational Memorandum & Questions:
Marr – Marr inquired about the red drop boxes placed around town and stated that there was no identification on them. Keefer stated he would check into that.
Wallace – Wallace referenced the memo from the Director of Public Safety, section II E. Wallace wanted to clarify that the explosives used to damage the mailbox were firecrackers. Wallace commended the high school SADD group on taking first place in the recent spirit contest. Wallace referenced section V G in the Director of Public Safety’s memo stating all officers are in compliance with departmental rules and regulations, and said that he doesn’t have a copy of those rules and regulations.
Keefer stated at this time the vendor that takes the city’s recyclable materials will not be taking plastic, at least for the short term. Keefer stated notice will be put in the newspaper and on channel 7 notifying the citizens that the plastics that are collected in the near future will go to the landfill because we do not have the space to store it until the recycling processor starts accepting it again. Keefer stated the processor will continue to accept everything else at this time. Huddleston stated the additional cost of manpower, equipment, supplies, and fuel for recycling does not offset the savings in tipping fees. Under the plan proposed by the County they are not receiving enough trash, so they will have to import it. Huddleston asked if the County wants more trash, then why are we considering paying with our rate payer’s money for a recycling program. Wallace stated he knows we are going to be mandated to recycle at some point in the future. Wallace stated that rather than get caught at the last minute, we could have a program in place that will be cost effective. Rawlings stated that the tax payers of Butler County will be expected to pay for it. Keefer stated the County eliminated the property tax that paid for the landfill. Rawlings stated in the County Commission minutes they discussed reinstating it in the future. Williams stated that recycling is the right thing to do, but agreed that it does cost more money at this time to recycle.
Final Comments:
Wallace – Wallace stated he received the invitation in his packet for the Volunteer Fire Fighter’s annual dinner and stated he thinks the City needs to consider doing more for the volunteers, such as a scholarship. Wallace stated he would discuss his ideas with staff at a later time.
Williams – Williams stated the Council is invited to attend an informal meeting with legislators and elected officials across south central Kansas through the REAP delegation. The meeting is this Thursday at 4:45 p.m. at the Marcus Welcome Center at Wichita State University. Williams reminded the governing body of the Public Building Commission meeting scheduled at 6:45 p.m. on January 15th.
Rawlings – Rawlings thanked the volunteers of Ignite Augusta for their work with the Christmas lights. Rawlings stated the volunteers put in several hours of their time, some in the hundreds of hours. Rawlings stated their efforts were appreciated.
Marr – Marr stated he has reviewed new years resolutions for the governing body, including having the codification completed in the first quarter of 2009, and ordinance on pampas grass, a resolution for better time management of the compost and recycling yard, better communication of the trash pickup, timely enforcement of the RV ordinance, a resolution for governing body to give clear and concise direction to staff.
Marr stated as part of the last council election he took on the challenge to ensure the streetscape project was completed. Marr stated we went through the ability to budget, plan, and give input; but we had the inability to complete it as originally planned, even with the support of the directors of our four major downtown civic organizations. Marr stated he believes we’ve found a real good excuse to follow rather than a reason to lead. Marr stated we are ending up with the short term wishes of the council instead of the long term improvements for the citizens of Augusta. With that said, Marr then resigned from the council.
Williams stated she was sorry to hear that, but he will be missed. Williams thanked Marr for his service and stated he made a lot of positive contributions to the council. Williams further stated it is almost impossible for the whole governing body to see eye to eye on everything.
Marr stated this started a long time ago when a rookie council member was invited into an office with staff and the leader of the council and advised on their behavior. Then, there is the inability to complete a project especially one as important as the streetscape project. Marr stated so many people have been misled as to what our downtown streetscape project is. Marr stated he hopes the Vision Augusta activity will correct those kinds of anomalies in our governing body. Marr stated we are fundamentally going down a road with the thought that what we have is what we’re going to end up with because we cannot find a reason to lead, only an excuse to follow. Marr stated he hopes that will change. Williams asked Marr if he was sure he didn’t want to rethink his decision. Marr stated he did not and Williams thanked him again for his service.
Adjourn: At 9:25 p.m. Huddleston made a motion to adjourn. Wallace seconded the motion. Motion carried without opposition.
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