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CITY COUNCIL
FEBRUARY 16, 2010
7:00 P.M.
The Council of the City of Augusta, Kansas met in regular session on February 16, 2010, with Mayor Kristey Williams presiding. Council present were Holly Harper, Matt Childers, Michael Huddleston, Michael Wallace, Tom Leffler, Mike Rawlings, Robert Griffith and Ronald Reavis. Also present: City Manager Bill Keefer, City Attorney David All, Assistant to the City Manager Josh Shaw, Director of Electric Utility Bill Webster, Electric Production Superintendent Jim Sutton, and City Clerk Erica Jones. Visitors present were: Michael McDermott, Stan Taylor, Willis Wilson, David Dewhirst, Eric Christinat, Jake Goldenstein and family.
Prayer: Pastor Steve Spencer, First United Methodist Church, gave the invocation.
Minutes: Reavis made a motion to approve the minutes from the February 1, 2010 meeting. Childers seconded the motion. Motion carried without opposition.
Appropriations:
February (2): Reavis asked why purchases are not being made by credit card. Jones stated cards have been issued to her, Shaw, and some Safety Department personnel. Huddleston asked if the purchases will be broken down by department. Jones explained that they would be broken down by purchases, but that her card may be used to purchase for multiple departments. Jones stated this is only the second statement and she is still looking into what reports are available. Harper inquired about the payment to Lehr’s Motel. Keefer stated it was for one of the Airport Manager candidates that were interviewed. Harper made a motion to approve Ordinance 2 in the amount of $673,896.50. Childers seconded the motion. Motion carried without opposition.
Visitors:
Jake Goldenstein, 7th grader at Augusta Middle School and regional winner of the League of Kansas Municipalities annual “If I Were Mayor” essay contest, read his essay to the governing body. Williams congratulated Jake and presented him with an award on behalf of the City of Augusta.
New Business:
Williams Petroleum: Rawlings made a motion to approve the request from Williams Petroleum to provide electric service to their storm water pumps. Wallace seconded the motion. Motion carried without opposition.
Westar Energy: Reavis stated the agreement states that they cannot run the pumps during peak time without the City’s approval and that he doesn’t know why we would require that because it could be restrictive for them to have to call each time. Webster stated they would rarely turn those pumps on so there shouldn’t be an inconvenience, and this will help use save money since we are billed on the demand. Rawlings stated we don’t want to sell them $0.10 per kWH power when we are paying $0.12 per kWH. Huddleston asked how much the City would make on this. Webster stated it will be $200 per month plus the amount of kWH’s they used. Wallace made a motion to approve a letter agreement with Westar Energy that would transfer electric service for the Williams Petroleum pumps to the City of Augusta. Reavis seconded the motion. Motion carried without opposition.
Southwest Power Pool Metering Project: Rawlings made a motion to authorize the Southwest Power Pool Metering Project and approving Mid-States Energy Works as the contractor for this project. Leffler seconded the motion. Motion carried without opposition.
Electric Dist Dept Building: Leffler made a motion to approve the purchase of the Straight Side w/Gable Top Quonset style building from SteelMaster Building, LLC. in the amount of $35,650 to be erected by city crews. Harper seconded the motion. Motion carried without opposition.
Trailer Bids: Harper made a motion to approve the bid from Trailers and Hitches in the amount of $5,650 for the purchase of a 16’ tilt bed trailer to be used in the Electric Department. Reavis seconded the motion. Motion carried without opposition.
Code of Procedure: Council considered approval of the League of Municipalities “Code of Procedure”. made a motion to adopt the League of Municipalities “Code of Procedure”. Stan Taylor, 2005 Cron, addressed the council and stated he had a very difficult time finding the Code of Procedure online and didn’t have any trouble locating information on Robert’s Rules of Order. Taylor stated there were sections of the Code of Procedure that he didn’t like and he doesn’t see a reason to change it. Williams stated the Code of Procedure and Robert’s Rules of Order are very similar and it takes a lot of time to find answers in Robert’s Rules and parliamentary procedure does not always apply to what we are doing. Williams stated these are guidelines for conduct of the meetings and should not impact how the decisions are made. Williams thanked Taylor for his comments and stated that the governing body appreciates when citizens give their thoughts on matters before them.
Huddleston inquired about Sections 35 and 37 to which both Jones and Williams explained that those sections were set by State Statute. Huddleston voiced concern about Section 42 and the fairness of using majority vote to set procedures not addressed by the Code of Procedure. Huddleston stated he would rather it state that Robert’s Rules of Order will be followed for matters not covered by the rules listed in the Code of Procedure. Several members of the governing body agreed.
Huddleston made a motion to adopt the League of Municipalities “Code of Procedure”, omitting Section 40 and amending Section 42 to read “For those matters not covered by these rules, Robert’s Rules of Order will be followed.”. Rawlings seconded the motion. Motion carried with Wallace opposing.
Sanitation Rates: Council considered recommendations for new Sanitation Rates. Shaw stated that sanitation rates were reviewed last summer, but that staff recommended waiting until the first of the year to review the financials for the year end before making a decision on sanitation rates. Shaw stated the 2010 budget was set based on a sanitation rate increase. Discussion ensued regarding the limit on the number of containers and recycling. Huddleston stated he would like to see a rate comparison with other communities. Keefer stated that several of the comments and questions presented tonight are a great prelude to the long term discussion that will need to occur in the near future to address the types of trucks that will be purchased, the recycling program, and several other options available to the City including franchising of trash service. Reavis inquired about the rate difference between multi-family dwellings and residential and stated that he believes they should be the same. Huddleston stated he would prefer for the commercial rates to stay the same and to increase the residential rates by a smaller amount. After further discussion Williams stated the governing body would like to see two new options, including one where the multi dwelling rate is the same as residential and the other one with the commercial rate staying at $14.95 as well as including a comparison with other communities. Rawlings made a motion to table this agenda item until the next meeting. Wallace seconded the motion. Motion carried without opposition.
Butler County Solid Waste Committee: Huddleston made a motion to appoint Cy Ricker and Anthony Kraft to the Butler County Solid Waste Management Planning Committee. Wallace seconded the motion. Motion carried without opposition.
Kansas Wildlife & Parks: Council considered approval of the annual Operation and Maintenance Agreement with Kansas Wildlife and Parks. Discussion ensued regarding the length of time we will be required to agree to these terms and what the ramifications would be if it were not approved and signed. Keefer stated he would have to inquire about that. Wallace made a motion to table this issue until staff can research this further. Childers seconded the motion. Motion carried with Griffith opposing.
Work Session: Childers made a motion to schedule a work session for 7 p.m. on Monday, March 8, 2010 to review and discuss the levee project. Reavis seconded the motion. Motion carried without opposition.
Informational Memorandum:
Huddleston – Huddleston asked why the Water Treatment Plant software was allowed to go for so long without updating it. Keefer stated that the annual cost to update was excessive and there haven’t been many issues in the past that would have required it. Keefer stated that the Water personnel believe there are better options available to us than what we have now. Rawlings stated that it would have been around $50,000 per year to do the updates. Willis stated it is not unusual for this type of software to run its course. Huddleston asked if we didn’t have enough notice to build up a reserve to pay for this. Keefer stated the Water Department does not have funds for a reserve, but that this was discussed last summer. Childers stated that there was discussion at that time about increasing the rates even higher to cover capital purchases like these. Keefer stated there are several different funding options available. Keefer stated staff is looking into the options and will bring those back to the governing body for direction in the near future.
Wallace – Wallace stated the new Airport Manager started yesterday.
Final Comments:
Griffith – Griffith inquired about the schedule for repairing the Osage problem. Keefer stated it will hopefully be ready to bid at the end of March or first part of April.
Williams – Williams stated she will be out of town for the next council meeting. Williams stated she will have the evaluations for the City Manager tallied and will provide those to the governing body at the second meeting in March.
Williams stated that a fund has been set up for William Skaggs at Emprise Bank for purchasing a vehicle he can use to transport himself. Williams stated this was a State law that prohibited him from using the golf cart. Childers reiterated that it was a State Statute, not a local law that prohibits the use of the golf cart. Childers stated the Department of Public Safety worked diligently to locate a vehicle that Skaggs could legally use and spoke to Wal-Mart and Dillon’s about donations. Huddleston asked if the city could allow use of golf carts because of Home Rule. Mr. All stated that you cannot override the statute, but Keefer stated that the statute itself does provide for cities to allow golf carts but only within certain parameters. Keefer further explained that Mr. Skaggs would not be able to use a golf cart within the parameters set by the State, which includes having a valid driver’s license. Keefer stated we have held off enforcing it for a significant amount of time for another solution to be found and that Chad McCluskey with the Safety Department has spent a large amount of his time off duty researching options and speaking to people about donations. Keefer stated he and the City wants to make sure Skaggs maintains his independence and is taken care of, and that it is unfortunate that he is caught in the middle of this.
Wallace – Wallace stated he was contacted by a person outside of the city limits that received a letter about removing a sign. Wallace stated that because it is located within the City’s growth area, it is subject to the City’s zoning regulations. Wallace stated he would like to direct staff to look into annexing property to the north and south ends of town. There was a consensus from the governing body to move forward with the prospect of annexing to the south and looking into the possibilities of annexing to the north. Wallace asked if there has been any more information on the trail ownership yet. Keefer stated there has not.
Huddleston – Huddleston stated that funds were budgeted last year for new chairs for the Council and that they were not purchased. Keefer stated that repairs of the City Hall sewer line used up much of the capital improvement funds set aside for City Hall in 2009. There was a consensus from the governing body to look into the purchasing of new chairs for the Council.
Adjourn: At 9:07 p.m. Harper made a motion to adjourn. Childers seconded the motion. Motion carried without opposition.
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