May 26, 2009 City Council Minutes
Meade, Kansas

The meeting was called to order in the Council Meeting Room, by Mayor Bud Doerflinger at 7:00 P.M. Council members present were: Richard Knott, Lance DeLissa, Cliff Hailey, Ed Dye and Chris Hartnett. Also present were: City Administrator Dean Cordes, City Clerk Tiffany Neel and filling in for City Attorney Mike Giardine. Visitors were: Tom Kuhns, Jim Woodruff, Russell Ohnick, Mike Godfrey and Mike Gillen.

First item on the agenda was the utility hearing. One person was given extra time to pay their bill. The delinquency report was handled as usual.

Police Chief Loren Borger presented the monthly police report for the Council to review. Knott asked what happened in the month of April, Borger replied there had been a lot of criminal acts going on. DeLissa asked if the software we got awhile back was intergraded with the State. Borger said they are up to par but the State is in the process of changing the report forms.

The May 11th, 2009 minutes were approved as presented.

Building permits #9018 and #9019 were approved on motion made by Hartnett, seconded by Hailey with all in favor.

Neel handed out the revised interlocal agreement between the City and the County for the Council to approve. Neel will send a copy to the County.

Cordes said John Sirhall from Airport Development will be at the next meeting. They had 3 bids total for the construction at the airport. Mid Plains had the lowest bid but did not follow the standard guidelines, JAG did not complete all the required paperwork needed for the cost of construction, so that left APAC possibly getting the bid. Hartnett wanted to know what the difference was between the bids, Cordes stated about $60,000.

Mayor told the Council that the State representative from the Animal Health Department was here and said the facility we are looking at housing cats is in good condition. Neel will look at getting prices for cat cages. Cordes said the area cannot have anything stored in the building and right now we have our Christmas decorations in that area. Mayor asked if it would be better to store the decorations in a boxed in trailer, Cordes agreed and will get some costs on trailers.

Neel presented a copy of the liability insurance for the fireworks display for the Council to review. DeLissa wanted to make sure the City would be named as the insured.

Mayor asked the Council what they would like to do about City cell phones. Neel talked to Steve Rice and found out that the City can pay the employee for the use of their personal cell phone for City business. DeLissa asked if $15 a month was enough. Knott said maybe we should get with the employees to see what is fair. Hartnett made a motion to approve $30 a month to Cordes and Woodruff and $15 a month to a few other individuals, seconded by Dye with all in favor.

Mayor brought up the use of City equipment and turned it over to the Mike Giardine, Attorney, to discuss. Giardine stated that there is not a statute on the books that says you cannot use City equipment but there is case after case of employees suing the City because there was not proper insurance when the employee got hurt. Dye said we haven’t had any accidents yet, sometimes you have to give and take. Hailey asked if the employees could pay a donation to use the equipment. Mayor said he would like to resolve it tonight. Knott said he would like to drop it. Hartnett said now that it is brought up we can’t drop it. Cordes checked with our insurance agent and she has checked with 10 other companies and cannot get coverage for employees using equipment after hours. DeLissa is in favor of keeping the benefit but it is not used that often and it is a liability. Hartnett made a motion to not allow employees to use City equipment for non City use unless suitable insurance can be found, seconded by DeLissa with 3 in favor, Knott voted against it and Dye abstained.

Hartnett asked where we are at with the runway lights. Cordes said they have not received the panel at this time but they will call on Wednesday to find out how much longer it will be.

New Business:

Cordes brought up the Greensburg engines for sale and had a better estimate for the Council. Cordes said to ship the engine from Greensburg to Meade, hike the engine in, get a new muffler and air wash system, concrete the engine in, buy the engine and have Mid States do the installation it would cost around $536,000 but that does not include the inspections that are required. Hartnett would like a solid number brought to the Council.

Neel presented Ordinance 813 for consideration:
Ordinance 813
AN ORDINANCE REGULATING PUBLIC OFFENSES WITHIN THE CORPORATE LIMITS OF THE CITY OF MEADE, KANSAS; INCORPORATING BY REFERENCE THE “UNIFORM PUBLIC OFFENSE CODE FOR KANSAS CITIES,” EDITION OF 2008.
DeLissa made a motion to approve Ordinance 813, seconded by Hailey with all in favor.

Neel asked if the TLC group could place their fireworks stand at the City park again this year, Council agreed.

Neel presented the 2010 Library Board budget and asked the Mayor to appoint Mary Ryckman to take the place of Kim Enns on the Library Board. Motion was made by DeLissa, seconded by Hartnett with all in favor.

Neel presented a Resolution for the Council to approve to make the Prairie Sun the official newspaper. Hartnett asked if the Prairie Sun has met all the requirements to get approved, Neel said the only thing they are lacking is being a second class mailer. They have applied but it has not been completed. The attorney said if they do not qualify then the Resolution should not be passed. Mayor made a with drawl on the appointment made to the Prairie Sun at the last meeting and requested to appoint Meade County News as the official newspaper. Knott made a motion to accept the appointment, seconded by Dye with all in favor.

Knott asked if Cordes could get prices for more rubber mulch in the playground area.

DeLissa said the financial committee needed to get together again soon.

Dye wanted to thank Sarah Lewis for watering and taking care of the plants up and down Main Street.

Mayors Report:

Mayor told the Council there is a person in town that can help teach Dreamweaver and Photoshop to Vonda for the new website.

The Eco Devo recently had a meeting for “Building a Public Square” and asked that Meade, Fowler and Plains work together and have the meetings in each town.

Lone Tree Retirement Center asked the Mayor to give a Proclamation for homecoming week at 6:00 P.M. Friday 29th, 2009.

Mayor wanted to remind everyone that Dalton Days will be coming up on June 6th and 7th and there will be a ranch rodeo before the fair.

Hartnett asked if the dedicated line is complete, Cordes said no. It will be mid June before Mid State can get here.

With no further business to come before the Council a motion was made by Hailey to adjourn, seconded by DeLissa with all in favor.

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Bud Doerflinger, Mayor

Attest:

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Tiffany Neel, City Clerk