June 14, 2010 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, Edward Dye, Cliff Hailey and Chris Hartnett. Also present were City Administrator Dean Cordes and City Clerk Tiffany Neel. Visitors were Denice Kuhns, Tom Kuhns, Craig Unruh and Jim Woodruff.

Craig Unruh was present to thank the City Council for the privilege to be the official newspaper for the City. He asked that the council members write anything they feel necessary for the paper. He also applauded them on their job.

The May 24, 2010 minutes were approved as written.

The June 14th, 2010 Appropriation Ordinance in the amount of $207,120.94 was approved on motion made by Knott, seconded by Hailey with all in favor.

Building permit #10021 was approved on a motion made by Hartnett, seconded by DeLissa with all in favor.

Neel talked to the Council about the cleanup she and the volunteer group has been doing downtown. DeLissa and Dye said they have both heard positive comments.

Cordes told the Council that an ad has been put in the paper to accept bids on the house to be torn down or moved on the corner of North Cedar and West Belle Meade. The bids are to be turned in by June 25th, 2010. Cordes said he has had 3 phone calls, 2 of which have declined to pursue the bid.

New Business:

Cordes has been contacted by Marge Ediger with the Beam Center about the City volunteering to move the old chat from the east side of the driveway to the west side of the driveway at the Beam Center. They have moved the north fence entrance to the west of the lot to move the traffic to the west of the parking lot. Hartnett said we should help all businesses but we don’t want to put a lot of money into it. Cordes said we could use the old chat that is at Well #6. No action was taken at this time.

Cordes said the stone shelter at the Park is missing some shingles and wanted to know if the Council would consider replacing them with new shingles or tin. The tin would cost $1,145.71 and the shingles would cost $1,994.87. DeLissa said we need to build a block or fence by the roof so the kids cannot get on the roof and get hurt. Hartnett said we should bring the subject up in the fall. Knott asked if the City had insurance on the roof.

Cordes reported that the regulator at the airport was installed but only worked 1 night. The transformer in the regulator burnt up. It was under warranty so they will replace it with a new one.

Cordes told the Council that there is a volunteer group that is fixing the Dalton Gang sign that hung above Dr. Chalkers office. Brad Ackerman is repairing the electrical and lighting so the arrow will work again and the group is painting the sign. Cordes asked the Council if they would consider the city paying for the electricity use. Woodruff said it would be like having one string of Christmas lights hung up all year. The consensus of the Council is to have the lights hooked up and see if it looks better during the day or night.

Neel asked the Council to review Ordinance No.’s 821 and 822.

ORDINANCE 821

AN ORDINANCE PERTAINING TO TREES GROWNING IN THE PARKINGS AND ALLEYS, OVERHANGING THE STEETS AND GROWING INTO THE POWER LINES OF THE CITY OF MEADE, KANSAS; AND REPEALING ORDINANCE NO. 511 AND 786 AND ALL OTHER ORDINANCES OR PARTS THEREOF OF THE CITY OF MEADE, KANSAS IN CONFLICT HEREWITH.

ORDINANCE 822

AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING MUNICIPAL COURT COSTS; AND REPEALING ALL OTHER ORDINANCES OR PARTS THEREOF IN CONFLICT HEREWITH.

DeLissa made a motion to approve Ordinance 821 and 822 with corrections, seconded by Hailey with all in favor.

Neel asked the Council if the TLC group could use the Park to set up their fireworks display this year. Council agreed.

Neel asked if she could go to a MLA meeting in Great Bend on July 19, 2010. Council agreed.

Neel told the Council that she had been asked by Steve Rice, City Auditor, if the Council would agree to close 2 petty cash accounts and move the funds back into the general fund. The accounts have outstanding checks for over 3 years so therefore they are canceled at the bank. The Council agreed.

Neel presented Resolution 242 pertaining to the publication of the official newspaper for the Councils review. DeLissa made a motion to accept Resolution 242, seconded by Hartnett with Hailey in favor, Knott and Dye opposed.

Discussion was had on the decision to raise the sewer rate to all outside city limit customers. Neel said the water meter rate is double and asked if that was reasonable. DeLissa said he would like to see the meter charge double and leave the access usage alone. Knott said it is a catch 21, the sewer is only calculated once a year and it is based off of January, February, and March readings. Cordes said it will only affect 5 customers. Hartnett asked if it was worth publishing an ordinance because of the cost. DeLissa made a motion to raise the base charge $8.00 to all out of city limit customers, seconded by Hailey with all in favor.

Neel said she had received a phone call from DeLissa asking her to get figures on what the City had billed for utilities in 2009. DeLissa said that Steve Rice had made the suggestion that the City charge itself a franchise tax on all utilities to help out the general fund. The citizens would not get charged an extra amount. It would be like making a transfer from one account to the other. Knott said we should talk about this again in July when the auditor is present.

Mayor’s Report:

Mayor wanted to encourage everyone to contact their senate and legislators to stop the cap and trade bill that will increase utility bills by $1,300 per year.

The American Legion will have Miss Kansas 2009 speak on July 5th, 2010 at the Meade Courthouse at 10 a.m.

The Meade County Fair Ranch Rodeo will be held July 23rd and 24th at the Meade County Fairgrounds.

Mayor would like to give the Council 2 things to think about and comment on at the next meeting. First he would like them to focus on ways to cut back spending so we do not have to increase utility rates. Second he would like to know what their goals are for the cities future and how they would like to achieve them.

Knott said we need to talk to Ralph Classen about cleaning up his property on Hwy 54. It is accumulating more junk.

Hartnett asked how the operations at the pool were doing. Cordes said there have been no problems. Hartnett also wanted to encourage citizens to come to the City meetings and be a part of the process.

DeLissa made a motion to go into executive session for land acquisition for 10 minutes, seconded by Hailey with all in favor. After executive session no action was taken.

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

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