July 13, 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 and City Clerk Tiffany Neel. Visitors were: Denice Kuhns, Jim Woodruff, Mike Gillen and Darcy Golliher.

Darcy Golliher was present to invite the Council members to the grand opening for the first phase of the walking trail on Thursday July16th, 2009 at 6:00 P.M. at the Lone Tree Retirement Center. She also wanted to thank the Council for their support.

The appropriation Ordinance dated July 13th, 2009 in the amount of $289,192.41 was approved on motion made by DeLissa, seconded by Dye with all in favor.

The June 22nd, 2009 minutes were approved as presented.

Building permits #9026, #9027, #9028 and #9029 were approved on motion made by Knott, seconded by Hailey with all in favor.

Old Business:

Mayor talked to Curtis Campbell over the phone about sending JAG and Klaver a letter for the monthly payment of $500.00 for renting the property that the cement slabs are being stored on. Mayor said there has been no response and Campbell will take the next step.

Mayor also asked Campbell if the City should make the citizen pay for the street repair that was damaged on Springlake and Grant. Campbell advised the Council to fix the street and have the City pay for it. DeLissa asked the Council if the citizen is still parking his truck on the street, Cordes replied he has not seen the truck for awhile. Mayor asked Campbell if the City should change the weight limit on the street ordinance. Campbell said you have to be careful with the weight limit. Hailey said he doesn’t want to run citizens out of town. DeLissa said it would be nice to find a place for the truck drivers to park. Dye would like to address this at another time.

Mayor asked the Council if they would like to get price quotes for a new police pickup, DeLissa said it would be best to wait until November.

Mayor asked the Council if they had read over the burn ban resolution from the County. DeLissa asked if the resolution passed for the County would it apply to the City also. Hartnett said Section 5 does not pertain to the City. It will need to be revised by the City Attorney.

Mayor asked Cordes if the dedicated line was complete. Cordes replied that Mid States was here last week and they have finished. The voltage is up and we now have the 2400 off of the South loop. Dye wanted to thank Woodruff and Gillen for working on Sunday and tell them that he appreciates them. Cordes said the scada system is the only thing left for the dedicated line to be finished.

Mayor asked Cordes when the airport construction will start, Cordes said he has not heard yet.

Mayor asked if the cat shelter is finished. Cordes said the outside has been painted but nothing has been done on the inside. The purchase of the trailer should be complete this week then we will start cleaning the inside of the building out.

Mayor asked Cordes if he had any ideas and prices on the community lighted sign for advertising, Cordes said no. Mayor would like to do more research on the location and budget and bring back to the Council in August.

Mayor asked Cordes what he had found out on bringing in a trailer mounted generator in case of emergencies. Cordes said we would have to get a transformer for the cost of $20,000 plus the hook up charges from Mid States. The trailer rents monthly for 40 hrs at $23,000, 80 hrs at $35,100 and continuous for $86,000. If you want to rent by the week it would be 40 hrs at $7,800, 80 hrs at $11,700 and continuous at $15,600. These prices do not include fuel and oil to run the generator. Hailey asked how long it would take to fix one of our engines if it breaks down, Cordes said sometimes we have waited as long as six months for parts. Knott asked how long it would take to get a trailer delivered, Cordes said they have them sitting on site in Wichita, Kansas City and Oklahoma City. Knott asked Woodruff what he thought, Woodruff replied that our money would be better spent buying a new engine. He went on to say that we would be upgrading our system and every year our energy usage is going up. Dye asked if we could sell one of the smaller engines, Cordes said he would not recommend selling one. Mayor asked Cordes to get prices on new engines for the 2010 budget.

Hailey said he has had a complaint on the City pool being too warm. Cordes said he tested the water today and it was 86 degrees at a 6 foot depth. Mayor would like to drop the issue until next year.

Mayor asked if the Eco Devo property was coming along, Cordes said Rodger Degarmo has the house cleaned out except for one room and then it will be ready for us to tear down. DeLissa asked if there was a basement, Cordes said there is a crawl space and a cellar. Cordes said we will start working on it after we finish sealing the streets.

Mayor asked if the security cameras at the park were fixed, Cordes said yes the parts have been replaced and they are working.

New Business:

Cordes said the Library air conditioner quit working today and would like to know what the Council would like do. He has contacted 3 businesses to get quotes for a new unit. DeLissa said a new unit would be more energy efficient. Hartnett made a motion for Cordes to accept the lowest bid, seconded by Hailey with all in favor.

Cordes was approached by an elderly lady and asked if the City would consider putting in a handicap ramp on the corner of N. Meade Center and E. Belle Meade. Cordes said the last ramp the City put in cost $1,500. He also said that we had a request for a ramp at another location last year, the city tore out the sidewalk but the citizen had to pay to replace the sidewalk and ramp. Hartnett was concerned about insurance liability. Hailey wanted to know if it was the Cities responsibility to fix the sidewalks. Jim Woodruff said the citizens paid for their sidewalk through their taxes when the sidewalks were put in. Hartnett suggested the City tear it out and have the home owner replace it. Knott said just bid it out and have the home owner pay for it.

Cordes presented a few pictures of the N. shelter house and bathrooms at the City Park. He would like the Council to consider fixing the buildings when they look at the budget for 2010. DeLissa asked if we would fix the bathrooms or relocate them. Knott said it might stop some of the vandalism if the building were to be relocated.

Cordes informed the Council that the gas tank at the City plant has developed a slow leak. It would cost $6,500 to get it cleaned and lined to buy a new tank it would cost $8,800. DeLissa asked what departments it is used for, Cordes said it is used for all department vehicles. Dye made a motion to buy a new fuel tank, seconded by Hartnett with all in favor.

Neel asked the Council if they would like to donate a family and single pass for the duck races for 2010, the Council agreed to do so.

Neel asked the Council if they would like to sell 626.83 bushels of wheat that we have at the Coop. The going rate was $4.86 per bushel on Monday. The Council agreed to sell the wheat.

Neel presented Ordinance 815 for consideration:

ORDINANCE 815

AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING A CHARGE SYSTEM IN THE CITY OF MEADE, KANSAS, FOR THE REMOVAL AND DISPOSAL OF SOLID WASTE AND REPEALING ALL OTHER ORDINANCES OR PARTS THEREOF IN CONFLICT WHEREWITH.

Neel asked if the Council has had time to look over the revised interlocal agreement for the County and City Fire department building. Hartnett made a motion to accept the changes on the agreement, seconded by Hailey with all in favor.

Neel asked if we could have a web designer from Bucklin come down to help Vonda McCulloch with the dream weaver program. She would like him to come for 2 hours at a rate of $35 per hour. The Council all agreed to have the designer come and help.

DeLissa asked if the website was 100% operable. Mayor said yes it working, the website is www.cityofmeade.org. DeLissa would like to advertise and get the word out that it is available, he would also like to see it updated weekly.

Dye asked the Mayor if he was going to appoint anyone to the Rec Commission Committee. Mayor said he would find out who is on the committee and appoint them at the next meeting.

Mayor’s Report:

Mayor would like to remind everyone that the County fair is coming up July 19 through July 24 along with the Ranch Rodeo.

Mayor wanted to let everyone know that the governor announced budget cuts up to 2% in most areas. The house has passed and it is going to the Senate for a bill that will increase utility cost approximately $1,325.00 a year for every home owner. He wanted to remind citizens and the Council to contact their representatives and Senator to let them know how you feel on this issue.

Knott made a motion to go into executive session for personnel matters of non-elective personnel for 10 minutes, seconded by DeLissa with all in favor. After executive session a motion was made by Knott to approve the raise discussed in executive session, seconded by Dye with all in favor.

Mayor asked the Council if they would like to purchase a decibel meter for the police department for loud noise. Knott said we do not have an ordinance in place. The Council agreed to not buy a radio.

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

___________________________
Bud Doerflinger, Mayor

Attest:

_____________________________
Tiffany Neel, City Clerk