September 28, 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: Mike Gillen, Kalani Spurgeon, Rick Neal, Heather Moore, Loren Borger, Todd Mittlieder and Jim Woodruff

First on the agenda was the utility hearing. Five people were given extra time to pay their city bill.

Police Chief Loren Borger presented the monthly police report for the Council to review. Hartnett said some of the kids are skateboarding on the highway instead of the sidewalks and he would like Borger to talk to them. Knott asked if the amount of tickets will stay the same, Borger said he did not know for sure. Mayor reminded Borger that he needs to bring his evaluations of his officers to the first meeting in November.

Building permit #9034 is on hold until the Council can get a picture of the trailer that will be moved in.

The September 14th, 2009 minutes were approved as presented.

Old Business:

Mayor asked Cordes when the airport project would start, Cordes said they were supposed to start Monday but they have not made it out yet.

Mayor asked Cordes when the curb and gutter project will start, Cordes replied Sunday, October 4th.

Mayor asked Neel if she has found a collection agency yet, Neel replied that she has 3 companies mailing her information to bring to the Council.

Mayor asked the Council if they have looked at the park to decide what needs to be done with the shelter house and bathrooms. Hailey said he did not think the bathrooms could be moved. DeLissa said the 2 old doors were not in ADA compliance so they have been replaced but the walls are falling down that used to be a visual break, the rest is not bad but it does need to be re-roofed. Discussion was had on the shelter house but nothing was decided. Cordes will get a price quote to repair the bathroom and a price on what it would cost to build a new shelter house. DeLissa also pointed out that a few stones were missing on the stone shelter house and it needs some wood repair.

Mayor asked the Council if they would like to form a new committee or use the finance committee to look into the issues with the power plant engine. Knott would like to see a study done on the power plant before he makes a decision. Hartnett agreed with Knott. Mayor would like to know what the cost of a study would be. Cordes said if we lose any engine during peak season then we would have to pay to stay on peak or turn certain parts of the town off. Knott said we have had to shut people off in the past.

Cordes said he has spoken with the City Attorney and Police Chief about making Grant Street a one way street between Baltimore and Pearlette from 7:40 a.m. until 8:10 a.m. during school hours. The City Attorney and Police Chief both agree that it would be no problem.

Cordes asked if the Council would consider having the Library Community Room painted before we installed new carpet. The Council agreed to paint the room first and then look into carpet prices.

Mayor asked Cordes if he had any quotes on the cost to rebuild the well houses. Cordes said he will get a price when Gary Knott starts construction on the curb and gutters.

Mayor told the Council that they need to start working on an annexing program. Dye said he would like to with drawl his statement from the last meeting. He went on to say that he opened a can of worms with the citizens. Knott would like to see what information John Riggs has from the last time annexing was brought to the Council. Cordes said a lot of property has changed owners and the Council needs to map out the property that they would like to see annexed for Riggs to look at. Knott said it will take time. Cordes said we need to look at what city services are at the premis, a map that shows a plan to get services there, let each landowner know how much taxes will go up, and have a public hearing. Cordes said we have to start from the beginning, find out what property to annex and who the landowners are then go from there.

New Business:

Cordes presented 3 bids to the Council to buy chat for sealing the streets next year. DeLissa made a motion to accept the bid from Ambassador Trucking for $26.00 per ton with a diesel cost of $2.68 add or subtract 1% for every 12¢ change in price, seconded by Dye with all in favor.

Cordes said at the last meeting that Hartnett had asked what services the city would have to pay to extend utilities to new customers that do not have utilities at their premis. Cordes said for the electric it is the judgment of the governing body, for the water the city has to provide 100 feet of the main without cost to the customer and for the sewer all cost and expenses go to the customer. DeLissa said there have been exceptions made and asked Cordes what we have done in the past. Cordes said we have made an extension to Alco, Hartnett said that Cottrell’s also contributed to the sewer.

Neel asked the Council if they would like to put the CD from Generations Bank for $105,658.92 in another bank. Hartnett made a motion to put the $105,658.92 in Plains State Bank, seconded by Dye with all in favor.

Neel asked if she could go to a health benefit workshop in Garden City for health care. The workshop is free. Neel also asked if she could attend the annual municipal clerk certification institute in November, this would be her second year in the course. The Council agreed to let her go to both courses.

Neel presented a request from Ron Garber of Liberal. Garber would like to put a liquor store in the city limits and asked if the Council would consider repealing Ordinance #796 which states that the City of Meade is a dry City. DeLissa would like to have a public vote and said that he feels it will throw away the character of the town if we accept it. Dye said that in the past you could pave the road to Cimarron and back with the liquor sales that the citizens of Meade were spending there. Hartnett said that it doesn’t take away the fact that we already have liquor by the drink sold in the City. Neel said it would bring in revenue with the local liquor sales tax, city sales tax, it would be a new business in town and maybe 2 families moving in also. Knott made a motion to repeal Ordinance #796, seconded by Dye with 4 in favor, DeLissa opposed.

Mayor’s Report:

The Mayor would like the city to set plans for developing our downtown area: new offices, retail stores, restaurants and upgrades along Main Street. We have buildings that have not been maintained for years with broken windows, roofs falling in and buildings needing painted. We have a group of citizens who believe this community is worth saving. Please get involved.

Mayor reminded the Council that last year at this time evaluations for the city administrator, city clerk and police chief were given. He would like the Council to have their evaluations ready for the first meeting in November.

Mayor asked Knott if the Industrial Park committee has had a meeting to decide what should be done with the park. Knott reported that Rodger Degarmo and Carol Meyers were at the last meeting and Meyers will get a plan ready but Knott has not heard back from her. Knott also stated that the natural gas company has not called him back at this time to talk about the cost of putting lines to the property.

Dye stated he did not like the evaluation sheets for the November evaluations. Cordes gave the Council a new evaluation sheet to go off of.

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

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Bud Doerflinger, Mayor

Attest:

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Tiffany Neel, City Clerk