ELLIS CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR
MEETING
Minutes
December 2, 2019
CALL TO ORDER
Mayor David McDaniel called the regular meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.
Present were Council members Bret Andries, Holly Aschenbrenner, Steve Ferland,
Martin LaBarge, Jolene Niernberger, and Bob Redger. Also present
were Public Works Director John Leiker, City Clerk Amy
Burton, Interim Police Chief Chris Krom, City
Attorney Olavee Raub, and
incoming Council members Sam Polifka, Tricia
Pritchett, and John Walz.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
ADMINISTER OATH OF OFFICE TO NEWLY
ELECTED OFFICIALS
Personnel: Entry
City Clerk Amy Burton administered the Oath of Office to newly elected City
Treasurer Faith Scheck, Mayor David McDaniel, and Council members Sam Polifka, Tricia Pritchett, and John Walz.
AMENDMENTS TO AGENDA
City Clerk Amy Burton requested consideration of a contract with Kaw
Valley Engineering for geotechnical services for the Swimming Pool Improvement
Project. Public Works Director John Leiker requested consideration of repairs to the HVAC
system at City Hall. The items will be
added under New Business, per consensus of the Council.
PUBLIC PRESENT
James Bell, Glen Keller, Cameron Moeder, M’Lynn Swartz, Verda Flinn, Michael Pritchett, Chad Pritchett, Nickole Byers, Faith Scheck, Mark Polifka,
Karin Polifka, Avery Smith, and Benjamin Kolas.
CONSENT AGENDA
Council member Steve Ferland moved to approve
the consent agenda containing the Minutes from the Regular Meeting on November
18, 2019 and Bills Ordinance #2082.
Council member Martin LaBarge seconded the
motion. The Council approved the consent agenda 6-0.
PUBLIC COMMENTS
None
PRESENTATIONS OF AWARDS,
PROCLAMATIONS, REQUESTS & PETITIONS (HEARINGS)
None
SPECIAL ORDER
None
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
None
NEW BUSINESS
Council member John Walz moved to elect Council member Jolene
Niernberger as Council President.
Council member Sam Polifka seconded the
motion. The motion carried 6-0, with
Council member Jolene Niernberger abstaining.
General
Government: Contract
City Clerk Amy Burton presented a proposed contract with
Collection Bureau of Kansas (CBK) for delinquent account collections on the
City’s behalf. Currently the City is
paying 39% in collection fees for collection efforts through the State Setoff
program (19%) and American Municipal Services (AMS) (20%). CBK will administer the State Setoff program
for the City, in addition to their own collection efforts, at a maximum
collection fee of 30%. Ms. Burton
reported that AMS has not collected on the City’s behalf since February 2018,
yet the City is still required to remit the 20% collection fee for any debts collected
either through the Setoff program or City efforts. City Attorney Olavee
Raub will draft an ordinance allowing the City to add
collection fees to delinquent accounts. Council
member Jolene Niernberger moved to authorize City Clerk Amy Burton to sign the
contract with Collection Bureau of Kansas and to terminate the current contract
with American Municipal Services.
Council member John Walz seconded the motion. The motion carried 6-0.
Personnel:
Benefits
Ms. Burton continued by asking if Council wanted to
continue the practice of giving City employees a Christmas bonus. Council member Steve Ferland
expressed he would like to increase the amount given in 2019 to $250.00 and
again in 2020 to $300.00. After further
discussion, Council member Martin LaBarge moved to
approve a Christmas bonus for each full-time and part-time employee in the net
amount of $250.00, and for the bonus to also be extended to newly retired
Police Chief Taft Yates and Public Works Director Alan Scheuerman. Council member Steve Ferland
seconded the motion. The motion carried 6-0.
General
Government: Licenses
Council member Martin LaBarge
moved to approve the 2020 Cereal Malt Beverage Licenses for Casey’s General
Store, Rich’s IGA, Love’s Travel Stop, and Arthur’s Pizza and Mexican
Foods. The approval of the license for
Arthur’s Pizza and Mexican Foods is contingent on a successful background
check. Council member Steve Ferland seconded the motion. The motion carried 6-0.
Public Works:
Acquisition
Prior to Public Works Director Alan Scheuerman’s
retirement, three radios were ordered for the Department. The radio purchase exceeded the Department
Head’s spending authorization; therefore, the invoice will need to ratified. Council member
Jolene Niernberger moved to ratify the invoice from VLS Communications in the
amount of $1,297.00 with funds to come from the Water Utility and Sanitation
funds. Council member Sam Polifka seconded the motion. The motion carried 6-0.
Swimming Pool:
Contract
City Clerk Amy Burton reviewed a proposal from Kaw
Valley Engineering for geotechnical services for the Swimming Pool Improvement
Project. The evaluation will consist of
drilling three borings for the proposed pool and submitting an analysis report
to Lamp Rynearson to include with the bid
packages. Council member Jolene
Niernberger moved to accept the proposal from Kaw Valley Engineering for
geotechnical services in the amount of $4,435.00 with funds to come from the
Capital Improvement – Swimming Pool fund. Council member Tricia Pritchett
seconded the motion. The motion carried
6-0.
General
Government: Repair/Maintenance
Public Works Director John Leiker reported that
Glassman Corporation found two cracked heat exchangers in the HVAC system at
City Hall during their semi-annual preventative maintenance service call. Since the units are only seven years old,
Council requested Mr. Leiker to check with Glassman
Corporation to see if the units were still under original warranty.
REPORTS FROM CITY OFFICIALS
Public Works
Mr. Leiker continued by reviewing the Comparative
Water Report for the period September 10th – October 10th. Pads for the Campground Expansion have been
poured and the water and electric hookups have been installed. Wilson and Company is working with Layne
Christensen to determine possible solutions to offset the City’s TTHM
violations in the water distribution system.
Mr. Leiker stated the violations have occurred
for three consecutive calendar quarters.
Police
Interim Police Chief Chris Krom presented the Monthly
Activity Report for November and the December Staff Calendar. Officer Kolas has completed field training
and is able to work independently now.
The Department has seen an increase in counterfeit currency cases. Officer Krom is
compiling information on a new patrol unit for consideration.
City Clerk
City Clerk Amy Burton requested the governing body members complete the Authorization
to Release Personal Contact Information form.
Council orientation will be held December 9th at 7:00 p.m.
Attorney
City Attorney Olavee Raub
reported that the area north of Equity Bank with the potholes is located on
private property and not an alleyway. A
survey would need to be performed to determine if the property belongs to
Equity Bank or Golden Belt Coop. Council
will need to take into consideration the Public Purpose Doctrine which states
that public tax dollars should not be spent on privately-owned property. City Clerk Amy Burton will research previous
Council meeting minutes to see how this same request was handled years ago.
Mayor Update and Announcements
None
Executive Session
Mayor David McDaniel asked for a motion to recess into executive session
at the request of City Attorney Olavee Raub. Council member Jolene Niernberger moved for City
Council to recess into executive session for 5 minutes to discuss threatened
litigation pursuant to the attorney-client privilege exception, K.S.A. 75-4319
(b)(2) with City Attorney Olavee Raub
present. The open meeting will resume at
8:32 p.m. Council member Steve
Ferland seconded the motion. The motion carried 6-0. No action was taken in executive session and the open meeting resumed.
Executive Session
Mayor David McDaniel asked for another motion to recess into executive
session. Council member Jolene Niernberger moved for City
Council to recess into executive session for 10 minutes to discuss staffing in
the Police Department pursuant to the non-elected personnel matter exception,
K.S.A. 75-4319 (b)(1) with City Attorney Olavee Raub present. The
open meeting will resume at 8:44 p.m. Council member Sam Polifka seconded the motion. The motion carried 6-0. No action was taken in executive session and the open meeting resumed.
Personnel: Position Change
Council member Steve Ferland moved to accept
Mayor David McDaniel’s recommendation to appoint Officer Chris Krom as Interim Police Chief with compensation
accordingly. Council member Jolene
Niernberger seconded the motion. The motion
carried 6-0.
ADJOURNMENT
Council member Martin LaBarge moved and Council
member Steve Ferland seconded a motion to adjourn the meeting. The motion carried 6-0. The meeting adjourned at 8:46 p.m.
___________________________________
Mayor
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City Clerk