APPROVED 7-14-2014

City of Peabody Minutes of the City Council Meeting June 30, 2014 Office of the City Clerk June 30, 2014

CALL TO ORDER: The regular meeting was called to order by Mayor Larry Larsen, at 7:00 p.m. in the council chambers of City Hall located at 300 N. Walnut, Peabody, Kansas. The following council members were present: Steve Rose, Janice Woodruff, Tim Peterson, Robert Knapp and Travis Wilson. Mayor Larsen stated that a quorum was established.

STAFF: Stephanie Ax - City Clerk , Police Chief Bruce Burke, Mark Penner - Fire Chief, Beth Peter - Swimming Pool Manager k VISITORS: Susan Marshall, Peabody Gazette-Bulletin, Terry Johnson and Kaete Johnson

I. MINUTES: The council reviewed the minutes of the regular city council meeting June 9, 2014

Councilman Peterson requested that the motion at the top of page 2 have his name added as the member who seconded the motion for the ad space in the Peabody Gazette-Bulletin; Clerk Ax suggested the motion at the bottom of page 4 be altered for clarification purposes as follows: Motion by Knapp to pay the 2013 past due taxes on the (5) Baker Lofts property, located at 115, 117, 121, 123 and 125t N. Walnut in the amount of $9563.69 to the Marion County Treasurer immediately to avoid accruing late fees with the caveat that when the buildings are sold, the money wil be given back to the city. Payment of taxes on 117, 121, 123, 125 N. Walnut will be paid under protest.

MOTION by Rose to approve the minutes of the regular scheduled city council meeting of June 09, 2014 as amended. Motion was seconded by Wilson. Motion carried 5-0.

II. APPROPRIATIONS: The council reviewed Payroll 06b $ 13,207.65 6b Fringe Benefits & Taxes $ 6,710.17 2014-06b Payables $ 17,582.24 2014-06c Payables $ 14,375.46 2014 6b Extra payables $ 15,443.59

Councilman Robert Knapp questioned Check #31067 to Westar Energy in the amount of $86.25. Mayor Larsen explained that this was an account for the electrical outlets in the Baker buildings which were used to operate the pumps during heavy rains. Councilman Woodruff asked if there were anymore outstanding bills for Baker Lofts, LLC? Susan Marshall indicated there was a small balance due with the Peabody Hardware store. MOTION by Wilson to approve Payroll 06b $13.207.65; 6B Fringe Benefits & Taxes $6,710.17; 2014- 06b Payables 17,582.24 ; 2014–06c Payables $14,375.46; 2014 -6b extra payables $15,443.59.. Motion was seconded by Peterson. Motion carried 4-1 (Knapp).

City Council Minutes June 30, 2014 Page 2

III. PUBLIC COMMENT:

Mayor Larsen invited anyone to speak during this portion of the meeting if it were three (3) minutes or less, or to request to be on the agenda if more time was needed. There were no public comments made.

IV. APPROVAL OF AGENDA:

Fire Chief Penner requested to be placed on the agenda under C5 - Standing Committee - Fire.

MOTION by Woodruff to approve the agenda as amended. Motion was seconded by Peterson. Motion carried 5-0.

V. AGENDA ITEMS:

A. Terry Johnson addressed the council about his concerns of disability access to the swimming pool. It is difficult to get in and out of the pool house except through the women’s side. The ramp on the men’s side is not okay as there is a hole under the ramp. Mayor Larsen had the coincidence of speaking with Mr. Johnson earlier in the day at the swim meet and had explained some of the delays with the handicap porta potty and that the gate was on order and had not arrived yet. Mayor Larsen said he would talk with Ronnie Harms about the ETA of the gate. Mayor Larsen thanked Mr. Johnson for taking the time to come the city council meeting and appreciated his efforts and that if there was anything more we needed to address, please do not hesitate.

Councilman Woodruff was not satisfied with the current location of the handicapped porta potty as it was too close to the children’s wading pool. She requested it be moved to the west side of the swimming pool where there is asphalt underneath.

B. Employee Reports:

1. Bruce Burke, Chief of Police

Chief Burke distributed his report (and Travis Davis’s) covering Inoperable Vehicles, Animal Control, Health & Safety / Code Enforcement , Siren Testing and Fireworks Shooting Guidelines.

Inoperable Vehicles: Chief Burke is working on the west side of the city covering 805 Plum, 603 Locust, and 803 Poplar. Officer Davis is not observing any new vehicles but notices are being generated for 201 Pine (x2) , 602 Elm, 215 E Division . Woodruff noted that the vehicles at 201 Pine have been moved. A case has been filed for 501 Elm 1996 Pontiac Grand Am. Chief Burke asked the council if we should show compassion or lenience to some of the elderly/disabled/ill folks who just can’t get outside to move their vehicles. Councilman Wilson said we have to treat them the same as other residents.

Animal Control: Duane Davis’s report from 6-16-14 was reviewed by the council. Of the 46 animal statuses listed, it was noted that one was a bobcat relocation.

Health and Safety: A total of 27 mowing violation letters were mailed out in June, 2014. The house listed at 105 N Maple is owned by Patriot Pawn. No water violations were noted.

City Council Minute June 30, 2014 Page 3

Siren Testing: AT&”T recently repaired the phone lines for the fire station and siren system. Testing of the system was done, and phone lines incoming are working according to AT&T. Chief Burke tested the siren and the interface between the radio and encoding box - which is still problematic. IMPORTANTLY, “The siren is working manually”, but still does not work using the remote phone system. Chief Burke has spoken with Blue Valley Public Safety, Inc. from Grain Valley, Missouri. The last time we did business with them was in 2010 for repair of the siren at 7th and Poplar . Blue Valley noted that the main problem is our equipment is old - 40 to 45 years. For Blue Valley to install the exact equipment would cost approximately $5,200.00. The item in stock costs $2,400.85. Blue Valley labor rates are $115.00 per hour. We do not want to wait until some other Kansas cities have repair calls in order to get a group rate. Mayor Larsen suggested we research resources more local. Councilman Woodruff asked if there was any other company to get quotes from as we should at least have two quotes. Councilman Wilson said he believed the last time the siren was worked on was by Kaye Electric in Newton.

Councilman Knapp stated there must be some company in Wichita that does this kind of work. Knapp further pointed out that the recent issue of Kansas Government Journal for May 2014 (enclosed in the council packet) addressed tornado sirens which suggested a city have sirens that are both AC and DC (battery or electrical) in the event the electrical power goes out. The USDA offers millions of dollars in community facility grant money each year to help small towns (fewer than 20,000 residents) pay for important projects, including new tornado sirens.

Fireworks Shooting Guidelines : Chief Burke’s report included a summary of fireworks ` shooting guidelines which did not indicate whether the guidelines were established by ordinance or resolution. After much discussion it was the general consensus of the council that they would like to extend shooting time by one hour by changing from 8 a.m - 12 midnight to 8 a.m. to 1a.m.for both 2014 and 2015. Clerk Ax stated she would have to check into the original document - if it were ordinance or resolution. Additionally, at this late date of June 30th, and the deadline for any publication being Tuesday a.m.,July 1st - it may next to impossible to achieve. The council asked Clerk Ax to check if it was possible to just publish a public notice to this effect without the cost of publishing a new ordinance or legal notice.

MOTION by Wilson to extend the firework shooting hours to 1am on July 3rd and 4th if legally possible and direct Clerk Ax to publish it in the Peabody Gazette Bulletin July 2, 2014 issue. Motion seconded by Knapp. Motion carried 4-1 (Woodruff).

In closing, Chief Burke commented the city’s municipal court revenue had received a lump sum payment from one source for restitution in the amount of $1.035.70. Clerk Ax indicated this does go back into the general fund under police department revenue.

2. Ronnie Harms, Interim Public Works Director

Mr. Harms was not in attendance. Highlights of his monthly report which was included in the council packet .  Culvert is bad on Elm between 9th and 8th  Construction company was down to look at curbs on Olive Street between 6th and 8th on west side for bidding  Met with Knapp and Manning about swimming pool handicap sidewalk City Council Minutes June 30, 2014 Page 4

 Ordered transducer for water tower level indicator to have on hand (Never was reordered - very important item)  Cleaned storm drains  Dug out sewer manhole on 6th between Locust and Poplar  Marion County chip sealed Peabody Street

The City received a letter from Enviro-Line Co., Inc. regarding the grinder pump lift station informing us that the lift station is now 5+ years old and they highly recommended the city change out the grinder and shredding ring to maintain quality service out of our pumps. Mayor Larsen said Enviro-Line needs to come back with prices.

3. Stephanie Ax, City Clerk

In order to pay the back taxes under protest for the Baker Lofts properties specific forms had to be completed for four (4) properties (117, 121, 123 and 125 N. Walnut) and submitted with the payment from the City. Taxes for 115 N. Walnut were paid too, but not under protest The county assigned us an appointment time and date of Tuesday July 1 ‘ at 9:00 a.m. I advised Mayor Larsen of this appointment.

Beth Peter, President of the Peabody Burns Recreation Commission is here this evening to discuss the Recreation Commission’s gift for the city’s swimming pool .

The City received a check from the Central Kansas Community Foundation in the amount of $543.92 specifically for the POPPS program.

Certificates of Appreciation were sent to Tom and Susie Schmidt for their years of service to the POPPS committee . A plaque for Pam Lamborn has been ordered.

Completed new signature cards at bank. Ordering notary for Krishyn is in progress.

Ordered handicap accessible porta potty from Prairie Pots, El Dorado for the swimming pool for the term of June 28 (Swim Meet) to closing which is August 8. Rental and weekly servicing of this porta potty will cost $150 a month. (Porta potty should have arrived at the beginning of pool season.)

New Water Rates published June 4th. New water rates have been installed into utility billing program for July 2014 bills .

Regarding Ordinance 03 - 2014, specifically section 14-118, Clerk Ax inquired how the city council wanted the landlord liability implemented, Does the lessor / lessee relationship include rent to buy contracts? What are the legal means the city plans to use to collect outstanding debts of landlords? The council instructed Clerk Ax to communicate with city attorney Robert Lane for direction.

Krishyn Caldwell, City Treasurer assisted me in researching rental properties through Council Minutes June 30, 2014 Page 5

parcel search at Marion County website. Implementing this new ordinance will increase our mailing costs.by sending duplicate late notices to landlords. Do we want to revisit mailing bills in-house to save money? The consensus was to not do that at this time.

C. Reports from Standing Committees

1. Water Committee –

Our Public Works department is keeping the water level low in the water tower as one approach to maintain water quality.

Councilman Rose distributed a report he developed with Morgan Marler, Water Supervisor - Hillsboro Water Plant, regarding the City of Peabody’s water system. There were several points covered but Councilman Rose directed us to item e) as being the most important for Fire Protection:

There is a $500 chip or relay that Microcomm can program and send to us and we can install in the Peabody pump house that will allow us to deliver water to Peabody at a much faster rate than what we (Hillsboro) are now. This was changed years ago while the tower was being maintained and was taken out of service - the relay was reprogrammed to run off of psi and the pumps run continuously at 300 gpm to satisfy the demand. If we could change that relay, we could send you 700 or 800 gpm and we could turn over the water in the line and the tower in half the time. Instead of water reaching Peabody customers after 20 days of residence time, we could make it 10 days of residency time and it would be fresher. We could also keep your tower at a lower level and turn it over more often. Then, if we needed fire protection, we can turn on two pumps here in Hillsboro and deliver 800 gpm. Right now, if you need more than 300 gpm, you’re screwed. Even if you manually turn on two pumps it will only pressure up to a certain psi and allow only 300 gpm to be delivered. Unless we weren’t satisfying the psi demand and then it would allow the pumps to go higher - in that scenario, there would be a big water leak somewhere that would prevent the psi set point from being satisfied.

Councilman Rose would like to do this. Further action was tabled until the next meeting on July 14th, 2014.

Mayor Larsen commented that he had been interviewed by Channel 12 in response to a complaint about water quality to that TV station. Council had no comment about the interview.

Councilman Knapp said he had heard about a photo of water in a bathtub on face book with derogatory comments. Councilman Rose said it was not ours - but Wellington’s .

2. Streets and Alleys Committee – Cost Sharing Sidewalk Program was not discussed.

There was discussion about the culvert repair needed on N. Elm Street. A request for bids needs to be developed and mailed.

We received an estimate on removal and replacement of curb and guttering along the west side of N. Olive Street (700 block and 800 block) in the amount of $43,446.50. This is not only for repair but also to help the street drain properly. Hang on to this for first meeting in July.

Council Minutes June 30, 2014 Page 6 3. Sanitation Committee – nothing to report

4. Lights Committee – nothing to report

5. Fire Committee -

Motion by Knapp to authorize and approve Ashley Sheridan to attend Fire Fighter Training in Dodge City with 4th Fire helping with the costs. Motion was seconded by Peterson. Motion carried 4-1 (Rose abstained)

6. Park and Swimming Pool Committee – Update

Beth Peter, Manager of Peabody Swimming Pool advised the city council that the swimming pool will be open Saturday, July 5th but there will be admission charge. She also commented that the pool house needs an indoor handicapped bathroom. . Ms. Peter, as President of the Peabody Burns Recreation Commission, was proud to advise the city council that the recreation commission was encumbering $20,000.00 for W.G. Germaine to install a new pool liner. This should cover 2/3s of the price to complete the project. The funds must be spent by 7/1/2015. The council was very appreciative and asked Ms., Peter to convey their thanks to the recreation commission. Mayor Larsen added that the city hoped to do something for the pool liner this fall.

Ms. Peter advised us that there is a crack in the baby pool liner. We need to tell Ronnie to meet with Beth about the crack.

7. Building Committee – nothing to report

8. Finance and Ordinance Committee - nothing to report

9. Economic Development Committee - nothing to report

10. Personnel - nothing to report

D. Report from the Mayor

Mayor Larsen reported that paying the Baker Lofts, LLC property tax under protest turned out to be a little more complicated than anticipated. I thank Stephanie Ax for her approach to acquiring the proper documentation and processing those forms. The mayor closed by saying that he had an appointment with the Marion County Appraiser’s Office tomorrow morning, July 1st to appeal the taxes levied. He plans on taking photographs of the inside of the buildings.

VI: COMMUNICATIONS: No comment on communications

VII: ITEMS TO BE ON AGENDA FOR UPCOMING MEETINGS: 1. Voghts Parga Estimate 2. Report on Removal of Grass Growing in Streets. Council Minutes June 30, 2014 Page 7

3. Review status of invoice sent to Leah Ottensmeier for reimbursement of cost of recovering password on Municipal Court laptop computer. 4. Proposal for EBH Engineers for a long-range planning on improvement of streets, water and sewer systems. 5. Report on Deteriorating Ditch at 7th and Poplar. 6. Purchase of a new pool cover. 7. Upgrading Swimming Pool based on quote from W.G. Germaine. 8. Fire Cadet Program

VIII. ADJOURNMENT: There being no more business to be brought before the council. MOTION by Travis Wilson to adjourn the meeting at 8:30 p.m. Motion was seconded by Rose. Motion carried 5-0.

CERTIFICATE

I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct recording of the proceedings of the governing body of the City of Peabody, Kansas, held on the date stated therein, and that the official minutes of such proceedings are on file in my office.

(SEAL)

______Stephanie Ax, City Clerk