[5:03] Here
[5:17] we go.
[5:27] At this time, we'll call to order the
commission meeting for Tuesday,
[5:31] September the 8th.
And it is now 6:30. And if this turns
[5:35] into a lengthy meeting, I will be uh
calling for a short recess on the half
[5:41] hour beginning at 7:30 if if necessary.
At this time, I have a roll call.
[5:48] » Comm.
>> Commissioner Hendricks
[5:51] » here.
>> Vice Mayor Gables
[5:53] » here.
>> Commissioner Balden
[5:54] » here.
>> And Commissioner Kindle is absent.
[5:57] » All right. This time we'll have the
invitation by Pastor Melvin Simpson of
[6:02] the First Church of God in Christ. And
following the invitation, please remain
[6:06] standing for the pledge of allegiance.
Pastor, most kind and gracious father
[6:12] God, we thank you God for all your many
blessings. How you watch over us, how
[6:17] you protect us, they seen our city. God,
we ask your blessings come down from our
[6:21] city. Bless us God. Keep us God to see
our will. We thank you God for all your
[6:26] many blessings in Jesus name we pray.
Amen.
[6:31] » I aliance to the flag of the United
States of America and to the republic
[6:38] for which it stands one nation
indivisible with liberty and justice for
[6:45] all.
>> Please be seated.
[6:52] All right, commissioners. Uh, any
additions or corrections to the agenda?
[6:58] There being none, move on to the consent
agenda.
[7:02] And, uh, for items one through six,
commissioners, questions.
[7:12] Um, I don't I have a question on maybe
I'm missing in the notes. The number two
[7:20] action to approve the the agreement for
the road safety audit and engineering
[7:26] study. When when was that time frame to
do this
[7:31] » or have we not set a time frame?
>> The time frame to do
[7:36] » the study. So we have to accept all the
grant awards first and then approve the
[7:41] engineering which that's all on for
tonight and then that will set the
[7:45] timeline of when the actual study
happens.
[7:48] » Okay. Are we expecting it to happen in
the next two three months or next six
[7:52] months or
>> I would say within the next six months.
[7:54] » Okay.
Any other questions?
[8:00] » Then I move to approve items one through
six of the consent agenda as presented.
[8:05] » I'll second.
Motion made by second by Vice Mayor
[8:09] Naples to approve items one through six
of the consent agenda as presented.
[8:13] Commissioner Hendris I
>> vice I commissioner
[8:17] » I
>> mayor
[8:18] » I.
>> Next on the agenda is comments from the
[8:23] public. Any citizen desiring to address
the commission shall be recognized
[8:28] advance to the podium. State his or her
name and address for the record.
[8:34] Comments shall be limited to three
minutes unless extended by a vote of the
[8:38] majority of the commission. Commission
does not hear matters involving
[8:42] litigation or city personnel. The
commission does not take action on
[8:46] subjects not on the agenda unless
unusual or hardship conditions exist.
[8:53] Citizens may address the commission on
agenda items as they are brought to the
[8:57] floor. Is there anyone in attendance who
wishes to come to the podium and make a
[9:02] comment?
[9:06] And we have one gentleman coming.
[9:14] And please state your name and address
[9:18] again 5175
room 1425.
[9:24] Um I just want to say again that I seen
your fact sheet just come out and I
[9:29] don't agree with stuff.
There's there's a ton of stuff going on
[9:33] around the country. People
I want to just address that
[9:40] the amount of stuff I see on YouTube
videos coming out and
[9:45] you're not doing a service to people,
you need to be more transparent.
[9:50] That's why I'm I'm emailing you guys all
the time. I'll know you're reading them
[9:53] a lot, but the things that are concern
me are environmental and noise and even
[10:02] the waters. We just had a was it
advisory or something saying be wise
[10:06] with your water. How are we going to
support data centers?
[10:12] I don't get it. We taking on candy now,
right? We got South Coffee. We got this
[10:20] town. We got deer.
We have
[10:24] World War Six and a couple other World
Wars. I don't get it. And and I don't
[10:30] appreciate YouTube videos coming out
from Benju
[10:35] when he doesn't even live in the town. I
don't get it.
[10:40] [groaning]
There's no skin off his back. Just his
[10:43] job.
We're we're suffering out here with
[10:46] higher prices.
So, when is when is this going to stop?
[10:52] When is the truth going to come out?
Would you want one of these things right
[10:56] where you're at?
Up by that airport. There's plenty of
[11:00] farmers residents out there. What's
going to happen to them?
[11:07] I need you to think
to think about people, not the money.
[11:13] There's plenty of ways to build a town.
Lots of good ways to grow town. You want
[11:18] to cut taxes to those guys? Well, cut
taxes to to the businesses here.
[11:25] Encourage more of those kinds of
business come into this town.
[11:29] Maybe you'll start seeing some things.
[11:34] Thank you.
[11:42] » Name and address, please.
Evening Commission Max Nelson, 1469
[11:48] County Road 4500.
Every two weeks, you guys will just have
[11:52] that memorized at some point here. Uh,
thank you for the opportunity to speak.
[11:56] What I'd like to talk about tonight is
trust, right? That's the critical thing
[12:01] with any big business decision is we
have to have trust. Trust with the
[12:06] commissioners, trust with the city
manager, trust with the community. It's
[12:10] a avenue that goes both ways always.
Last week, what I witnessed with the
[12:16] tornado siren was an alarming deal.
There was a knock on wood, people safety
[12:24] aren't in the budget till next year.
That's really alarming to hear that
[12:30] there are alerts, we live in a modern
society, etc., etc., but we all know
[12:34] that there are people that rely on those
alerts in every community. Look what
[12:39] happened in Hawaii with the wildfires
when the alarm system didn't go off this
[12:43] year.
Look what happened in St. Louis when the
[12:46] early detection system didn't go off.
Now granted, we're not in tornado system
[12:52] season. Severe weather potential
tomorrow. Side note,
[12:57] but the city didn't even come out and
say anything about it. It didn't come
[13:00] out until Kendall brought it up almost
halfhazardly last week like, "Hey,
[13:04] people have noticed this. Oh yeah,
critical infrastructure is not
[13:08] functioning." Okay, it's very borderline
negligent. So, the shocking thing that I
[13:16] saw was the response of the commission
or lack thereof. At any point, you could
[13:22] have stopped, raised your hand, and
moved a motion and said, "Mr. Brewbaker,
[13:27] we authorized $5,000, $6,000. When can
we get this fixed? How can we get this
[13:32] fixed?" Second, voted. Done. Immediately
done. When that doesn't happen, it
[13:38] doesn't build trust.
[13:43] So
we have these people keep showing up
[13:47] emails all this because data center much
more magnitude
[13:53] than the tornado war. So how does the
community put trust in you as elected
[14:00] officials as a city manager to execute
these contracts properly if we can't get
[14:07] the basics right?
Thank you for your time sir. Are you a
[14:12] citizen of Coffeeville?
>> Well, I'm right outside. I'm 1469 County
[14:17] Road 4500.
>> That's correct.
[14:19] » And I can hear the siren.
>> The sirens were never nonfunctional.
[14:26] » Excuse me.
>> I think you don't understand the
[14:29] situation.
>> Well, you Mr. Baker
[14:33] » in the meeting. He said that they
weren't working.
[14:40] I don't want to expand on this right
now, but
[14:42] » that's fine. I'm not trying to have an
argument.
[14:45] » The fix was being in process.
It was never not going to be fixed.
[14:50] » I didn't say it wasn't ever going to be
fixed.
[14:51] » Well, that's what you're implying. The
implication
[14:54] » you were implying that
>> I'm not implying
[14:56] » and you're trying to
>> Yeah,
[14:59] » that's not
>> they were never not going to fix. And if
[15:01] if there was a tornado, they can push a
button in my
[15:04] » With all due respect, Commissioner
Hendricks, that is not what I'm
[15:07] implying. That is putting words in my
mouth and that is not fair.
[15:14] » Is there anyone else?
[15:18] » Stephen Keller, uh 1402 CR5150,
Coffeeville, Kansas 67337.
[15:27] I live outside the city limit, sir.
Okay. just like this gentleman right
[15:31] here. But I'm still part of this
organization. I'm still part of the city
[15:35] and part of the community. I care a lot
too about what's going on around here.
[15:38] And I didn't think he implied anything.
You misunderstood him.
[15:43] » No, I did not.
>> Yes, you did. Now, here's what I'm here
[15:45] for, gentlemen and ladies.
The data center. Whatever. Oh, bad
[15:52] robes. Everything else. You take right
up over here where you've got this nice
[15:55] beautiful sign which says, "Welcome to
Coffeeville."
[15:58] Man, that looks like Vietnam war out
there after B-52s dropped a few bombs.
[16:02] You can't It's almost impossible to get
out in the road without feeling like
[16:06] you're going to jump up in there and who
knows where you're going. I don't know
[16:11] if that's part of your I don't know area
being able to cover and get something
[16:17] fixed or not,
but it's a hazard out there. It needs to
[16:23] be fixed. It's been that way all summer,
been that way since spring. Ever since
[16:27] somebody went there and tore up all that
road, can't we get it fixed and the
[16:31] potholes and the other things all around
this town are are just unacceptable.
[16:36] What are you doing with the money? I
don't know.
[16:40] I asked last meeting, do I have can can
I can I see a balance sheet? You know,
[16:45] everybody says got money coming in, you
got money going out, you got this. This
[16:49] is like half million dollar truck. Are
you kidding me? Anyway, so we needed
[16:58] data center data center
myths.
[17:03] You know, you really want expect all of
us just to be like a bunch of just, you
[17:07] know, like we're just like you guys, you
know, we eat, drink, breathe, take care
[17:14] of our kids, love to go to church, stuff
like that. Don't believe this junk.
[17:20] You look around where they are today.
You look at the problems they're having
[17:24] that is not being expelled or being
expelled to the myth problem and says,
[17:30] "Oh, don't believe your lying eyes. We
don't want a data center here. I'm only
[17:35] one little snowflake, but believe you
me. There's going to be a blizzard's
[17:39] going to be coming in before long. We
don't want this data center. Please give
[17:44] us some reconsideration here.
The things that we're a myth about, no,
[17:50] they're right on the money. These are
facts and they can be proven in in any
[17:55] place you go.
You're our city council. You represent
[18:00] us.
Take care of us.
[18:05] Respect over.
Okay? Give us some more consideration.
[18:12] We love our little towns. We're real
happy to see the all the the work being
[18:16] done downtown and on the streets over
here. Restaurants
[18:22] looking good. Needs a long way to go,
but it took a long way to get it this
[18:26] far. What happened?
Somebody dropped the ball somewhere to
[18:30] get the city in this kind of condition.
Now we're slowly but surely coming back
[18:34] out of it.
>> Thank you for your three minutes.
[18:37] » Thank you, sir.
>> Is there anyone else who would like to
[18:39] speak?
[18:44] » Marcus Castler 502. Look, I'm going to
take a brief pause from talking about
[18:49] data centers to move on to something
else. Uh, last time I was here, I talked
[18:54] I'm going to give you a little update. I
talked about a sign out there on the
[18:58] bridges that go to Walmart. Uh,
I have recently got a hold of KO, but I
[19:05] would love your guys's help and figuring
out a way to not have to go to the red
[19:09] tape as well. I looked it up.
The sign I'm wanting is about 114 bucks.
[19:17] That's not including poles and
installation and stuff like that. Even
[19:20] just has two of them and let people
know, hey, people are people walk and
[19:24] bike on this path. It may save lives. I
would rather save lives and be cheap and
[19:28] not do it. Uh I would love your help on
that. That's the first thing I want to
[19:32] talk about.
Another thing I want to talk about is
[19:36] flaw cameras. Um,
I don't know if a lot of people know how
[19:41] many there are. There are six
according to deflock USA.com.
[19:47] Um, I'm just asking for some
transparency on that. There's a lot of
[19:52] things going on in the world with Dlock,
uh, tagging vehicles that don't need
[19:58] pulled over. Um, some of us use for
different items. I think we deserve
[20:04] where that data is going. if it is going
anywhere. There has been over a hundred
[20:09] cases of police officers abusing that
and stalking ex-girlfriends and stuff
[20:14] like that. I like to know is there a
safeguard in place of who gets to check
[20:19] that and stuff like that. Just just
little things. I'm not accusing police
[20:23] department anything. Don't get me wrong,
I trust these guys and I'm all for plate
[20:27] readers that help catch car thieves and
stuff like that, but I but in the future
[20:34] is the money that they got in the tax
sale going to go towards installing
[20:38] actual cameras, face recognition, what
things like that I just think needs to
[20:43] be answered. I'm not upset. I just think
we need some more transparency. Thank
[20:46] you.
>> Thank you.
[20:50] » Is there anyone else would like to
speak?
[20:58] Good evening. Marilyn Cohen, 3705
Westport Street.
[21:04] I'm here again to plead being that
you're the face of the community and we
[21:11] trust you.
with regards this with this data center
[21:17] these fact sheets that I I'm holding
right now have you ever really
[21:22] considered
uh have evaluating them have you been to
[21:28] a real uh data center to prove that
those uh videos that we seen in the
[21:38] internet
you know we hear the noise we hear what
[21:43] they're complaining about the waters and
I believe because they were even uh
[21:48] complaining it with their commissioners.
I just want to ask
[21:54] our leaders here,
have you even
[21:59] done a cost benefit analysis?
[22:04] Have you ever done a costbenefit
analysis?
[22:08] Yes or no? Cuz you know what?
We need to evaluate the total economic,
[22:17] social
and intangible impact
[22:21] intangible impacts of a decision
because we don't only considered
[22:27] economic.
We should also considered social
[22:33] and whatever intangible impacts of the
decision you're making
[22:39] because we as residents
we're also concerned about the risk
[22:46] especially
the uh utilities you know the power if
[22:51] there are power short out what's the
shortages water
[22:57] who will be served first the data the
center or the residents
[23:03] [groaning]
and regarding to the uh bill you know
[23:07] for the electric rates they're paying
less compared to us. We are paying taxes
[23:13] here but they don't.
So we want to know the transparency what
[23:19] is going on so that we know the
alternative forces of action that we can
[23:23] make whether to stay or leave.
That's all. Thank you.
[23:33] » Is there anyone else who would like to
speak?
[23:37] » All right, there being none, we'll move
on to the regular agenda items. And
[23:43] there being no public hearings, no old
business, we'll move on to new business.
[23:48] First is a discussion and action to
accept the Kansas airport improvement
[23:54] program grant award for hangar approach
pavement reconstruction and authorize
[24:00] the mayor to execute the agreement.
Superintendent parks jar powers
[24:06] competent. Good evening, Mayor
Commissioners. I came before you earlier
[24:09] this year in January to ask your
permission to apply for a hangar
[24:13] approach grant from KOT. And here today,
we were awarded that grant. Tonight,
[24:17] we're asking for you to uh sign all the
documents so we can receive that grant
[24:22] to repair these hanger approaches up
here.
[24:26] » And when you say approach, you mean
>> two separate
[24:29] » the
areas the the area directly in front
[24:33] Yes. of the hangers.
>> Yes. We have some that are, you know, in
[24:37] the 40s and it's like gravel now and
it's tough on jet engines and props and
[24:42] tires.
>> So, just for the record, this is not
[24:44] runway or taxi way. This is just the
apron in front in front of the hammer.
[24:50] » Yes, sir. It will connected out to the
taxi.
[24:52] » Thank you. Questions.
[24:57] » How long will it take? How long How long
are you expecting it to take? uh we can
[25:02] get the uh bids specs out as soon as
possible and then hopefully get a
[25:08] qualified bidder and get started.
>> Awesome.
[25:11] » Any other questions?
>> All right, then I move to accept the
[25:16] Kansas airport Improvement Program Grant
Award for hangar approach pavement
[25:21] reconstruction
and authorize the mayor me to execute
[25:28] the agreement.
I'll second.
[25:32] Motion is made by Mayor, second by Vice
Mayor to accept the Kansas airport
[25:37] improvement program grant award for
hanger approach pavement reconstruction
[25:40] and authorize the mayor to execute the
agreement. Vice Mayor Maples I.
[25:44] » Commissioner Golden.
>> I,
[25:46] » Mayor Hner,
>> I,
[25:47] » Commissioner Hendris.
>> I,
[25:49] » thank you.
>> Thank you.
[25:50] » Thank you. Next, discussion and action
to approve change order number one for
[25:55] the Brown Street Sanitary Sewer
Renovation Project. Director of public
[25:59] works Jim Wright will make comments.
[26:06] » Good evening.
Um actually this item and the following
[26:11] item
uh both of them are on the Brown Street
[26:15] sewer. The first one is to approve a
change order on the project that has
[26:22] been completed. Uh it includes additions
and deductions based on the actual field
[26:27] condition included quantities. Uh the
additions include additional pipe
[26:32] bursting repair the 15in sewer segment
removal of two protruding service taps
[26:39] and open trench service reconnections.
Uh these costs were offset by the
[26:44] reduction of the uh CIP which is cured
in placement piping uh lining trenchless
[26:50] service connection repairs, point
repairs, paper repairs, and other
[26:55] contract quantities. The net result is a
$16,876
[26:59] reduction to the contract. Uh the
revised contract amount is $583,87.
[27:09] No additional city funding is required.
>> Awesome.
[27:13] » Awesome. We like reductions.
>> Questions.
[27:18] And I move to approve change order
number one for the Brown Street Sanitary
[27:23] Sewer Renovation Project.
>> Second.
[27:27] » Motion by second by Commissioner to
approve change order number one for
[27:32] Brown Street sewer renovation project.
Commissioner Bolton.
[27:36] » Hi.
>> Mayor Bner.
[27:37] » Hi. Commissioner Dry.
>> Hi.
[27:39] » Vice Mayor Me. Hi.
>> Next. Don't go away. Discussion and
[27:44] action to approve a budget amendment for
the CDBG grant number 25-PF-006
[27:53] and authorize the mayor to execute the
required amendment documents. Public
[27:58] works. Jim Wright will make comments.
>> Same thing, just changing. We had to
[28:04] approve the change order before we
changed the budget. So the budget, their
[28:09] original project budget was 935,000.
[cough] The construction budget was
[28:15] 811,000.
Um and the then it was reduction based
[28:21] on the engineering design cost and
inspection
[28:24] and the reductions two uh
[28:32] it was $583,000 for construction. It was
uh $21,000 for the administration.
[28:40] engineering design was 186
[28:45] and they removed the $44,000
other professional services.
[28:50] » Okay. Any additional questions,
commissioners?
[28:54] And then now I move to approve budget
amendment for CWBG grant number 25-PF-06
[29:02] and authorize mayor to execute required
amendment documents.
[29:07] Second
>> motion made by Mayor by Vice Mayor
[29:11] Maples to approve a budget amendment for
CD25-P006
[29:17] authorize the mayor to execute the
required amendment documents. Mayor.
[29:21] » Hi,
>> Commissioner.
[29:22] » Hi,
>> Vice Mayor. I
[29:24] » Commissioner,
>> hi.
[29:26] » Next resolution R-26-102,
[29:30] a resolution approving the selection of
Cook Flat and Strobble Engineers, PA for
[29:37] the US 166 road safety audit and traffic
engineering study and authorizing
[29:43] execution of the professional services
agreement. Director public works bright
[29:48] will make comments.
So we'd like for you to approve this
[29:52] that the selection of cook flat strobble
that was chosen by QBS which stands for
[29:58] quality based selection. They're using
federal sometimes state funds. You have
[30:03] to go through that process to choose the
engineer based on their qualities.
[30:07] [clears throat and cough] And this is to
do a grade safety audit which is
[30:11] basically just traffic study for
I believe it's
[30:18] and that's what they're going to do just
look at safety improvements on that
[30:24] route. This goes to
um when you apply for funding, if you
[30:31] have something like this, you're awarded
survey points. So these are just kind of
[30:35] free points based on your system. So if
you don't have one of these, chances of
[30:40] you getting selected for the planning
improvements are reduced.
[30:50] So again, this is one of those
situations where a study is necessary
[30:55] before
additional grant applications can be
[30:59] made.
>> That is correct. Uh we received $160,000
[31:02] for the safe streets for all fund. Also,
we applied to the uh state the built
[31:10] Kansas fund reducing the city's
requirement to only $10,000. took that
[31:15] $30,000 to the state. $10,000 is worth
the city contribution 160
[31:21] streets.
>> Jim Jim, what are some of the things
[31:25] you're hoping that we find that we were
able to isolate and fix?
[31:30] » There'll be nothing that we don't really
know about. So, it's going to be uh
[31:34] crosswalks, ADA access, um maybe some
improvements on some intersections,
[31:43] turning radiuses, such as that.
>> Okay. Thank you.
[31:48] » Any other questions? Then, uh you have
question.
[31:53] » Okay. Then move to approve resolution
R-26-102
[31:58] as presented.
>> Second.
[32:07] Commissioner
>> I
[32:14] » next is resolution R-26-103
a resolution to approve a contract with
[32:20] BG Consultants for the construction
engineering and inspection of the 2026 K
[32:26] DOT cost share project on 8th Street.
Director of public works Jim Wright
[32:32] would make comments.
Um, as you all are aware, we have the
[32:37] cost share
project on 8th Street. Right now, we're
[32:41] moving the water line. Um, this is going
to be the construction engineering. BG
[32:49] is the one that designed it. We went out
for bids on this engineering portion of
[32:56] it and they were really good. So we
recommend that we construction
[33:01] project
>> questions.
[33:07] » How's the water moving water line?
>> Everybody wants to know.
[33:13] » Still messy. [laughter]
Uh they still have till December I think
[33:19] 14th is when their time is up. They are
still ahead of schedule. Um I believe
[33:24] they've started uh they closed Buckeye
at 8 Street going north to make a tie in
[33:30] there to a 16inch water line that was
underneath the road Buckeye. I believe
[33:35] Saturday they wanted to make the tie in
at 8 G I believe it is and to shut down
[33:41] the water to trade field and probably
about 10 homes for [clears throat]
[33:47] several hours to make that plane in
there. So that's going to be done on a
[33:50] Saturday. So we're we're moving forward.
It's just
[33:56] taking time.
>> All right. And the comments I keep
[33:59] getting keep hearing and almost beat up
over is I sure hope they clean up their
[34:06] mess after they're done.
>> That is part of the pro part of the
[34:09] process they're going to be cleaning up
after themselves.
[34:11] » Well, I'm noticing you're starting to
get new fire hydrants and the piles of
[34:15] dirt aren't quite as big as they were.
And I think it's getting done. It's just
[34:19] not a quick process.
>> That is correct.
[34:22] » It's going to take time. If you want it
done right, you got to give the time to
[34:25] do it. Jim, have you isolated which
residents will be without service?
[34:30] » Yes.
>> Have you notified them?
[34:32] » They will be notified tomorrow.
>> Thank you.
[34:38] » Questions?
>> Then I move to approve resolution
[34:42] R-26-103
[34:46] as presented.
>> Second
[34:49] question.
[34:55] Vice Mayor.
>> Hi,
[34:57] » Commissioner.
>> Hi,
[34:58] » Mayor.
>> Hi,
[34:59] » Commissioner.
>> Hi.
[35:02] » Next. Resolution R-26-104,
[35:07] a resolution to approve a construction
contract with Road Safe Traffic Systems,
[35:13] Inc. for the 2026 Highway Marking
Project. Director of Public Works, Jim
[35:21] Rack, make comments. Um the portion of
the bid that we want to approve is from
[35:27] Willow to Walnut. That'll include the
entire all four legs of both
[35:32] intersections and between there. Um the
whole bid was uh about an additional
[35:39] $24,000 more, but we're hoping to do
some additional work between Buckeye and
[35:48] hopefully between
the original
[35:54] I guess the original board. We have
alternates for the rest of that.
[36:02] questions.
[36:05] Move to approve resolution R-26-104
as presented.
[36:10] » Second
motion by second by commission
[36:15] resolution R-26-104
as presented. Commissioner
[36:20] » I
vice
[36:25] » thank you.
Uh, next is the city manager report.
[36:31] Thank you, Mr. Mayor.
Few items this evening. One of those was
[36:36] storm sirens. So, I will quickly uh talk
about storm sirens.
[36:44] There's there's lots of concern out
there that people are worried. So, I
[36:49] want to just set the record straight.
I think all of you but one follow
[36:56] up to our commission to ask about
the update that we gave it last
[37:05] commission.
[37:10] So I could have been clear for the
public.
[37:17] The sirens are on automatic system,
which is a
[37:24] a subscription, if you will, that we
have through the National Weather
[37:27] Service.
And so those sirens going off at noon
[37:31] every day and the time to go off are not
set by the police department. They're
[37:36] within a computer software system that
the National Weather Service update.
[37:43] The sirens are not broken. That computer
system is out of date.
[37:50] City has not done a good job of
long list of things that maintenance
[37:56] comes up deferred deferred.
works and so the software is outdated
[38:03] and upgrades. Um the
the lowest quote that we have is six to
[38:10] eight weeks before they can come in and
make that upgrade. Since that last
[38:16] meeting had two companies reach out
heard through our through our commission
[38:22] submitted new quotes. I don't have any
updates on the timing yet on those, but
[38:27] that's the automated portion. There is a
button, a switch within our dispatch
[38:35] that we have never pushed before, but
that is automatically turning on those
[38:39] sirens versus going through the
automated system. And so, we've been
[38:44] looking into that this this last week or
two. What does it do when we push that?
[38:49] What does it mean for people? Uh, and We
don't exactly know since we've never
[38:55] pushed that. So today, a press release
went out to notify the public that on
[39:00] the 10th at noon, we will be flipping
that switch, sort of see what happens,
[39:06] test the system out. Our understanding
is the sirens will go off for three
[39:11] minutes straight. Usually they go off
for a few seconds. And so that will be a
[39:17] little bit different. And we want to
make sure to give people plenty of
[39:19] notice that those sirens will be going
off for around three minutes. That's
[39:23] what we believe. Again, we've had that
system for a number of years. The one
[39:27] that we have right now is ever push that
button. See what happens. But the sirens
[39:32] are not broken. The automatic switch is
not broken. What is outdated is the
[39:37] software system that allows National
Weather Service to automatically flip
[39:42] those. So there's your update systems.
Um, we did put out a message to the
[39:50] public on water wise. We do have a con
conservation watch that has three steps.
[39:57] We have not met any of the items to go
into our first water watch phase. Uh,
[40:03] which is generally just asking the
public kindly to to pull back on water.
[40:07] So, we're not there yet. Um the
the water that we have that we get into
[40:15] our backups is out of Elk City
Reservoir. We have approximately 500
[40:19] million gallons that you can pull out of
Elk City. Um if that was the only water
[40:25] we would be able to pull from just Elk
City, you're talking have 100 days 500
[40:30] million gallons of good.
Uh currently the reservoirs up north uh
[40:37] are spilling out enough that we have not
had to access any water out city. Of
[40:43] course we're in contact with state water
officials regularly.
[40:49] Last week we were told maybe in two to
three weeks. I know there's been some
[40:53] more storm systems um up north. The last
time we were told two to three weeks
[40:58] before we start pulling from our
secondary source, there was a rain
[41:02] system. So, uh, I don't know that might
come. It might not. Uh, in the last 15
[41:08] years, I think there's only been, I
think it was six or seven years, the
[41:13] commissioner sent that to you email
where we didn't pull out of Elk City.
[41:18] That's generally this time of year, a
normal thing, not there yet. Along with
[41:24] that, the drought conditions are causing
problems to our waterline
[41:29] infrastructure. We talked about those uh
lines since August 31st. So was that
[41:35] roughly nine days? We have had 14 water
peaks.
[41:43] Total of about 209 manh hours. Funny
enough, as we're going through budget
[41:48] season, I've talking to our uh
department heads about how we manage
[41:52] overtime better. And then you go and get
a nine-day period like this where 122
[41:59] and a half of those hours
were overtime. It's about double time
[42:04] hours per contract pay. So out of our
control, mother nature can make change.
[42:10] So when I talk about the drought, the
ground up around here in Cville, this
[42:15] clay that dries up and you start getting
shifting
[42:20] rocks that are underground rubbing up
against those water lines and that
[42:24] shifting you can spray. So
drought does not just impact how much
[42:29] water comes into town, but also the
condition of our infrastructure.
[42:36] Neighborhood revitalization.
You have each of you have a letter. I
[42:40] think I've talked to all of you about
this.
[42:43] Today at the county commission meeting,
the county commission decided not to
[42:47] approve our request for neighborhood
revitalization.
[42:52] Just a summary of that neighborhood
revitalization. We we requested the city
[42:58] change that to our boundaries be the
entire city. in the past has just been
[43:02] small areas and that was because of the
state
[43:06] state law that that existed. That law
went away this year. The city of
[43:11] independence last year
they got theirs approved commission to
[43:16] make their entire city
applicable through neighborhood
[43:21] revitalization. So with ours not being
approved, that means that it is
[43:27] technically cheaper to build build or
remodel. That means it's uh I have a
[43:32] letter before you
written by it's for each of you. you'd
[43:37] like to sign, review that
sign that recommended changes, but
[43:44] essentially
it suggests that commissioners should
[43:49] look at our communities equally when it
comes to those abatement programs and
[43:54] not one city tenants
greater tax incentives that
[44:00] talking to the chamber, talking to
action council
[44:04] and hopeful they will send some letters
and the cabinet will
[44:09] look at that differently. Reapproach
they they want some changes and I told
[44:14] them today that I thought those would be
those were appropriate. Speaking on
[44:17] behalf of commission, I told them that
we would be happy to have discussions
[44:21] with whether it's our county appraiser
or English county commissioners and we
[44:25] talked about having joint meetings to
collectively come through and
[44:31] pass these uh neighborhood
revitalization plans to the benefit of
[44:35] the whole community. Uh but that will
probably be you already past
[44:39] Independence. So Independence now has
that through 2035
[44:44] those maintenance from the county. So to
be determined where we go with that. I
[44:49] do have that letter up there. I'll have
my official copy down here. Uh
[44:53] commissioners like to sign that. We will
send that to
[44:57] commission for that. [clears throat]
Did they provide you with any uh
[45:03] reasoning or logic as to why the program
was approved for independence and not
[45:09] for
>> um you know they're concerned about
[45:12] taxes. They're trying to get into
[clears throat] their own budgets and
[45:15] figure out what to do and how to do it.
And so they're worried by approving this
[45:19] now that that will deplete more out of
their taxes than that than they can.
[45:27] » But they have the taxes they have the
money to do it for independence.
[45:30] » That's they already approved. They can't
take back. So they didn't consider this
[45:34] last year. And that's one of the things
I asked is, you know, we are absolutely
[45:38] open and understand
the pressures to balance those budgets
[45:42] and understand what to do with that tax
money. You obviously understand that
[45:45] also it's an elected body but that you
believe they should make those decisions
[45:51] equally throughout communities versus
[45:58] um
[46:02] the uh our budget hearing and revenue
neutral hearing will be our next
[46:07] commission meeting that notice what
happens to the press for our public
[46:11] hearing speak to each of So, making sure
you saw that.
[46:17] Uh, the prior Oklahoma mayor and I are
still going back and forth trying to
[46:21] find dates for all of you to come down
and visit their community and join the
[46:25] site of the Google data center. We still
have a plan date that works for both of
[46:30] our schedules. He's had several out of
town meetings month of September. So,
[46:34] maybe we'll push in October. I'll keep
you updates as we find time.
[46:44] Um, last thing, our spay and neuter pro
program. We through the park sales tax,
[46:49] we put $10,000 towards our spay and
neuter program. Uh, to date, we have 90
[46:54] animals that are scheduled or have been
skater. We've only used around seven or
[47:00] eight thousand dollars of that. And so
to continue to promote that something
[47:05] great today,
sometimes these horrible things happen.
[47:09] We have take seven animals. we're taking
away from owners, bring them to the
[47:14] shelter that is already maxed out. They
don't get into
[47:17] state issues or how to manage a shelter
problematic. So, it's a very difficult
[47:23] thing to manage, but on the back end,
you're trying to get that state going
[47:28] hopefully help curb that population,
especially it's a little more difficult
[47:32] to do cats
that program so far.
[47:39] And I think with that's that's all for
you.
[47:42] » All right.
Concerning the uh Oak City Reservoir,
[47:47] not withstanding the published water
level, has there been any movement by
[47:53] the Army Corps of Engineers concerning
the removal of silt from the bottom?
[47:58] Because as even though they're reporting
the water level here, as the silt builds
[48:03] up, that the total volume of water
available decreases. So they said
[48:08] anything about that possibility?
>> Yeah. Um there's there's been a lot of
[48:12] conversations about this over the last
two years I've been here. I've gone to
[48:15] several of the governor's water
conferences. Um in addition to that, the
[48:19] legislature has funded an engineering
firm. In fact, it's the firm helped us
[48:25] with conversations with our levy.
Bergus River drainage district and the I
[48:31] think it's called repentance maybe
repentance district up in northern
[48:35] Kansas are being studied
and engineers
[48:40] doing a report to support what work the
governor is already doing with the core
[48:44] all those reservoirs are being analyzed
for what are the best options very
[48:49] expensive for them to go in that silt
but those are actively being
[48:53] investigated priorities I'm also on the
verish river drainage district uh water
[48:57] board there
part of that board. That's pretty much
[49:01] the number one issue that is constantly
discussed is
[49:06] so lots of eyes lots of challenges to
but lots of eyes on.
[49:11] » Thank you.
[49:21] » Question.
[49:24] » Yeah, Mr. Christ. We talked about
railroad crossings previously
[49:30] and there's a Kansas statute KSA 66-
227 that talks about the railroads and
[49:39] their responsibilities for maintaining
crossing and it says the railroads must
[49:45] maintain public safe public crossings
including paving between rails and two
[49:49] feet on each side plus necessary grading
covers and rightway drainage. And then
[49:54] um another one KSA66-273
also says trains are generally
[50:02] prohibited from blocking a public road
or street near town or inside city
[50:06] limits for more than 10 minutes without
leaving a 30 foot wide opening for
[50:10] traffic.
Is there any teeth on that from the
[50:15] state and can the Kansas attorney
general get involved at some point? I
[50:19] know they probably don't want to, but uh
for our really really bad crossings,
[50:25] town at what point do they the state
needs to get involved if it's a state
[50:30] statute saying they must maintain safe
public crossings inside?
[50:36] I think we've had similar ordinances to
pass. Some of that stuff is preempted by
[50:40] federal law enforce
[50:43] attorney general's office to see if they
would have any interest in assisting us.
[50:47] I know that in the past
engineers perhaps conductors have been
[50:52] cited for blocking the process for too
long. I don't know that that's happened
[51:01] that might be possible.
>> Who does the site? Is it local police or
[51:06] the sheriff or state highway patrol?
[51:12] stay on the future.
[51:24] Attorney General's office.
[51:30] Okay.
I've not had the opportunity to check it
[51:35] out myself, but there were some pictures
that were circulating
[51:40] crossing said the railroad spikes
extending up and causing damage to tires
[51:47] to vehicles.
That's a serious issue.
[51:52] And I I would also just continue to
remind people those phone numbers on the
[51:57] crossings. call them. I know that
they're hearing them and they're
[52:00] bothered by them because start reaching
out to me because the number of calls.
[52:05] So, anybody that calls you see
call that number, call that number plug
[52:12] that is it would be move them to fix
those serious issues
[52:20] otherwise it could result in some kind
of legal action that way. I you know we
[52:26] have a date.
I think Jim's probably smiling at me
[52:30] right now for even saying this. The
other gym um we've said
[52:37] » yeah we'd rather you keep it quiet and
be excited when it happens but we've
[52:42] given you dates in the past where the
railroad has said they're coming in to
[52:44] fix and then they didn't show up. And so
I hesitate, you know, blasting that, but
[52:49] uh we do have it on the calendar that
they will be fixing willow.
[52:55] So I'm hopeful that actually happens
here very quickly. Told them when
[53:00] support by shutting down road, but it it
just one of the picture.
[53:05] » It bothers me when I go to when we
travel to other towns or go other
[53:09] places.
They have the the concrete in between
[53:12] the rails and before and after and it's
level with the road. You drive over it
[53:16] at 30 m hour and it's almost like it's
not even there and didn't feel it. And
[53:20] so you know it can be done right.
If any officials show up,
[53:27] have them go across for the four street,
go down four street, cross that crossing
[53:33] in their own vehicle, 30 miles an hour,
then you then you can take it down to
[53:39] the repair shop, get the car fixed.
Thank you.
[53:45] » Questions more? Anything else? All
right, then.
[53:48] » Okay.
>> Financials, please.
[53:50] » Spend for this this period. Okay. Atmas
Energy 28,296
[54:03] tempo blasting and coding that's for the
eight strength
[54:07] line 356,98503
[54:12] American Fidelity Assurance that's for
insurance 17,63639
[54:22] Bennett Corporation Incorporated for the
Brown Street Sewer Construction
[54:27] 116,8982
[54:31] BML Electric that's for site work and
concrete work for substation
[54:39] $751,51240.
[54:44] Superior emergency response vehicles for
her new radars and emergency equipment
[54:50] 115,97290
[54:53] and a payroll of 4947966349
[54:58] for a total of1,983,7802.
[55:06] Commissioner Ben.
And just for the public, as a reminder,
[55:11] this is not authorization approved. It's
simply a recap some of the more
[55:16] significant items that have already been
approved in the previous budget.
[55:22] So, uh, there no further comments, we'll
move on. We do have some executive
[55:29] sessions this evening, and there will be
three. Uh first move to recess to
[55:34] executive session for three purposes.
First to discuss matters relating to
[55:39] security measures that protect protect
system facility and equipment
[55:44] communication services as permitted by
KSA75-4319B12A
[55:51] the open meetings act to include the
city attorney, city manager, chief of
[55:55] police for a period of I think we should
probably take 30 minutes.
[56:00] » 30 minutes. tonight. And then second uh
for preliminary discussion of the
[56:07] acquisition of real property is
permitted by KSA754319B6
[56:13] of the open meeting act to include the
city attorney, city manager, director of
[56:18] finance and director of community
development for a period of
[56:21] » 10 minutes.
>> 10 minutes.
[56:25] And third, for consultation with the
city attorney regarding matters that
[56:30] include privilege to the attorney client
relationship as permitted by KSA75-43192
[56:38] from the open meetings act to include
the city attorney, city of manager and
[56:42] director of finance for a period of
>> five minutes
[56:46] » five minutes. So 30, 40, 45 minutes. And
so we will include a five minute recess
[56:55] and then we should have a few minutes to
shuffle people back and forth.
[57:02] So another 45 let's just let's just make
it uh 50 minutes total to reconvene at
[57:10] 8:15.
Second
[57:15] » motion by second by vice mayor to recess
to exec
[57:20] first discuss matters relating to
security measures that protect system
[57:24] facility and equipment communication
services as permitted by KSA75-4319
[57:30] B12A of the open meetings act to include
the city attorney city manager and chief
[57:34] of police for a period of 30 minutes
second for preliminary discussion of the
[57:38] acquisition of property as submitted by
KSA75-4
[57:42] 4319 B6 of the open meetings act to
include the city attorney, city manager,
[57:46] director of finance and director of
community development for a period of 10
[57:49] minutes. Third for consultation with the
city attorney regarding matters that
[57:53] privilege and attorney relationship as
permitted by PS75-4319
[57:58] each
to the city attorney city manager
[58:02] director finance for five minutes to
reconvene at the commissioner at 8:15
[58:06] p.m. Mayor Hi commissioner vice
commissioner. All right. And uh can we
[58:13] sign that letter to county before we go
to executive session or bring it in with
[58:18] just bring it in?
Thank you.
[59:10] » [groaning]
[59:29] [groaning]
[1:46:54] [groaning]
[1:47:06] » What the
[1:47:26] » [groaning]
[1:47:34] » Thank you.
[2:06:30] Motion is made by Mayor Walker, second
by Vice Mayor Maples to adjurnn. Can I
[2:06:33] see a show of hands? Thank you.