[1:07] hear me? Okay. Yes.

[2:32] Although we do have fairly wide ranging authority over the

[2:50] watercol pieces of heavy equipment

[2:55] chains, cables, winching equipment to do our job with several specialty

[3:02] pieces by the

[3:06] way. We try to spend our funds locally bank fuel from a local co-op. Buy our

[3:15] tires from tire insurance across the

[3:21] street as much as we can.

[3:26] Although our work is of a part-time nature and highly

[3:31] dependent source and

[3:36] help out is our

[3:41] home has remain.

[3:49] Many of you are aware Bill Schmidt was a longer

[3:54] dedicated employee and

[3:58] president timely passing last

[4:02] August

[4:06] personally directors operations we had to work through a

[4:12] number of challenges due to that but I am pleased to say we have rallies we've

[4:18] overcome most of

[4:21] Been a month passing the back of the field on the

[4:29] river dedicated

[4:39] here. Two smaller ones.

[4:49] However, we still have a

[4:54] challenge unable to buy an auction building.

[5:17] Now we need a building. We can store our supplies and

[5:23] equipment. We can maintain and repair some new

[5:30] equipment acquisition building as our head for

[5:36] operations.

[5:39] That's why

[5:42] we're interested in acquiring

[5:51] small like put a building up on

[5:55] that heavy

[5:59] concrete on concrete working space.

[6:11] Part of this building would be gravel floor, opened machinery,

[6:34] We're

[6:39] thinking the first few years we would have planned

[6:45] projects

[6:52] cost our proposed building prepared

[6:58] frame metal skin. We have an insulated

[7:03] shop, parts room, office,

[7:11] bathrooms have an open

[7:16] All height will be about

[7:20] 14 gas

[7:39] he currently spread all over some private property and

[7:46] By the end of 2021, we feel we could have the open sided machinery storage

[7:51] portion completed completed with funds

[7:55] unencumbered on

[8:04] hand. We plan to pursue add funding for these grants.

[8:11] We also

[8:41] Yeah, we have no problem with that already. Yeah. No, you guys had voted

[8:44] last meeting to pursue that. So, we are in the process of getting that into a

[8:51] smaller tract and visited and with the L leadership team several times before

[8:58] that. So, just thought it was good for them to to come and tell you kind of

[9:02] what their plans were to weal

[9:11] I I couldn't hear we request be put on the next agenda.

[9:23] Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Very good.

[9:32] are out there. So it's

[9:41] understanding quite interest.

[9:59] We would prefer you pull it into your driveway over there in industrial park.

[10:11] I'd like to just take a moment if you don't mind

[10:23] commening really pleased to see that building a part of it.

[10:35] I agree. Um, we do understand what you guys are

[10:40] looking for and we'll do everything we can as a city to help with this project.

[10:45] Um, Phil Schmidt was a personal friend of mine as well and his loss is great to

[10:51] the community. Um, so yeah, I'll make sure that we get you if you guys can be

[10:56] ready in two weeks, we can put you on the agenda for the next meeting. Um, I

[11:02] don't think getting you the ground is going to be an issue. I think we can

[11:06] make sure that happens. So say you guys are an unseen asset to

[11:13] the county community. I know I speak for many

[11:20] people here.

[11:25] pretty hard. You guys have picked up some pretty big

[11:28] trees out of that river, too.

[11:35] We had a pretty rough year last year. It wasn't just because of

[11:47] Bill's unusual occurrence on the south end of down. We had a giant ash across

[11:55] the whole river on

[12:07] supposedly expansion.

[12:33] Absolutely. Well, thank you guys very much.

[12:39] Absolutely. You know, I own two houses with two brand new basements here in

[12:44] town, so I'm glad you guys do what you do.

[12:49] It's kind of

[12:54] nice. Yeah, we we'd like to get you on the agenda for that full presentation.

[12:59] That will give the public an opportunity to join and see what you guys are doing,

[13:02] too. And and you know, I'm can't think of anybody in this town that wouldn't be

[13:07] behind your effort. So, thank you.

[13:13] Yeah. Thanks for coming in. Thank you. Is there anybody else here that wishes

[13:18] to address the council in public form this

[13:22] evening? Looks like we're losing most of our audience. So that tells me they were

[13:27] all on on that team together. So we'll close a public forum and I'm going to

[13:32] move on to the consent agenda and ask for its approval at this time. Mr.

[13:36] Mayor, after review of the consent agenda for January 11th, I will make a

[13:41] motion for approval. Second. You've heard the motion and second on

[17:28] spread out over its its life cycle. Um it's called a lease, but it's we're not

[17:34] paying interest or anything like that on it. Um it does have full maintenance um

[17:38] service on the machine through the five years. Our monthly payment actually

[17:42] decreases uh from its current amount. Not not a whole heck of a lot, but it is

[17:48] some cost savings there. virtually identical to what we have. Um, and it is

[17:53] kind of like a copier of it's something that gets used every day, multiple times

[17:57] a day. So, do we get trade in value on the old one? No, it just kind

[18:04] of it's the way the the way the postage machine game works.

[18:11] Yeah. I say that's kind of the if you keep it and go of we would be not

[18:16] adhering to USPS standard as far as the barcode that was printing and then uh it

[18:22] kicks it off of its service agreement. So we'd be paying a hefty fee there if

[18:25] something were to happen with the machine. We would like uh council to

[18:30] approve us and pursuing this replacement. So if we don't have any

[18:36] volunteers to come down and lick envelopes, you guys might want to make a

[18:39] motion on that. Well, reading through this here, it

[18:44] sounds like we're getting a little bit better deal. Not by much, but uh uh

[18:49] annually it's going to be a little bit less. So, I would make a motion to

[18:53] approve the ongoing 5-year lease and service agreement with Quadrant leasing

[18:59] and Midwest uh single source for an EX5 mailing system for the city of Holl.

[19:09] I'm going to have to assign documentation as necessary. Second.

[19:14] Okay, we have in the motion in the second to approve the new postage

[19:17] mailing machine. All in favor say I. I. Post. Same sign. That motion

[19:24] carries. Next item on the agenda is consideration of insurance renewal with

[19:28] KAMP. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. As council recall,

[19:33] we uh switched our property and liability insurance coverage to the

[19:37] Kansas County Association Multi-line Pool or KAMP um last

[19:42] year. As noted, uh our original annual estimate was about 80,000. Um I know

[19:48] Mayor Travis might be able to speak to it more as he attended that meeting on

[19:52] behalf of the city of Holstead, but as they were preparing and looking at

[19:55] rates, they did anticipate, you know, a around a 4% increase in rates just

[20:00] overall. uh due to the insurance market. Um we of course saw um almost a 14%

[20:07] increase in our annual cost from what we were anticipating to that. Um and that

[20:13] was mostly driven by our increase in values of the city property um that was

[20:17] that is being insured. Um additional mobile equipment um things we didn't

[20:22] have originally when we uh started with them and then vehicles as well of just

[20:27] trading out old vehicles for new. Um, obviously it's it costs more to insure

[20:31] those newer vehicles. So, that's really what's driving our major cost. I did put

[20:36] that our last quoted cost from EMC. Um, and the supplemental carriers we would

[20:41] have to have for what EMC wouldn't cover was

[20:43] 99,468. So, we do believe KAMP is still um our best uh cost option uh for

[20:50] current coverage on that and would seek approval

[20:55] to pay the invoice to continue our coverage with them.

[20:59] Did that premium increase? I mean, did you see individual premiums like for the

[21:04] new loader? Was that a significant increase compared to what the old one?

[21:09] Yeah, just because it's the new one's valued so much higher and with

[21:13] depreciation. It's a double-edged sword, isn't it?

[21:18] Budgetwise. Yes. Um, this is still below what we've built into the budget um for

[21:24] it. Uh, KAMP is really good about um I was impressed of in June they actually

[21:30] sent us even before they had met and made their final decisions as a board uh

[21:34] kind of what their staff was expecting for increases which was very nice on the

[21:39] insurance side. It's not really something we saw through EMC all that

[21:42] much. Um, being that they're more specialized in government, they kind of

[21:46] understand the process and we're very transparent of, hey, we think it's going

[21:49] to go up. Please be prepared when you're doing your budget. So, correct me if I'm

[21:53] wrong. If I remember from the presentation that we had many

[21:56] discussions over this, there was some form of year end rebates for money that

[22:01] wasn't um we did receive a grant um of $2,000

[22:07] for risk mitigation activities that we do. Um so, we applied that to a camera

[22:14] system, a body cam and vehicle system that we bought for the police department

[22:17] and that covered about half of that cost. Um and so and then when we we as

[22:24] we were a new um eventually we'll hit the process where they actually have

[22:29] some kind of if you um do a multi-year like agree for three years um it can

[22:35] help your rates but since we were a brand new client, we don't qualify for

[22:39] that yet. But but we are seeing some payback in other

[22:45] areas that traditionally you wouldn't see from a normal insurance company. So

[22:51] yeah, almost

[23:01] $10,000. If there are no other questions, I make a motion to approve

[23:05] the renewal of Kansas County Association multi approval and

[23:11] authorized of the invoice in the amount of $9,310.

[23:17] Second heard the motion and second to renew our insurance with Kate Camp. All

[23:22] in favor say I. I. Post same sign. And that motion

[23:28] passes. Next item is consideration of afterprom funding

[23:34] request. I don't see anybody representing the high school.

[23:40] This is uh an annual donation and we can definitely call them forward uh and ask

[23:47] them to come. I think money you should show up in person.

[23:52] But uh there is the uh letter there as far as consideration. Um and it is

[23:58] something that the city historically has has funded more years than not. Um and

[24:03] we noted the donation we typically do. So I will leave that up to you all if

[24:08] you want to make that decision this evening or pin we can gladly communicate

[24:11] with the after prom committee and ask someone to come and present. Agree.

[24:17] Okay. We need a motion to continue.

[24:22] He can just put on the agenda for the next meeting.

[24:29] All right. We'll move on to item number four. consideration of public hearing

[24:34] date for tax abatement

[24:39] review. Uh we slight change um as you'll notice from the agenda memo. Normally we

[24:47] do our um tax abatement review for active uh tax abatements in the city at

[24:52] our second meeting in January. Uh we were contacted by leg company. Uh

[24:57] they've had some staffing changes in the department that handles that. Um and so

[25:02] through that change they uh weren't able to get thus the information in time

[25:06] asked for an extension. Um we told them that we would get back with them

[25:10] tomorrow of of whether that we do believe after speaking with Brad that we

[25:15] have the right uh you know if you all agree to it by a majority vote to

[25:19] deviate from our policy uh which states that we'll do a review by January 31st

[25:23] of every year. Um this would put it in conjunction with our February 8th

[25:27] meeting. Um so still early in the year, still time for us to communicate with

[25:31] the county um and make sure that we have all those documents. We have two active

[25:36] tax abatements, so we would also be in um contact. We have heard back from

[25:40] Martin Machine um and let them know if give them some time to respond as well

[25:45] on anything they might be missing and what they've presented so far. So

[25:51] So we just need that motion to deviate from it. Yeah, I'll make a motion to

[25:55] deviate from the normal requirements of the city's economic development policy

[25:58] and to set a public hearing for review of active tax abatements on February

[26:04] 8th, 2021 at 7 p.m.

[26:09] Heard the motion and a second uh to move our public hearing for tax abatements to

[26:15] February 8th. All in favor say I. I post same sign. We will move that

[26:23] review to them. Next item on the agenda is

[26:27] consideration of the League of Kansas Municipalities 2021 statement of

[26:33] municipal policy. Thank you. Um hopefully you all

[26:38] had a chance to review. It's a it's a little bit of light reading for you all

[26:42] the uh statement of municipal policy. Um this is something the league develops

[26:46] just of their overall um advocation uh that they do with the uh Kansas

[26:51] legislature on behalf of cities. Um obviously they represent all um 600 plus

[26:56] cities in the state of Kansas. So as you read through there there's probably some

[26:59] things that are very applicable to us and some things that are not. Um but by

[27:04] us adopting um support of this uh gives me the clearance to be able to provide

[27:09] testimony when it's called for. Um there are some bills already on the table or

[27:13] if you've listened to some of our representatives talk, you know, some of

[27:17] the items like tax transparency and things that we're going to be following

[27:20] very closely because those have direct implications on us or our

[27:25] responsibilities. So, um this just gives staff the uh the coverage they need if

[27:30] if we need to provide testimony or or statements that support that. Um kind of

[27:35] allows us to to do that. And you guys know that you as a governing body are

[27:39] okay with those stated policies and initiatives that the league would

[27:45] like to pursue.

[27:51] [Laughter]

[27:57] Um there's no questions or discussion. I'd make a motion for the city of

[28:01] Hallstead to support the League of Kansas

[28:04] Municipalities uh 2021 statement of municipal policy and authorizes staff to

[28:10] engage in activities related to the support of those policies.

[28:15] Second. Heard the motion and second to adopt the uh League of Candidates's

[28:20] Municipalities 2021 policy. All in favor say I. I. All oppose. Same

[28:27] sign. Okay, that one passes unanimously. You see I shortened that up when I was,

[28:33] you know, reviewing that vote. Next thing on our agenda is we do have

[28:39] an executive session this season this evening. So I would entertain that

[28:43] motion. Mr. Mayor Motion City Council recess into executive session for 15

[28:49] minutes to discuss performance of a city of Hallstead employee pursuant to

[28:54] personnel matters of elected personnel exception

[29:01] KSA75-4319 B1 to include governing body city manager city attorney opening to

[29:08] resume at 7:50. Second.

[29:13] Got the motion and the second to move into executive session. All in favor say

[29:18] I. I. Opposed? Same sign. We will move to executive session.

[46:51] one of the photo. Oh, really?

[46:56] That's amazing. We are back from our executive session.

[47:01] Is there any action to be taken as a result

[47:05] of seeing no movement from the council, we will move on to

[47:10] reports tonight. We will start with governing body and I will start with you

[47:14] Ed. I think I know what the flags are

[47:20] for

[47:24] AT&T. Uh AT&T is uh from what we can tell AT&T is laying fiber optic to some

[47:32] of their customers or increasing their base permits or they pull one calls but

[47:39] with our franchise agreement with them um beyond the one call or permitting um

[47:44] for that I mean to make sure they're not hit running a foul of any other users in

[47:49] the right of way. Um, so we got the one call and we go out and mark our

[47:53] utilities and um, but beyond that we don't have like control of the

[48:08] contractor posting on Facebook.

[48:17] George. Yes. I had um citizen reach out to me and express um thanks for the city

[48:25] maintenance crew to come back out and they did some excavating for the water

[48:29] beater. And then they came back in and back filled it. And there was settling,

[48:33] significant settling. And when she came home, it was all filled in. Actually,

[48:39] the the dump um the tractor was still there. the loader was still there with

[48:43] the bucket and and apparently somebody else had reached out and so maintenance

[48:48] going around and was filling in back filling some of the sites that was going

[48:52] on. So just thank you to the maintenance crew,

[48:58] Mr. Wallace. Okay, I don't really have anything this

[49:02] evening other than I'm excited to see a new home going up west of my little home

[49:07] on Second Street. So, it'll be fun to keep driving down Second Street and

[49:12] watching that construction come together. So, we'll move on to our

[49:16] manager report, and that would be you, Ethan. Thank you. Uh departmental

[49:22] activity um for the beginning of the year includes 26 calls for service, 22

[49:26] traffic stops, and 10 criminal cases for the police department. Uh fire reported

[49:31] nine calls for service, and staff have finished school inspections and are

[49:34] working on various grant applications. EMS has had 25 calls for service. Uh

[49:40] twothirds of those in Holstead and a third in Sedwick. Uh staff is currently

[49:43] seeking quotes on replacement of the EMS command vehicle and then evaluating

[49:47] potential operational and equipment changes in light of staffing levels. Uh

[49:51] EMS also continues to oversee our uh ultraviolet disinfection of city

[49:55] facilities as our policies dictate. Parks and recreation continue to

[49:59] coordinate with USD440 on how their level of response to COVID might affect

[50:03] recreation activities in their buildings. Uh planning for the pool and

[50:07] needed equipment or maintenance is also underway for this coming pool season.

[50:11] Staff coordinated with the tree board on their winter plantings uh and have also

[50:15] worked on trash and debris cleanup at the city parks uh specifically Riverside

[50:20] Park. Wedgwood golf continues winter maintenance and service of equipment. Uh

[50:24] offseason rates continue to be in effect and staff have been busy scheduling

[50:28] tournaments and registering both new and returning memberships for play at the

[50:31] course. Uh, public works has worked on taking

[50:35] down street Christmas decorations, uh, picked up around 15 Christmas trees uh,

[50:40] that were put curbside, performed equipment service and maintenance, and

[50:43] checked unresponsive and zero read meters. As we continue the AMI process,

[50:48] uh, burial and examation was performed at the cemetery, and tree removal was

[50:51] done along the levy on the west end of the north side.

[50:56] Administrative staff have been very busy with the utility billing process uh

[51:00] continuing to investigate errors as they are identified and then working with

[51:03] public works and our vendor to identify the root cause of those issues. We have

[51:07] appreciated everyone's patience with the delays in billing and believe the

[51:10] majority of the issues that were causing delays have been rectified as we move

[51:14] forward. The bills that would have been mailed out December 1st were sent out

[51:18] about three weeks late and the bills that would have been mailed out at the

[51:21] beginning of January were sent out a week late. Um all late fees and charges

[51:25] have been waved until January 19th, 2021. Uh the bills that people or the

[51:32] bills that people do have uh reflect the change from the old to the new system as

[51:36] well as actual usage being reconciled against the previous months which were

[51:39] estimated usage. Uh again, this will result in some people seeing slightly

[51:43] lower bills if their usage had been uh overestimated and does not indicate that

[51:48] meters are in some way running backwards. and in other people's cases,

[51:51] their bills may be slightly higher if their previous month's usage was

[51:55] underestimated. Any resident with issues should contact city hall and we'll

[51:58] gladly look into their specific account details and readings to make sure

[52:01] there's not some sort of error that's being missed. Uh utility bills are also

[52:05] build in a rears. Uh so just a reminder that this most recent billing is going

[52:09] to reflect uh you know the change into cold weather and people uh generally

[52:13] have increased gas consumption which can also lead to a higher than expected bill

[52:17] from the last couple months. Uh with any new technology, there are always going

[52:21] to be growing pains and a learning curve. Uh so just please contact us if

[52:25] you have questions on your bill. Uh and we are very hopeful that the outstanding

[52:29] issues have been fixed and bills will be sent on out on time in February. Uh just

[52:35] the majority of the system is working as we expected, but there are some just

[52:39] outstanding issues that we continue to uh hunt down and investigate as they're

[52:43] identified. So just please please please contact us if you have a question or

[52:47] think uh something is incorrect on your utility bill. So all city staff beyond

[52:52] that have been busy with year and closing and finalization of yearly

[52:55] reporting requirements respective to their departments. Staff continue

[52:58] working on implementation of the new VoIP phone system and resolving issues

[53:02] as seen tonight with the council and conference room upgrades as we uh

[53:06] continue to work through those new tech upgrades.

[53:09] uh just to have attended some meetings and have a meeting this week on uh

[53:13] reviewing flood plane changes in our area. And um that is all I have to

[53:19] report this evening. Oh, I'm sorry. A brief update on 204 main. Uh did get a

[53:24] hold of the structural engineer. He is coming out to do um basically just a

[53:28] check on some of the measurements and things uh this Thursday at 11:30 and

[53:32] then hopefully we'll have that report um in hand for next council meeting. So

[53:37] that will be Russ. Yeah, Russ is coming Thursday at 11:30. So they uh just

[53:43] wanted to double check a few of his numbers and and have a final look

[53:47] through it and then he thought he would have that wrapped up. So very very

[53:51] hopeful we'll have something to start moving forward on some course of action

[53:54] for that building. So council, any questions of that report?

[54:02] If not, that finishes our agenda this evening and I would entertain a motion

[54:07] for adjournment. So move second. Heard the motion and the

[54:12] second for adjournment. All in favor say I. I. Post same sign. We are adjourned.

[54:18] Thank you, councel.

January 11, 2021 Halstead City Council Meeting

Transcript