[2:00] We're good.
[2:16] Good evening. Welcome to tonight's
council meeting. I'd like to call the
[2:19] meeting to order. First thing I'm going
to ask for is agenda changes.
[2:24] Mr. Mayor, no addition or deletion, but
we are going to ask that the executive
[2:29] session um be moved till to after the
report section on the agenda tonight.
[2:35] Okay, council, you're all good with
that,
[2:38] right? All right. Now, I'm gonna ask for
well, we're going to open up for public
[2:44] forum. If there's anybody here wishing
to address the council, please come
[2:47] forward, give your name, address, and
let us know why you're
[2:56] here. You don't have to turn that
on. Uh, good evening. My name is Amy
[3:01] Beck. Um, I live at 920 West 4th Street.
Um, I would like to say a few words on
[3:07] behalf of the local Holdeman Menanite
community. The Holdemans are an integral
[3:12] part of Holstead and Harvey County. They
live here. They shop here. They own
[3:16] businesses here. They are our neighbors
and our friends. They are some of the
[3:21] first to help in times of need. Whether
it's to feed a struggling family, clear
[3:24] trees after a storm, or anything else
that needs to be done. They don't do it
[3:29] for the recognition, but because they
care, and it's a way for them to show
[3:33] appreciation for being able to live
their mostly quiet lifestyle. Their
[3:37] beliefs and their culture do not allow
them to vote at the ballot box or to be
[3:41] involved in politics. This does not mean
that they do not follow local issues.
[3:46] They are well aware of the potential
impacts that the propo proposed best may
[3:51] have on the community and the
environment. To them, this is more than
[3:56] politics. This is the welfare of their
chosen hometown in a very real and
[4:00] personal way. This isn't about
separation of church and state. This is
[4:05] about common
sense. Grace Menanite Church and
[4:09] Countryside Christian School are less
than a mile west of the proposed site.
[4:13] Many of the older folks in their
community do not use social media, which
[4:16] has become the primary way to spread
information in times of
[4:20] crisis. When there is an emergency that
ne necessitates evacuation, it will be
[4:25] difficult to locate all of the members
of this community and ensure that they
[4:28] are safe in a timely
fashion. I'm asking you to keep this
[4:32] community in mind throughout the
process. In the event that best is
[4:37] approved, excuse me, please think about
what Holstead would look like without
[4:41] this community because the ballot box is
not the only way to make their voices be
[4:46] heard. Um, I was asked to read that by
members of the
[4:52] community.
Um, now speaking as myself and Mr.
[4:59] Jance, I want to address this one to
you. This is just a general question
[5:02] procedure type thing.
Um, generally speaking, when there is an
[5:08] issue that
the council votes upon and they approve
[5:14] or reject, deny, does the mayor have the
ability to veto that vote?
[5:22] There are instances where the mayor
mayor does have veto powers and it would
[5:27] be to depend on the circumstances. Okay.
Um, I was asked to ask that because many
[5:35] people in the community right now are
concerned
[5:38] that should a decision be made, it's we
have been under the understanding that
[5:44] the mayor can veto the decision that the
council makes.
[5:48] Not in certain circumstances. There, as
I said, there are limited instances
[5:53] there there is the potential for a veto
by a mayor in a municipal setting in
[5:58] Kansas.
Okay, thank you. That veto could also be
[6:03] overridden by a unanimous vote from the
council.
[6:09] Thank you. All right. Anybody else for
public forum?
[6:16] Name and address, please.
[6:20] Renee Fensky at 219 West Second Street.
Good evening, Mayor Travis and council
[6:27] members. I am Renee, a very concerned
new to H Hallstead resident. I am so
[6:32] thankful to have the opportunity to
speak on behalf of myself and other
[6:36] community
members. I am here to speak about our
[6:40] energy future for H
Hallstead. As our entire country
[6:44] continues to transition towards cleaner
energy sources, solar, wind, and other
[6:50] renewables, we face critical challenges
for the safety of this community
[6:55] specifically involving energy storage.
Examples, the equis bed, the pollution
[7:00] that could be caused there. A fire's
aftermath. There's nothing they can do
[7:06] with the fire once it starts. They just
have to monitor
[7:10] it. Energy storage can have a benefit.
We can allow the capture of excess power
[7:17] during periods of low demand and deploy
it when it's most needed. This can
[7:21] reduce strain on the grid, preventing
blackouts and ultimately saving
[7:26] money. Mayor Travis, please hear me when
I say I am very opposed to an outside
[7:32] company profiting from our small town.
You have made it very clear you are
[7:39] supportive of the involvement of this
project and the funds that H Hallstead
[7:43] would receive, not the jobs that it
could potentially be created to
[7:48] integrate storage for H
[7:54] Hallstead. You quoted Schneider
Electric. However, their $700 million
[8:01] project created jobs for that community.
And that's from the vice president Jay
[8:05] Hull of Schneider Electric. Yeah,
they're building best system. Please
[8:10] don't interrupt my five minutes. Okay,
I'll speak when you're done. I have
[8:14] spoken to previous mayors of small
Kansas towns similar to Holstead and the
[8:19] current mayor of Claflin,
Kansas. All have the same priority. What
[8:24] are the citizens concerned with? Stop
fighting and stop name calling.
[8:35] Mayor Travis and council members, I do
not envy your job. However, I have a
[8:40] suggestion to maybe hear your citizens.
Have an adult, calm
[8:47] conversation. Everyone is concerned with
H Hallstead. Everybody wants what's best
[8:53] for H
Hallstead. At the end of your day,
[8:57] that's what the majority of us all want.
I'm not against Mayor Travis or any
[9:01] council members. I'm a citizen. I'm a
resident. I care about Hallstead,
[9:08] too. I will end with a wonderful quote.
Let us consider how we
[9:14] may spur one another on toward love and
good deeds. Not giving up meeting
[9:21] together as some are in the habit of
doing, but encourage one another and all
[9:26] the more as you see in the day
approaching.
[9:31] Thank you.
Thanks. First of all, I want to make it
[9:36] very clear. I have never once said I'm
100% in favor of this project. Thank
[9:40] you. What I am in favor of is letting
this project run through the process
[9:45] that we have set up in this city to
properly vet the
[9:50] project by the planning and zoning
saying and it's not true yet because
[9:55] they haven't brought forward any
regulations but they've said they will
[9:59] hold this project to the special use
permit application process and I believe
[10:05] that is the smartest thing they could
do. That process will kick off two
[10:09] engineering studies, a sightspecific
hazard risk analysis and an
[10:14] environmental impact study. And all I
have ever asked for is for this group
[10:19] that's opposed to this is to let those
two studies happen and then we can sit
[10:24] down and have an intellectual
conversation about the results of
[10:28] that. I had a conversation this
afternoon with a member of your group,
[10:32] Brie Burke. We had a very good
conversation because she was willing to
[10:37] listen to my side and I was willing to
listen to her side. I don't want to
[10:40] fight with my constituents in town. I am
simply fighting to keep this project on
[10:46] the track that it's supposed to be on
and get through our process. That's
[10:50] where I'm at. So, if anybody else would
like to address the council now, I'll
[10:54] let you speak. Thank you.
[11:00] Roger Kading, uh, 20 Cedar
Drive. Uh, mayor and council. Uh, I
[11:07] don't interview you guys. I've been
chairman of boards. I've been on a
[11:11] number of boards. Uh, when things like
this get heated and, uh, excited. Uh, I
[11:17] know it's long nights and uh, a lot of
stress. So, uh, you have my
[11:24] sympathy. Uh, I want to start with a a
basic question. I'm curious who
[11:29] approached who. Concurrent approached
the city or the city approached them?
[11:33] Concurrent actually approached Harvey
County EDC, which is Harvey County
[11:38] Economic Development. Ethan and I are
both part of that committee. And then
[11:43] the director for Harvey County EDC
reached out to us about the opportunity.
[11:47] That's how it got started. Okay.
So then the next question is, uh, what
[11:53] do we really know about Concurrent? But
what what I have found is that they're a
[11:57] company that's been in existence since
uh
[12:01] 2022. So they're only a few years old.
They have, from what I can see, seven
[12:07] employees, which the council has uh
you're as large as that company.
[12:15] Uh, and when you look at their website,
they have a number of sites that they've
[12:21] been working on, but the only one they
talk about is H Hallstead. So, I just
[12:26] have to assume that we are further along
than all of the other uh projects that
[12:31] they're claiming. That's not quite true.
They do have two pro projects currently
[12:36] that are permitted that they'll be
doing, but due to NDAs, I can't tell you
[12:40] where those projects are. Okay. But
they've still not and they they claim
[12:44] that the last meeting that they they
were at that they were discussing that
[12:47] they've not actually built any of these
even though that's what they claim as
[12:50] the company. The way I understand
concurrent their top two board members
[12:54] came from other organizations that did
the same thing. So it's it's much like
[12:59] if you work for this company for 20
years you decide to go out on your own.
[13:02] That's kind of what has happened with
Concurrent. I haven't completely looked
[13:06] into their background yet because quite
frankly, we're just not there yet in the
[13:11] process to worry about it. All right.
I'm worried about it. I understand. And
[13:16] it will be looked at before this will
ever get approved. So, it's always
[13:21] important to look at, especially when
you've got a company that small, who
[13:24] owns them. And so, in researching that,
uh, Caltech LLC is who owns them. And
[13:31] they went bankrupt in May of 2023. What
was the name of that company again?
[13:36] Caltech. Caltech.
These are all red flags in my C l
[13:41] Caltech. Q U A L. Okay.
[13:46] No, that's great, Roger. I'll look into
that.
[13:49] Um, so again, another red flag. We know
that they haven't built any red flag.
[13:58] Uh, so then who will build this if they
have a staff of seven? And when you look
[14:02] at their staff, none of them are
builders. At best, you could say they've
[14:07] got a program manager. So, who is
physically going to be building this?
[14:13] And how how experienced are they?
Because this isn't this isn't something
[14:16] where you just go and hire some general
uh electricians to do. This is is
[14:22] industrial scale batteries that have a
notoriously bad uh reputation and have
[14:31] to be held extremely serious. So
it red flag,
[14:38] right? They've also said that once
they're done, they're going to sell it
[14:42] and somebody else is going to maintain
it. Do we know who that is?
[14:47] This is a to me a very bizarre business
uh plan. If you're
[14:54] a dot, you might go out and build your
company. You build it up and then sell
[15:00] it. That's how you make the the extra
big dough. But when you're a company
[15:05] like this, it's like opening your store,
having a ribbon cutting ceremony, and
[15:10] then putting a for sale sign in the in
the window. It it seems very bizarre.
[15:15] And to me, the reason that a company
would be structured like this is to
[15:21] cover their assets. They're doing this
in a way that if there's a problem,
[15:25] because we've seen there's a number of
these best uh situations
[15:30] where the fire happens during the build
process. It just seems to me like this
[15:35] is a way to to cover their
tails. You have this little company,
[15:40] fire happens, it dissolves, it's gone.
they're not associated with whoever's
[15:46] maintaining and and building it. Just to
me, another red flag. It really seems
[15:54] bizarre. They've also said that there's
not going to be anybody here that
[15:59] actually runs it or maintains it. It's
going to be monitored. To me, that is a
[16:04] huge red flag. If the monitor says, "All
right, something's going wrong." Who Who
[16:11] are they calling? Who who's going to fix
this? Is it coming out of Texas? Is it a
[16:15] day later somebody comes and addresses
it? I just think it again when you have
[16:20] these type of facilities, having
something that's just simply monitored
[16:26] is
just these red flags aren't like little
[16:30] little desk flags. These aren't even
like flags on your house. These are
[16:36] those giant flags that they put out in
the football fields. Huge red flags.
[16:47] So I'm curious who is liable if that
example that I gave if if they suddenly
[16:53] poof dissolve gone something happens
they don't even file bankruptcy they
[16:58] they just like close shop and leave
because we've we've seen what's happened
[17:02] before when people leave or go bankrupt
tends to be the city who's who's
[17:08] who's ultimately responsible.
Is is that I mean am I speaking out of
[17:15] line with that? Isn't that ultimately
who currently to address that specific
[17:21] question and again because regulations
and all that have not been completed
[17:25] completed yet we are requiring a
decommissioning bond on the front end of
[17:29] this project. So the capital to
dismantle that plant back down to dirt
[17:34] will be there before it's ever approved
to dismantle it. dismantle it, haul it
[17:40] off, all of the other issues that
happened that caused the dismantling.
[17:46] Who who's liable for that? Especially if
if they disappear, you've got some money
[17:50] that's held in bond, but what about all
the rest of the problems when the
[17:54] lawsuits come? First of all, I don't and
and let me back up because I want to
[17:59] address that first question. They are a
developer. At the end of the day,
[18:04] developers generally don't know every
detail to their projects. They know how
[18:10] to put projects together. So, they're
going to hire an engineering firm to do
[18:15] that to put to engineer the project.
Then, they're going to hire a contractor
[18:19] to put this thing in. And then they're
going to choose which equipment they
[18:24] use, which manufacturer, which vendor's
equipment they're going to use. To me,
[18:28] those three things alone are probably
more important than the actual
[18:32] developer. And I've worked with
companies in my day job all across the
[18:36] US doing stuff like this. For instance,
most of you are probably familiar with
[18:41] ICM down in Colitch. They've designed
and built ethanol plants all over the
[18:46] country, but they don't own them. They
build them and they sell them. Uh that's
[18:52] pretty typical for industrial
development. Uh, from what I understand,
[18:58] EverGy is very interested in these
projects. Anybody that's managing
[19:03] generation on these grids that are in
different locations and for us at
[19:07] Southwest Powerpool, but the generators
on that pool are very interested in this
[19:13] because it's a huge benefit to the grid
and more than likely they'll be the ones
[19:19] that purchase it because they don't have
the resources to do the initial
[19:22] development. That's why they're relying
on the private sector to do the original
[19:26] development. Um, and the growth
continues in the industry. Even even
[19:30] with the things that have happened with
Moss Landing, the growth continues to
[19:34] accelerate. Um, at the end of the day,
do I think that Concurrent is going to
[19:40] be for sure the final developer on a
potential project for us? Maybe they
[19:45] won't be. Uh, but we need those
regulations in place. one. So if
[19:50] somebody decides to put a home best in,
we've got regulations to cover that. But
[19:54] even tier two for commercial properties,
which I don't know that we'd have a
[19:59] commercial property like a hospital or
something that would be utilizing it.
[20:02] But then tier three covers your grid
scale stuff. We need to have those
[20:06] regulations in place so if a developer
does come forward because that parcel
[20:10] that we're looking at out there is the
perfect storm for this application. So,
[20:15] even if we decide we don't want to do a
deal with Concurrent, it could be
[20:19] attractive to other developers. Maybe a
developer with a a better track record.
[20:23] I don't know. I don't know what that
picture looks like when we get to that
[20:26] point. Um, so there's still a lot of
unanswered questions and I think you've
[20:30] brought up some great points and I'll
I'll allow you to continue, but I just
[20:34] wanted to bring that up. Yeah.
Well, I guess what bothers me most is
[20:41] that this is just not only all the red
flags, but it's it's a whole bunch of
[20:46] firsts. We're first in Kansas. We're
first with Concurrent.
[20:52] We're It's
like, should the school change the
[20:56] mascot from the Dragons to the guinea
pigs? I mean, it just feels like we are
[21:01] the lab rats for this type of facility
here in Kansas. I'm not I'm not opposed
[21:08] to these type of things, but it just
seems like number one, they're way
[21:12] better out in western Kansas. I grew up
out there. There's you don't you can
[21:17] drive for 30 miles and not hit a a
house. There there's plenty of space out
[21:22] there to do something like this. to do
it in Harvey County, literally in our
[21:28] town, just to duck the Harvey County ban
seems just crazy to me. It's not to duck
[21:34] the Harvey County ban. It's because we
have that substation there with the
[21:38] capability. That's what makes
substations in Kansas, but it also it
[21:44] also has to do with the grid and
Southwest Powerpool is looking at those
[21:50] strategic locations where to put these
to help the grid. And right now there's
[21:54] 37 active connection requests with
Southwest Powerpool Hallsteads included.
[22:00] 30 of those are standalone best units,
which is what Hallsteads would be as a
[22:05] standalone. Seven of them are tied to
wind farm or solar farms and one's tied
[22:10] to a wind farm. I found it interesting
that only one was tied to a wind farm.
[22:14] Um, this is something we're going to
start seeing all across the country.
[22:18] We're not the first unit in Kansas. The
first unit in Kansas was in Minneapolis
[22:23] as part of the Kansas power pool and
it's right in the city of Minneapolis
[22:28] connected to their municipal power
plant. The second units are two units
[22:32] that are installed down at the Sedwick
County Zoo. They're quite a bit smaller,
[22:36] but they put all that solar energy on
the new facade going into the zoo. So,
[22:40] they're class twos. Uh I think they're
big enough to be class three. I think
[22:46] they're uh half a megawatt a piece.
They're they're over the kilowatt range.
[22:52] Uh, but I can verify that with the with
the risks involved. This is the type of
[22:57] thing that I don't think being an early
adopter wins us a race. We don't get a
[23:02] prize for for being out there and and
and getting it. And if the prize is is
[23:07] the cash they're flashing in front of
our our face, uh, and that's the only
[23:11] green flag is is the money, uh, I think
we really need to analyze the risks. We
[23:17] we are analyzing the risks and
regardless of what people think, what
[23:22] people say. Again, I I go back to
there's two studies that have to be done
[23:28] by that special use permit process.
Those are going to answer the majority
[23:33] of the questions that are floating
around out there. And I just want to get
[23:35] through those studies and see where
we're at. Okay. I just plead with you
[23:40] guys, kill this as soon as you can. I I
I this is the type of thing that it is
[23:47] ripping the community apart. It's more
risk than I think we need or want and
[23:53] the
payout. I just we we've had these
[23:57] ventures before and it it it's like
somehow H Hallstead seems to be on the
[24:02] losing end of this when you look at the
other towns around us and I just I don't
[24:06] want us to be burned literally off the
map. Thank you. Well, the other side to
[24:11] that, Roger, is uh what I see if we
don't give this developer the
[24:18] opportunity to at least go through our
process and and have us fully vet it and
[24:22] then make a decision, well, you're going
to discourage any other developer that
[24:27] could potentially be looking at coming
to Hallstead to do something. Uh, and
[24:32] that bothers
me. Anybody else want to address the
[24:36] council?
[24:54] Apologize. I didn't have these printed
out. My daughter's sick. So, if you
[24:58] could just pass them around. The first
name and address. My name is Cole
[25:02] Silhan, 123 Red Court. Uh the first I'm
passing around is um a post from Mayor
[25:10] Dennis Tra Dennis Travis on his personal
page. Um it was a post in regards to our
[25:18] after our planning and zoning
meeting. The next I'm passing around
[25:25] again I apologize my daughter's sick.
um are
[25:31] three links that I had previously posted
on Mayor Dennis Travis government
[25:37] official Facebook page. Uh please note
www.controlglobal.com.
[25:46] The third is
evidence of what Mayor Travis, Dennis
[25:54] Travis wanted proof
of. Show me the proof. There it is.
[26:00] Thank you for letting me speak
tonight. I am standing here tonight
[26:05] because I love this town. I love the
people, the values, the sense of
[26:10] community. We've always had neighbors
helping neighbors. Whether you're
[26:14] lifelong residents, newcomers, or part
of our strong and respected Menite
[26:19] families who helped build H Hallstead
from the very
[26:25] beginning. But lately, a sense of
community has been fraying. A big reason
[26:31] is how the mayor has handled the battery
battery energy storage system project
[26:37] and how he's treated the very people he
swore to
[26:40] serve. A couple months back, Mayor
Dennis Travis held a public meeting with
[26:45] Concurrent about bringing a bus here.
Many of us good, hard-working people
[26:50] have voiced concerns and simply placed
peaceful yard signs attending meetings
[26:55] and asked questions. Instead of
listening, the mayor said he was
[26:59] embarrassed and ashamed of
us. He promised to stay neutral but
[27:05] never did. on his government official
Facebook page. He posted only
[27:10] promotional material, deleted critical
comments, and blocked
[27:15] citizens. He even labeled our elders,
veterans, and Menanite neighbors as an
[27:21] unhinged mob simply for speaking up and
showing
[27:26] opposition. When asked for an apology
multiple times, he refused. He
[27:31] interrupted
citizens got visibly
[27:35] angry. Mayor also deleted his official
Facebook page, shifting to a private one
[27:40] where he where there can be no critical
voice or opposition
[27:45] shown. Meanwhile, he's been campaigning
for concurrent and handing out power up
[27:50] Hallstead signs. He has three in his
yard supplied by
[27:54] Concurrent. He urges neighbors to
display them. He even attends public
[27:59] places in H Hallstead where he speaks
about the best project and urges people
[28:03] to side with him. He turns away from
anyone who says
[28:08] otherwise. Even the PowerUp Hallstead
website carries a privacy notice warning
[28:14] that your data may be collected and used
in future litigation against you.
[28:20] Many of us have received spoofed calls
from K
[28:24] AO Media working with Concurrent to
gather information so Concurrent can try
[28:30] to sway our
opinions. I'm a veteran with PTSD and
[28:37] anxiety. Because of this, I now lock my
doors, watch my children more closely
[28:41] than ever before, and wonder if I can
safely speak at public meetings without
[28:46] being silenced or slandered by my own
mayor.
[28:50] This is not leadership. This is not
democracy. The Government Code of Ethics
[28:55] and the Kansas Open Meetings Act exists
to protect towns like ours from exactly
[28:59] this abuse of power. Citizens should
never live in fear of their elected
[29:04] officials or be called names for
exercising their constitutional rights.
[29:09] Tonight, I respectfully and urgently ask
this council to one, investigate the
[29:16] mayor's repeated violations of ethics
and open meeting laws. Two, censor Mayor
[29:21] Dennis Travis for his pattern of
censorship, intimidation, and
[29:25] bias. And three, consider removal of the
mayor from office if found to have
[29:30] willfully abused his position and
violated his duty to represent all
[29:34] citizens impartially.
Holstead deserves better than this
[29:38] division of fear. Menanites, farmers,
veterans, moms, dads, business owners,
[29:44] and children. We are this town. It said
we are
[29:50] Holstead. We ask only for honesty,
fairness, and respect. Please restore
[29:56] our trust in local government. Please
show that in Holstead, every voice
[30:00] matters. By taking action, you are
simply restoring the trust back in this
[30:05] community in which has been long for by
many, many citizens. Thank you for
[30:10] listening and thank you for standing up
for Holston.
[30:16] Thank you. Thank you for being here um
in light of your daughter's illness.
[30:22] Sorry that she's sick. Thank you.
Did everybody get a chance to look at
[30:27] the
Anybody else like to weigh in?
[30:34] Anybody else want to speak to the
council?
[30:40] Name and address, please. Um, my name is
Brianna Burke. I really would rather not
[30:44] state my address, but I'm happy to give
it to you afterwards. Um, I'm actually a
[30:49] new resident. I'm sorry for being late.
I have children and I work in Witchah.
[30:53] Um, I may have mentioned your name
earlier that you and I had a
[30:56] conversation. Absolutely. Yes, we did.
Um, I actually just moved here to H
[31:01] Hallstead in I believe it was September.
And um, I'm actually a pro green
[31:07] resident. I am pro- renewable energy,
which I think is a little bit of an
[31:11] interesting standpoint because if I had
seen the best signs whenever I came to
[31:14] look at houses, I never would have moved
here. I researched many different towns.
[31:18] I looked at Clear Water. We went to
Winfield. We went to um Cheni. We went
[31:23] I'm from Andel, so we looked out in
Andale. And public speaking is not my
[31:27] forte, so I apologize if I'm a little
bit shaky, but I really pride myself on
[31:31] doing research and looking into every
aspect because I care very deeply about
[31:35] community. Um I teach in which I work
for WSU Tech. Um and I just really care
[31:41] about uplifting the community that I'm
in because we're all here together,
[31:43] right? Um, so actually if I had seen the
the best signs whenever I was looking
[31:49] for somewhere to live, I probably never
would have chosen here because although
[31:52] I am pro green energy, I'm very aware of
the fact that they come with a litany of
[31:57] different risks. And regardless of your
standpoint politically, whether you're
[32:01] Republican or Democrat, there has been a
lot of pro-industrial movements within
[32:05] legislation lately that show that there
may be signs of a lot of leniency be
[32:09] given to a lot of things that could
potentially affect our environment. And
[32:15] um if this was proposed 4 miles outside
of town, if there was no equis bed, if
[32:20] they were paying us a little bit more,
considering with the H Hallstead mill
[32:24] levy they're avoiding somewhere probably
estimated around 6 million plus in
[32:28] property taxes a year. Forgive me if
that's not a completely accurate
[32:32] estimate, but through looking and
verifying through multiple sources of AI
[32:36] providing all the mill levy and tax
information as well as the facility size
[32:40] and the 200 million um build uh budget,
that was what was estimated to be paid
[32:46] in taxes. So, if we could get a little
bit of wiggle room there, I could
[32:49] probably be very easily convinced
considering I am um pro green energy,
[32:54] but we are stewards of this land. And I
heard someone say that I forgive me if
[32:59] it's not um 100% as I saw it, but uh
someone said that the risk that had been
[33:04] quoted was that we risk contaminating 2
miles of equis bed with the average uh
[33:08] volume density of the equis bed around
the Hallstead in a two mile square area
[33:13] radius. That actually equals to be about
9 billion gallons of water roughly. Um
[33:17] give or take. Once again, if my
estimates aren't correct, I'm a culinary
[33:21] teacher, not a mathematician. Math is
actually specifically my weak point. Um,
[33:26] but I'm trying very hard to understand
all sides, especially being
[33:29] pro-renewable energy. I kind of honestly
was like, "Oh, maybe this isn't a bad
[33:34] thing." And then I started looking more
and more into it. And I started to see a
[33:37] lot in more and more discourse. And it's
just been really sad to move to a
[33:43] community that I very quickly we went
trick-or-treating on Halloween and we
[33:46] heard this noise done like Mission
Impossible and all of a sudden we turn
[33:50] around and there are like 12 12 year
olds dressed as minions carrying a boom
[33:54] box. Like I love this town. I love
everybody that I've met. They're so
[33:58] sweet. And it's so sad to see such a
discourse because the quoted uh risk by
[34:04] Dennis Travis, I did send you that
screenshot earlier where we had
[34:07] discussed that previously. The risk
quoted by you was 0.58%. And when I had
[34:11] prompted you if that was an annual or a
term risk, you didn't answer. And I'm
[34:15] assuming that if it was a term risk, you
probably would have volunteered that
[34:18] information rather willingly because
that some of that data is changing so
[34:21] fast. I I understand, but this was just
a mere amount of weeks ago. And if you
[34:27] guys understand the data is changing so
fast, I'm rather confused why you
[34:30] wouldn't be willing to put a moratorum
like some people have requested to allow
[34:34] the technology to catch up if that's the
case. Um, but with that 5 uh.58 quoted
[34:40] percent that actually compounds over 10
years to be about a 1 in 18 chance and
[34:44] I'll wrap up here. I actually probably
have a lot more to say, but once again,
[34:48] public speaking is not my forte. I got a
little bit shaky, but one in 18 chance
[34:53] if this was a game show and they said,
"Okay, at the end of 10 years, your town
[34:57] gets $5 million, but there's a one in 18
chance that a disaster will happen." I
[35:02] would never take that chance. Not for my
neighbor who I see with her daycare. Not
[35:05] my children playing in the backyard, not
the sweet little clerk at the grocery
[35:09] store, the two little girls that bag up
my groceries every time I go that are
[35:13] sweet as honey. And it's just it's so
sad to see the community to come to this
[35:17] over something
like this I guess and there's lots of
[35:22] risk and there's a lot more that I would
like to say but I would never bet th my
[35:27] those odds and granted it could be a
very small risk maybe nothing could
[35:31] happen maybe it's just something little
and it fizzles out but I don't think any
[35:35] source or home of somewhere where a
disaster has happened ever thought that
[35:39] they would happen it would happen to
them and I don't would never even risk I
[35:45] would never never risk that on my my
neighbors and my fellow Hallstead
[35:49] residents lives because truly everybody
I've interacted with so far has been
[35:53] wonderful. But I appreciate you for your
time and once again sorry public
[35:56] speaking is not my forte. Thanks Bri.
Thank you. Anybody else wishing to
[36:01] address the
[36:06] council? All right, we will close the
public forum and I'd like to ask for
[36:12] approval of the consent agenda.
Mr. Mayor, after reviewing and going
[36:16] through the consent agenda as submitted,
I would make a motion to approve it.
[36:20] Second. We have a motion and a second to
approve the consent agenda. All in favor
[36:24] say I. I. I. Oppose. Same
sign. The consent agenda stands as
[36:31] approved. We have no unfinished
business. So, we'll move on to new
[36:34] business. And the first item is code
enforcement options. You have something
[36:38] for us there, Ethan? And I believe we
have a visitor. Yeah. Uh Kendall Pierce
[36:43] is here with Professional Code
Compliance uh just to present to you um
[36:47] about his services. Um and then uh yeah,
see where the conversation goes from.
[36:55] Well, welcome to the podium, Kendall.
How's it going? Sorry.
[37:00] Uh I got a couple things here. Um
there's only one copy, so if you guys
[37:04] don't mind passing them around. Um my
name is Kendall Pierce. I work um I'm
[37:09] actually the owner for um professional
code compliance. What we are is a third
[37:14] a third party um code enforcement
company. Uh we have currently right now
[37:21] roughly about 10 different towns
spanning from
[37:25] uh Burns to Howard to Cedarville to
Clearwater. Um and our recent um
[37:33] probably should have passed this out at
one time. I'm sorry. Uh our recent town
[37:38] that we acquired is Goddard. So we have
been the just kind of a little
[37:43] background story. The way I got started
was I was sitting in a position just
[37:46] like you guys. I was on my city council.
Um seemed like we contracted everything
[37:51] else out. Um couldn't figure out a way
to couldn't figure out a way to get, you
[37:56] know, the proper needs from um our
current code enforcement officer. And
[38:01] that wasn't her fault. that was the fact
that she wore five different hats. She
[38:06] was our, you know, she was the the chair
of the planning zoning board. She, you
[38:09] know, did all the inspe or not all the
inspections, but she um wrote all the
[38:14] permits. You know, she had several jobs
that she did. So, code enforcement tend
[38:19] to tend to fall, I don't know, I'd say a
little lower on her list. Um so, I asked
[38:27] um you know, the mayor, I was like, "Why
aren't we why aren't we contracting this
[38:30] out?" and they told me to look into it
and lo and behold, there's no one doing
[38:34] it. Every single town like yours has an
opportunity
[38:40] to make code enforcement um a top
priority. Unfortunately, it this doesn't
[38:46] happen that way. And obviously, it's
because everyone, you know, there is a
[38:50] lot of turnover in on city council. Um
so everybody has you know priorities and
[38:54] it tend tends to fall um a little by the
wayside which is why we started this
[39:00] company. Um kind of our process is we go
around and you know we'll drive every
[39:07] road in town and if we see a problem in
the town we you know we'll put those on
[39:13] that green flyer right there'll have um
more or less a a notice kind of gives
[39:19] you an idea of what the the code
enforcement is or the violation is. It
[39:23] gives you time to alleviate the issue.
We go take our pictures.
[39:29] Um, one thing I pride myself on though
is is the communication. I'm not going
[39:34] to sit here and say, "Oh, you know, John
Smith next door has one tire on next to
[39:38] his garage and we need to ride him a
violation." Right? My idea of code
[39:42] enforcement is if I don't want to be
your neighbor, your neighbor doesn't
[39:46] want to be your neighbor. And that's
just the cold hard truth. Um, so I go
[39:50] around and and and really we're not I'm
not trying to nitpick here. I'm trying
[39:53] to make sure that we can get the items
that, you know, when people do come into
[39:57] town, they're they're they're looking to
purchase here in town that there's, you
[40:01] know, curb appeal and there's health and
safety because those are two issues that
[40:05] tend to come across the code enforcement
desk um more often than not. So, what we
[40:10] do again, we take the pictures, um we go
ahead and um add them to our
[40:15] software. We go ahead and form the
letters. Um I mean, it's pretty basic.
[40:20] The the one thing that I would stress is
that we're we're a third party
[40:25] contractor. So there won't be, hey, he's
picking on me. Oh, he's doing this.
[40:30] Like,
well, maybe maybe you feel that way, but
[40:33] I I know nobody here in town. So, um I
can't necessarily say that I'm picking
[40:38] on somebody or or that you guys, you
know, my my idea is I tell every every
[40:44] um city council that I have no desire to
know who you guys have, you know,
[40:50] current active violations with. I'll let
you guys take that and then I start new
[40:55] um once once everything's over just
because I don't want it to carry over
[40:58] and have have an issue. Um, again,
communication with the residents is very
[41:04] important to me. If somebody calls says,
"Hey, I can't get this done X, Y, and
[41:08] Z." Okay, that's fine. I'm more than
willing to to give the extension. Um the
[41:13] issue is whenever, you know, you're down
to two, three, four extensions down the
[41:17] line, and um it tends to, you know,
nothing's getting done.
[41:23] Um, so I I we give our, you know, I give
my cell phone out, I give my my email
[41:29] out. I I ask that the residents call me.
If that's a, you know, a hated message
[41:34] or, you know, it's it's a nice message,
it doesn't matter. It's the fact that
[41:38] we're establishing a line of
communication with the residents and we
[41:41] both know that, hey, this is what we're
going to do and we're not going away.
[41:45] Um, so that's kind of it's kind of the
process. Again, it's it's no different
[41:50] than, you know, kind of normal code
enforcement. We're just taking it and
[41:54] contracting it out and making it a third
party option that
[41:58] um again, you you guys don't have to sit
there and take the beating of, oh,
[42:03] you're picking on me. And city clerk
just gives them my phone
[42:07] number. Um I just want to share this
with you guys real quick. I think it's I
[42:12] don't know. I'm maybe just bragging
about myself. I don't know. Um, this is
[42:16] from the community development manager
in Gddard. Says, "Kindle, I shared your
[42:21] um company cam, which is the the website
we use. I uh shared your company cam at
[42:26] a glance with the city administrator and
the mayor this afternoon, and we were
[42:30] thoroughly impressed with um let's say
with all your good work in the short uh
[42:36] short order of two weeks. Good job,
guys, and thank you. You may want to
[42:39] watch city council meeting tomorrow
night as you may get be
[42:42] highlighted. Goddard has seven housing
developments. All seven have HOAs. If
[42:50] you're getting a community developer to
say, "Hey, good job." That means the
[42:54] HOAs aren't doing their job and that I'm
able to come in there and, you know, at
[42:58] least help um guide the town to where I
think, you know, it fits in their your
[43:05] guys' code. So, how well do you get
along with that administrator over there
[43:08] in Goddard,
Craig? I don't mind. Hi. I camp with his
[43:13] parents. So, okay. Let me know if you
need anything on him. Oh, Craig. Yeah,
[43:18] he's uh he's a good guy. It was It took,
you know, it's kind of like, you know,
[43:23] with us, I've been talking to Ethan for,
you know, a couple months here and
[43:26] there, and, you know, this isn't
something that I assumed would be, hey,
[43:29] you know, let's get it done. Let's, you
know, whenever I had a meeting with him,
[43:32] I didn't expect us to have a signed
contract. You know, obviously it comes
[43:36] through you guys, but um I want to be
able to come in here and be able to
[43:40] answer any questions. Um, if you guys
had anything for me, uh, I'm an open
[43:45] book. I'm I'm going to work hard, like I
said, and I'm going to do the job that
[43:50] needs to be done, what you guys are
paying for, because again, you're a
[43:54] small town and tax dollars go a long
ways.
[43:58] Question. I saw uh on one of those on
your flyer that you do structural uh
[44:05] deterioration. Uh, you look at that. Do
you do any building and safety
[44:11] inspection? I didn't notice see that.
That's a whole other animal, but I just
[44:15] know if you had background in that.
Yeah. So, we we don't
[44:18] um No, that's just a quick answer.
Everyone everyone asked that one or uh
[44:24] animal animal control. It's like I don't
have the insurance for animal control.
[44:29] If you could consider animal control
along with that, we might be able to.
[44:33] Yeah. Unfortunately, I think this is
where the road we're heading. And like I
[44:37] said in the short time we've um I kind
of want to preface this. My my business
[44:42] partner is also a um prosecuting or
excuse me
[44:48] um a city lawyer for Elorado
um Andover Benton and Towanda. So he's
[44:55] had over 20 years experience with this.
Um and he helps whenever we get to that
[44:59] point and we have to you know go to
court he helps make sure that we have
[45:03] all the I'm sure he'll be talking to
you. Um Rob Lane, I don't know if you've
[45:07] heard of him. Yeah, I do. Yeah. So, he'd
be the one, you know, organizing, hey,
[45:12] or communicating if if you had any
questions and I'm not quite sure what
[45:16] you're talking about. I just say, hey,
Rob. So,
[45:21] um yeah. So, you would be the primary
employee then or do you have a larger
[45:26] staff that helps you considering there's
some larger communities other than
[45:30] Holstead that you'd be? Yeah. So, right
now, I think in our um I I would be the
[45:35] only one here in town, right? Um if
there was a if there was ever a chance
[45:41] that I was sick or something, it would
be something that I would have to
[45:44] discuss um with most likely Ethan or
whoever I'm reporting to and say, "Hey,
[45:50] I can't catch it this week. I'll be
there next week." So, um it's one of
[45:54] those things that we would have to push
off just due to the fact that it's
[45:57] myself, my office manager, and then
obviously Rob as a business partner.
[46:03] Um we have had opportunities to expand,
but I don't think I'm there yet. Um I I
[46:12] work live in my truck, you know, pretty
much. So, I bounce around from community
[46:17] to community. Um, and if I have to take
time to to answer some emails, you know,
[46:22] it's we're right there in the truck, so
it's not not anything that's too
[46:26] concerning. But yes, to your point, to
your your question, I would be the only
[46:30] one in town. Um, and
[46:34] then the services. Sorry, I did read
through, but you would come through town
[46:40] approximately how frequently was our
contract? Can we say that?
[46:46] So it would be I believe it was 30 hours
which it was about seven and a half
[46:50] hours a week which would equate to
probably two or three times um a month I
[46:56] would imagine. So I like So even with
the 30 hours I I'm a a person of routine
[47:03] and I need to have the structure. So if
you guys are my Tuesday, you're my
[47:07] Tuesday. You know what I mean? So it's
not going to change. And if I go over
[47:10] those 30 hours, well, shame on me for,
you know, talking for us getting it
[47:15] negotiated down to 30 hours, right? Um,
that's on me. And right, so be it. You
[47:21] guys aren't going to get charged more
for me going over, you know, especially
[47:25] when I do I do quarterly um updates with
city council. So, I'll come in here
[47:29] every quarter. um if I have to go to if
we have to go to trial um then I'll be
[47:35] there as a as a witness of hey here's
what we've taken pictures of here's
[47:39] everything we need. So again those
additional
[47:43] hours they're they're on me. So So how
long do you think it would take you to
[47:48] drive through a town hallstead size?
Hallstead. I would say I think I had
[47:56] roughly at about I would say like five
to seven hours depending on where we're
[48:01] at. Um and that's just you know that's
again stopping you know making sure that
[48:06] we have a the right address all the
facts in the book while I'm putting the
[48:10] information in. Um and then on top of
that, you know, we also have um
[48:17] obviously my office administrator hours
of, you know, mailing out the letters
[48:20] and and and getting all the reports over
to you guys, um updating any, you know,
[48:26] any information in our system.
So, I'm going to be honest, I feel like
[48:31] 30 hours is probably going to be pretty
generous on your guys' side. Um, we're
[48:36] currently now given
um, you know, Goddard's a little bit
[48:42] bigger, but we have them at right around
I want to say 90, I think. So,
[48:49] um, I I believe that's right. But again,
I'm I'm more than willing to um, show
[48:56] you guys what we can do. That's pretty
much what it is right now. It's just and
[48:59] we have a fourmon opt out window. Um, so
if you guys in four months don't like my
[49:04] services or um don't want to move on
with the contract with 30-day written
[49:08] notice, there's an opt out window. So,
well, are the our are are our codes here
[49:13] in Hallstead the same as codes across I
mean, are all city codes the same? Is
[49:18] that No, they're not all the same. No,
but there are fine tweaks um to two
[49:23] different codes, you know, um grass
length, um you know, duration. when
[49:28] you're not out there with a ruler like
no once it gets to that point and you
[49:33] guys wonder I
mean well here here's the problem
[49:38] is Mr. Jance wants to, you know, take
this or we have to take this to court
[49:43] and he's like, "Well, you didn't take
any pictures of it being 8 in. How am I
[49:48] supposed to have something, you know, so
yeah, sometimes if we do if you guys do
[49:52] end up abating a property due to tall
grass, there will be a picture with a
[49:56] yard stick." Now, every time, no,
because
[50:00] usually it doesn't it takes once or
twice to say, "Hey, can you mow your
[50:04] yard?" And they just need a kick in the
butt. Like you'd be so surprised how
[50:07] many times that's just the case.
So born people.
[50:15] Well, I've reached out to some citizens
and I've talked with them. A citizen I
[50:18] know who've been visited by our um
police officers who've and I asked a
[50:24] question. Would you rather have seen a
police officer come knock on your door
[50:28] and say, "Hey, you've got to get this
cleaned up." Or would you rather have
[50:30] seen somebody in in, you know, cargo
shorts and a t-sh? That's what they want
[50:35] to see. They want to want to see a
police officer because they have pallets
[50:38] in the
backyard. That was consistent. People
[50:42] they they just get real nervous when
they see a police officer. It's funny
[50:46] you say that. I just went to a seminar
out in Dodge City for uh the Kansas
[50:50] Association of Code Enforcement and that
was the one they one thing they say. So
[50:54] like for Miami Dade County, those code
enforcement officers belts, vests, you
[50:59] know, versus and he was trying to sit
here and relate to us. I'm like, there's
[51:04] no way I'm wearing a bulletproof
vest. If I wear a gun on someone here in
[51:09] Kansas and step on their property, it's
just going to look like I'm an instant
[51:13] threat to them. Yeah. Versus, you know,
this is my normal tire. I usually have
[51:18] something my my truck um we have magnets
that say code city code enforcement on
[51:23] them. So, there's no denying what I'm
doing. Um, and again, when a resident
[51:28] wants to, you know, talk to me, it's
it's I'm just a straight shooter. I'll
[51:33] tell you, hey, you got to clean your
yard up. I'm sorry. Like, this is
[51:36] obviously this pile of metal here that
any kid could climb over, right, would
[51:40] be an issue. So I don't have any
questions, but I do having done many a
[51:46] uh fire inspection and fire code stuff,
it's it is extremely time consuming and
[51:55] can be. So uh the need for uh that kind
of service is is way more than you think
[52:02] it is. I know from doing just what I've
done, school inspections and things of
[52:08] that nature over the years, there's a
lot of hours invested in that thing. So,
[52:14] and nobody likes to have somebody come
on their on their place and say, "Hey,
[52:19] maybe you ought to cut your grass." But,
you know, your neighbor would probably
[52:23] appreciate it. That's what I've always
said. I would if I was next to someone
[52:28] that didn't. So, uh I just think it's
pretty important that we
[52:33] look into it and just give you guys a
brief example. There's dandelions this
[52:37] year like crazy. Uh we've been we've
been getting rained out like crazy.
[52:42] Every note or every letter that I've
been sending out or flyer that I've been
[52:46] sending out, I've made it a point to put
call me. Like let's talk about this.
[52:53] This is just this is what I have to do.
But obviously I know that the grass is
[52:57] too wet to cut in certain situations,
you know, especially when it's, you
[53:01] know, ca midcfe, right? So I always make
it a point to say, "Call me. We'll talk
[53:06] about an extension and we'll get it
taken care of." I mean, it's it's that
[53:10] simple. And they they residents
appreciate that. They appreciate the
[53:13] fact that you there's someone there to
talk to. And it's not again, you're not
[53:18] just sitting there pointing their finger
telling them to clean up their yard or
[53:20] else like that's not how the primary of
what you do is people telling them to
[53:27] cut their grass. I mean is that like
what's that in a percentage of the
[53:31] citations that you I mean is it
percentage of it telling people that
[53:37] your grass is too tall or it jumps from
town to town? No.
[53:41] Um, I would say
that probably at this time of the year,
[53:46] yes. Like right off the bat when the
first mow needs to happen, probably. But
[53:52] other than I mean besides that, it's it
there's a lot of junk. Um, just piles of
[53:57] junk that or debris that needs to be
picked up in the yard. Um, and so I
[54:02] think those probably are the two
biggest. Um, and then motor vehicles.
[54:07] you guys I don't didn't see that you had
a a huge issue with it but Howard Kansas
[54:13] has bunch of junk vehicles right so
there it's just a matter of like what
[54:18] you see in the cities and then how you
want to face it um
[54:24] um well I'll say that I was I was
borderline I was could have gone either
[54:27] way on this but after talking with some
citizens knowing that it would relieve
[54:32] some tension with them but also what
really got me is that we are able to opt
[54:36] out of this in a quarter if we need to.
Yeah. So, we could try you out for three
[54:41] months. Yeah. Give you that 30-day
notice and we could be done. So, I think
[54:45] it's a it's it's worth trying. I think
it's a good experiment and I think it
[54:49] gives us an opportunity. It's like this
doesn't fit. So, let's keep moving.
[54:54] Right. So, and all my information, all
the the information that I have
[54:59] collected in those that I would be
collecting in those three months, I
[55:03] mean, it's yours, right? It's everything
that could be easily transferable to the
[55:06] next code enforcement officer or however
you want to to pursue that and and to
[55:10] continue with it as well. So, well, I
like the idea of removing our police
[55:15] department out of our code enforcement.
I do like that idea and uh our next item
[55:21] on our agenda is to set a work session
date. So, maybe the council can we can
[55:25] talk about this a little more at that
work session and get back to you. Yep,
[55:29] that works for me. Council, do you have
any other questions for Kendall and Mac?
[55:33] No, I mean I appreciate your time. I
think my like probably
[55:39] biggest I mean has always just been like
is the need high enough, you know what I
[55:45] mean? Like right do we really have a
high enough need to say that we need to
[55:52] bring in additional support? And so
that's where I'm at. So I guess that's
[55:56] something
I'll voice at the work session. Okay.
[56:01] Yeah, I mean every it's it's a need in
every community and obviously I'm a
[56:06] little part I have a hard time if like a
majority is that people don't cut their
[56:10] grass then I'm like right cut your grass
you know like why are we paying somebody
[56:16] to come in when you're a a citizen that
cut your grass you know and if you don't
[56:22] I mean I just have a if if we had a
bunch of junk or a bunch of whatever
[56:26] like you were saying but I'm like if if
you live next to where would you be
[56:29] preaching that way though or are we
saying it that way? Would I be saying
[56:32] what? Like it's just cut your grass, you
know, when if like I I just kind of
[56:37] assume that maybe the situation that
you're at right now is not that you have
[56:42] neighbors that are, you know, have junk
and piled up in their backyard and
[56:47] there's a fence and nobody wants no one
sees it, but you can still smell it and
[56:51] rodents are affecting you. You know what
I mean? Like there's there's a I mean,
[56:55] yeah. I don't know what you mean because
I can't like I don't know. He doesn't
[56:59] live in a neighborhood like Yeah. I'm
like I really don't. And I've never
[57:02] heard of anybody like in the community
sharing that that's something I mean. So
[57:10] I mean I guess I wish that then they
would report that or whatever. So then
[57:15] you know because none of that in regards
to has been on the reports of things
[57:19] that we've had issues with. So according
to the data that was gathered like
[57:24] that's not a high pro is what I guess I
was saying. I'm not saying it's not a
[57:28] problem, but the data that was presented
to me is like weeds and yard stuff, you
[57:33] know, not hoarding and right, whatever.
Yeah, it's out there. They're out there.
[57:39] It's out there.
We've pursued a few of those cases
[57:43] already. Yeah. And I would say that's
one of the value ads of at least third
[57:47] party over the current model we utilize
with the PD is um and you saw if you
[57:53] went through things like when you're
getting more into the dilapidated
[57:57] deteriorating structures but not to the
point any residential structure um I
[58:01] mean that is completely out of the PD's
Bailey wick and I mean chief and I had
[58:06] conversations about that they are very
on whether grass is 12 inches or not is
[58:11] kind of a yes no when it gets into is
someone sight hiding on their house bad
[58:15] enough that you know this needs to be
followed via or pursued more
[58:20] aggressively via code. They're very
uncomfortable with making that
[58:23] delineation because that gets into more
building and and a matter of expertise.
[58:28] And
so having having a party that's gone
[58:31] through code enforcement school can you
know make that reasonable judgment um is
[58:36] definitely value add on those those
cases. Um and it kind of gets into junk
[58:41] too of as we've discussed in work
sessions and stuff when we talked about
[58:44] this of there is that fine line between
you know no one wants the city to
[58:50] operate like a like an HOA but at the
same time um you know every community
[58:55] has these struggles too
of is that implement in your yard really
[59:00] yard art or is it junk? Is it and and
then your success rate in getting those
[59:05] things turned around you feel like is
fairly high? Yeah, we've had I can't
[59:09] tell because that's the other like if
somebody's got a bunch of stuff in their
[59:12] backyard and that's the way they've been
living their life for however long like
[59:16] Yeah. No, we've had some and I can show
like whenever you know I can take down
[59:22] your information. And I can show you
like just actual hoarding
[59:27] situations that went from that to, you
know, at least it may be some chaos, but
[59:33] it's controlled chaos, right? Or or
properties in Cedarville and Howard that
[59:39] are completely demolished because you
call the bar, you call the the resident
[59:44] and say or the owner and say, "Hey, what
are we what's the plans with this
[59:47] property? I just need to tear it down."
Okay. And then next thing you know, now
[59:51] I'm asking them to clean up a pile of
rubble, right? Like it's there's been so
[59:55] many I wouldn't be doing this if I
didn't see success. I'm be honest with
[59:59] you. I'm not here to collect a paycheck
from you guys. I'm here to make sure
[1:00:02] that the pay that the properties, you
know, stay within your guys' code and
[1:00:07] that this doesn't become an issue where
if you look at Howard 10 years ago on
[1:00:12] Google Maps versus what it was what it
was before I started, you guys your jaw
[1:00:17] would drop. It it's just it doesn't take
long for a town to deteriorate.
[1:00:24] Well, I appreciate all the information
you provided and for answering
[1:00:27] questions. Thank you. No problem. Thanks
for sir. Yep. Sounds good.
[1:00:34] Yeah, just let me know.
[1:00:38] We could make a motion on it if we
wanted to. I mean, you guys, we could
[1:00:42] make a motion on it if we wanted to. We
wanted to. We could. Charlie Robinson
[1:00:46] text me earlier. I'm I mean, I mean, I'm
fine with it. I think I'm the only
[1:00:50] opposition. All right. And I feel like
he justified some of my concerns. Talked
[1:00:56] about it in the work session. We do a
work session. Speaking of next item on
[1:01:00] the agenda, we need to establish a work
session. I would schedule. This is going
[1:01:06] to be primarily budget stuff, right? Uh
yeah, we'll revisit budget priorities.
[1:01:12] Um and then capital projects for sure,
but there okay we can always add
[1:01:16] whatever you all would like to throw on
that agenda as well let's have a final
[1:01:20] conversation about this code enforcement
at that and then when would you like to
[1:01:24] do that Ethan roughly uh I asked for a
Wednesday because I'm teaching on
[1:01:29] Tuesdays and Thursdays for the next two
months. Yeah. Um can we avoid the
[1:01:35] seventh? I'll be out of town. I said mid
to late May. So I would say any the week
[1:01:42] of May 12th or the 19th or even the week
of Memorial Day,
[1:01:49] May 14th.
I'm good. I'm good. Y Shauna, I think
[1:01:56] that works. Yes. What time do we want to
do it? Six.
[1:02:02] Everybody good with six? It works out.
Maybe just agree. Now, somebody
[1:02:08] formalized that by putting it in a
motion and we'll make it. Mayor, I'd
[1:02:11] make a motion to have our next work
scheduled work session at on May 6 at
[1:02:15] 6:00 in the evening. May 14th. Oh, I'm
sorry. May 14th. Yes. At 6:00 in the
[1:02:18] evening.
It's going to require a second. Council
[1:02:22] second. Second.
Got a motion, a second to schedule the
[1:02:26] next work session for May 14th at 6 PM.
All in favor say I. I. I. Sign. We do
[1:02:33] have work session.
We're going to move our executive
[1:02:36] session to the end of the meeting. So,
now we'll get into the uh report
[1:02:40] section. And I'm just going to start off
with these three proclamations Julie
[1:02:45] just handed me.
Did you give them to me in order, Julie?
[1:02:50] Probably not. No, you didn't.
[1:02:55] Okay, I got them in order
now. So, the first one is an Arbor Day
[1:03:01] proclamation.
Whereas in 1872, Jay Sterling Morton
[1:03:06] proposed to the Nebraska Board of
Agriculture that a special day be set
[1:03:09] aside for the planting of trees. And
whereas this holiday called Arbor Day
[1:03:14] was first observed with the planting of
more than a million trees in
[1:03:18] Nebraska. And whereas Arbor Day is now
observed through the nation and the
[1:03:23] world. And whereas trees can reduce the
erosion of our precious top soil by wind
[1:03:28] and water, cut heating and cooling
costs, moderate the temperature, clean
[1:03:32] the air, produce oxygen, and provide
habitat for wildlife. And whereas trees
[1:03:38] are a renewable resource, giving us
paper, wood for our homes, fuel for our
[1:03:43] fires, and countless other wood
products. And whereas trees in our city
[1:03:48] increase property values, enhance the
economic vitality of business areas, and
[1:03:53] beautify our
community. And whereas trees are a
[1:03:58] source of joy and spiritual renewal. And
whereas Holstead has been recognized as
[1:04:03] a Tree City USA by the National Arbor
Day Foundation and desires to continue
[1:04:08] its tree planting ways. And now
therefore, I, Dennis Travis, mayor of
[1:04:13] the city of Holstead, do hereby proclaim
April 25th, 2025 as Arbor Day in the
[1:04:19] city of Holstead. And I urge all
citizens to support efforts to care for
[1:04:24] our trees and woodlands and to support
our city's community forestry program.
[1:04:28] And further, I urge all citizens to
plant trees to gladden the hearts and
[1:04:33] promote the well-being of present and
future generations.
[1:04:37] dated this day, 28th day of April,
[1:04:42] 2025. The only bad time to be a Tree
City USA is when a datio
[1:04:49] comes. That one's still pretty fresh in
everybody's
[1:04:53] mind. The next proclamation is for
public service recognition
[1:04:59] week. Whereas Americans are served every
single day by public servants at the
[1:05:04] federal, state, county, and city levels.
And these unsung heroes do the work that
[1:05:08] keeps our nation working. Whereas public
employees take not only jobs but oaths.
[1:05:14] Whereas many public servants including
military personnel, police officers,
[1:05:19] firefighters, border patrol officers,
embassy employees, health care
[1:05:24] professionals, and others risk their
lives each day in service to the people
[1:05:29] of the United States and around the
world.
[1:05:31] And whereas public servants include
teachers, doctors and scientists,
[1:05:35] trained conductors and astronauts,
nurses and safety inspectors, laborers,
[1:05:40] computer technicians and social workers,
and countless other occup
[1:05:45] occupations. Day in and day out, they
provide the diverse services demanded by
[1:05:50] the American people of their government
with efficiency and integrity. And
[1:05:54] whereas without these public servants at
every
[1:05:58] level, continuity would be impossible in
a democracy that regularly changes its
[1:06:03] leaders and elected officials. Whereas
the city of Hallstead wishes to
[1:06:08] recognize our dedicated local government
staff who provide invaluable service and
[1:06:13] support to Hallstead residents. Now
therefore, I, Dennis Travis, mayor of
[1:06:17] the city of Holstead, do hereby announce
and proclaim to all citizens and set
[1:06:22] seal hereto that May 4th through the
10th, 2025 is public service recognition
[1:06:28] week and encourage all citizens to
recognize the accomplishments and
[1:06:32] contributions of government employees at
all levels, federal, state, county, and
[1:06:37] city. Signed this 28th day of April,
[1:06:43] 2025. And along with that, you council
members that are up for reelection, that
[1:06:48] should serve as a reminder to go get
registered. And I took care of mine
[1:06:52] today. So, you might be stuck with me
again.
[1:06:58] Well, this one's for Denise. This is a
Happy Nurses Week proclamation.
[1:07:04] Whereas registered nurses in the United
States constitute our nation's largest
[1:07:08] health care profession and whereas the
depth and breadth of the registered
[1:07:13] nursing profession meets the different
and emerging health care needs of the
[1:07:17] American population in a wide range of
settings including the front line of the
[1:07:22] pandemic. And whereas professional
nursing is an indispensable component of
[1:07:27] the safety and quality of care of
hospitalized and non-hospized patients.
[1:07:32] And whereas more qualified registered
nurses are needed in the future to meet
[1:07:37] increasingly complex needs of health
care consumers in this community. And
[1:07:42] whereas along with the American Nurses
Association has declared May 6th through
[1:07:46] the 12th as nurses week with the theme,
the power of nurses with appreciation
[1:07:52] for nurses unparalleled impact in their
contributions to health care and an open
[1:07:57] invitation to thank a nurse for
enriching our lives and in the world we
[1:08:02] live in. Therefore, it
be you put it in there twice now.
[1:08:07] Therefore, I, Dennis Travis, mayor of
the city of H Hallstead, ask that all
[1:08:11] residents of Holstead, Kansas, join me
in honoring the registered nurses who
[1:08:16] care for all of us. And be it further
resolved that the residents celebrate
[1:08:20] registered nurses accomplishments and
efforts to improve our health care
[1:08:25] system. And show our appreciation for
the nation's registered nurses, not just
[1:08:30] during this week, but at every
opportunity throughout the year. Signed
[1:08:34] this 28th day of April, 2025.
And my daughter's also a nurse, so that
[1:08:40] was for her, too. There you go. Well,
that concludes my proclamations. We'll
[1:08:45] move on to governing body comments
tonight. I will start since it's nurses.
[1:08:49] Well, there you go. We'll start with
Denise tonight. I don't have anything
[1:08:53] other than I hope everybody had a happy
Easter and looking forward to some
[1:08:57] better weather.
Sea
[1:09:02] George, I do have something.
citizen reached out to me about a week
[1:09:07] and a half ago and had a question
regarding
[1:09:10] um elected officials being able to have
an opinion. I reached out to the Kansas
[1:09:16] League of Municipalities legal team and
I presented what our our issue was here,
[1:09:24] gave him a real good idea. And so he
wrote a generic response and I'm going
[1:09:28] to read this and then I'd like to also
state to this let citizens know
[1:09:33] that I spoke with Ethan and he would
also make this available to any citizen
[1:09:37] who might want it. This is George per
our conversation from earlier today
[1:09:41] elected officials are allowed to have
personal opinions and are allowed to
[1:09:45] express those personal opinions. Ways in
which public officials may express those
[1:09:50] opinions would be through posts on their
personal social media media pages or
[1:09:56] through signage on their personal
property. As long as there are no or no
[1:10:01] propo proping purporting to speak on
behalf of the city and do not have
[1:10:07] actual authority to speak on behalf of
the city, they may express their own
[1:10:12] opinions. Please let me know if you have
any additional questions.
[1:10:16] Um, so that was from the Kansas League
legal team and League of Green. Kansas
[1:10:24] League municipalities, I'm sorry. Yes.
And um if any citizens uh want a copy of
[1:10:30] this, I did forward this to Ethan and he
could make it available to
[1:10:35] you. That's all I have. Your turn, Jim.
All right. Um I don't really have a
[1:10:43] whole lot. Um, I always, uh, when people
come into meetings and, uh, and talk in
[1:10:50] the public forum, whether we're eye to
eye or whether we're not eye to eye or
[1:10:56] whether we're talking the same language
sometime and not talking the same
[1:10:59] language, I still want to say I
appreciate that because if you don't get
[1:11:06] any feedback of anything, then you know,
we can hear somebody's somebody ask us a
[1:11:14] question and if somebody really knows me
they'll send me a message or they'll
[1:11:18] find me on the street or whatever that's
not uncommon especially for me I guess
[1:11:24] just because and I do a lot of walking
so I have a lot of conversations with
[1:11:29] with people just from walking down the
street but I don't want to to brush away
[1:11:35] anything because even the comments here
tonight um is somebody's opinion and I
[1:11:42] appreciate appreciate that fact just
like I I I want them to appreciate our
[1:11:50] our due diligence in what we're trying
to do. You know, we all have our
[1:11:55] opinions and we all have uh what we
think is right and what is wrong and
[1:12:00] sometimes we don't even know what right
or wrong yet, you know, unless we have a
[1:12:05] pretty good clear picture of that. And I
I just want to reinforce that that uh
[1:12:11] there's nothing hidden in at least in my
book or anybody that I know of that uh I
[1:12:18] just want to see it. Um you know, I
can't make a any kind of statements on
[1:12:25] stuff and things like that if I don't
even know what I'm making a statement
[1:12:29] on, you know. Um and I want to just to
uh go ahead and reinforce that.
[1:12:38] That's it. Appreciate that, Jim. Ethan,
we'll move on to you for your city
[1:12:43] manager report and you uh just start off
this Saturday, May 3rd from 9 to noon is
[1:12:50] the city's annual rabies clinic. Uh
vaccinations are $8. Um being done by
[1:12:57] Maple Ridge again and you can also
register your cat or dog uh with the
[1:13:03] city at that time as well. Uh we are
down to five uh temporary construction
[1:13:09] easements that still need signed uh to
move forward with our safe routes to
[1:13:13] school construction grant. So we are
working diligently to try and get those
[1:13:18] remaining five uh properties to uh get
those easements in place. Uh Julie did
[1:13:26] file a continuing disclosure notice
which will be in your next packet in the
[1:13:30] consent agenda, but she did file a
continuing disclosure notice uh for the
[1:13:34] city issuance of that wastewater
treatment plant loan uh which is a
[1:13:38] requirement for some of our existing
bond debt. Uh I just want to point out
[1:13:44] we did have a land bank meeting earlier
this evening and the land bank uh has
[1:13:50] voted to accept 217 Main Street. Um, so
we will get that started uh once we get
[1:13:57] that contract signed to
take for the land bank to take
[1:14:02] possession of uh the former loose brick.
Uh Julie and staff met with FEMA today.
[1:14:10] Uh we are hopefully finishing up our
FEMA reporting and all the uh schedules
[1:14:16] that we have to uh submit in order to
uh have our public assistance claim on
[1:14:23] the um May 19th the May do from last
year. Uh it was included in your packet,
[1:14:31] but I just want to call out uh the
efforts of staff. Um, we did receive a
[1:14:37] thousand dollar check from the Kansas
County Association multi-line pool,
[1:14:41] which is our property and liability
insurer, and that check was awarded to
[1:14:46] us for our efforts uh in risk
management, and that we have a low
[1:14:50] modifier claim. So, we're not putting a
lot of claims there. So, um, again, just
[1:14:55] I want to thank staff for their efforts
in keeping our claims down and being
[1:15:00] responsible with city
property. Kansas Department of Commerce
[1:15:04] came last Wednesday morning and toured
Rubies and Daphne May Cafe. Uh, and that
[1:15:10] was done as part of community
development week. So, the assistant uh,
[1:15:13] secretary for commerce was here. And I
just want to thank Tessa Windling uh,
[1:15:18] for allowing uh, Commerce to come and
for being such a gracious host. And it
[1:15:24] was very uh, and I want to thank Jim for
showing up that morning bright and early
[1:15:28] to also meet with Commerce. They had
about uh eight reps there from the
[1:15:33] department and they're just going around
touring uh successful grants and where
[1:15:38] we've had public and private cooperation
and it still just amazes me to see uh
[1:15:43] what Tesla's done with that building um
and where 204 where it started when the
[1:15:48] city originally uh got possession of it
in the land bank to where it is now. So
[1:15:52] really great to showcase that. a lot of
positive comments about the town um from
[1:15:58] all those visitors to our community. So,
it was just a great event. Um and then
[1:16:03] we are still working on uh moving our
streaming over to YouTube. Had some
[1:16:08] efforts. We're going to have to reach
out to our managed IT um to facilitate
[1:16:13] that change. But we are still working on
that um in light of Facebook changing
[1:16:17] its um video storage policy. Uh we also
believe it'll give us a little more
[1:16:22] control and be a little bit better
platform than Facebook live. So those
[1:16:27] are what we are working on and things
that are going on right now.
[1:16:32] Anybody have any questions of Ethan for
I did have one. I was just wondering
[1:16:37] what the North
Street project is. Yeah. Um where we're
[1:16:43] at on that. We're between the 60 and 80%
mark as far as uh the preliminary
[1:16:48] engineering. Um, it probably comes as a
surprise to no one that um, BNSF
[1:16:55] and working with BNSF is is kind of one
of the holdups now to get some final
[1:17:00] questions answered. But we are planning
to hopefully get uh, meetings scheduled
[1:17:05] with the residents and the businesses to
go over the preliminary plans and yeah,
[1:17:10] hopefully get that in motion as soon as
we can. Do we have a plat drawing of
[1:17:15] that yet?
We don't have the final. I mean, we're
[1:17:19] only a 60% mark, so you don't have like
they're still waiting on um some
[1:17:25] information and some uh asurances from
BNSF before they draw some of that.
[1:17:30] That's by the railroad track. I
understand that.
[1:17:34] So, no other questions for Ethan? A
question for this guy out here in the
[1:17:39] How come he has a Huntington Beach
t-shirt on?
[1:17:43] A few times. Are you from that out that
way? Oh.
[1:17:46] Okay. Maybe we were neighbors at one
time.
[1:17:53] A friend of his went there and all he
got was that t-shirt.
[1:17:59] Okay, we're ready for executive session
now. So, we'll wait for Jimmy to make
[1:18:04] that motion. All right, Mr. Mayor, I
move that the H Hallstead City Council
[1:18:09] recess into executive session to discuss
potential
[1:18:15] litigation cons to consult with the
attorney on matters that would deem
[1:18:21] privilege in the attorney client
relationship exemption
[1:18:31] KSA75-4319B3 to include the city
manager, the city attorney,
[1:18:37] and would reconvene at 8:40.
Second. Have a motion and a second to
[1:18:44] enter into executive session. All in
favor say I. I. Post. Same
[1:18:49] sign. We'll move to the back room.
[1:41:51] We got something else to
say back from our executive session. Is
[1:41:56] there any action to be taken as a result
[1:42:01] of not hearing from the council? This
does conclude our agenda and I would
[1:42:06] entertain a motion for adjournment.
Before we do that, we failed during the
[1:42:10] city uh the city members um comments to
huge shout out to the H Hallstead music
[1:42:16] Hollstead high school music department.
They rocked it at state bringing home
[1:42:21] mostly ones. Yeah. Yeah. So
congratulations to every single one of
[1:42:24] our students. Um whether they were
vocal, mix groups, solos, band
[1:42:29] instruments, they just they did a
fantastic job. So Claire, fantastic job
[1:42:35] and congratulations to the kids.
Absolutely. Keep up the great work and
[1:42:39] it's going to be uh even more of a
challenge right now because they are
[1:42:42] demoing their auditorium. So, yes. Yes.
Um head out to the choir concerts coming
[1:42:48] up in the next couple of weeks, too.
Yep. It'll be good. You know, I want to
[1:42:51] piggyback on that a little bit because,
you know, I had to deliver this
[1:42:54] proclamation for the girls volleyball
team. I'll soon be doing another one at
[1:42:59] the school for the basketball team and I
understand that's mostly the same girls
[1:43:02] that are part of that team. Yep. And it
looks like they are out there stomping
[1:43:06] it in softball right now. So, man, if if
they can really put it together with
[1:43:13] their softball team this year, that's
just pretty cool. Yep. Yeah. And I
[1:43:17] believe we're hosting the softball um
regionals. So, if you're out and about
[1:43:22] during that, definitely head out and
check that out. Tough regional. Yeah.
[1:43:26] Couple of the top teams in the state in
3A. So, my girls were on that inaugural
[1:43:30] team and so we raised a lot of money to
have a successful softball program in H
[1:43:35] Hallstead. I am so glad we put that time
and effort into doing it%. Thank you.
[1:43:41] All right, good deal. I'm still waiting
for that motion to adjurnn. Oh, yeah.
[1:43:44] So, move. Let's adjourn. Let's go home.
We have a motion and a second for
[1:43:48] adjournment. All in favor say I. I. I.
Oppose. Same sign. We are journ. Thank
[1:43:53] you, councel.