[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.

April 28, 2025 Halstead City Council Meeting

Transcript