MONDAY
AUGUST 06, 2018
The
Governing Body of the City of Pratt met in Regular Session in the Commission
Room located at City Hall.
PRESENT:
Doug Meyer Mayor
Lucus Kumberg Commissioner
Gary Schmidt Commissioner
Don Peters Commissioner
ALSO PRESENT:
Roy Eckert City Manager
LuAnn Kramer City Clerk
Regina Probst City Attorney
Diana Garten Finance Director
Gary Myers Police Chief
Russell Rambat Public Works Director
Brad Blankenship Building Inspector
Jamie Huber Dir. of Electric :Utilities
Bruce Pinkall Recreation Director
CALL TO ORDER:
The
regular meeting was called to order by Mayor Meyer. The Mayor instructed the City Clerk to note
that all Commissioners were present with the exception of Commissioner Leslie.
The
Mayor reminded the audience that this meeting may be taped and/or recorded.
INVOCATION AND PLEDGE
OF ALLEGIANCE:
Commissioner
Schmidt led the staff and audience in the invocation and Mayor Meyer led Pledge
of Allegiance.
CONSENT AGENDA:
·
July
16, 2018 Recessed City/County Commission Meeting
·
July
16, 2018 Regular Commission Meeting
·
July
19, 2018 Special Call Meeting #1
·
July
19, 2018 Special Call Meeting #2
·
July
26, 2018 Special Call Meeting
·
July
31, 2018 Special Call Meeting
Commissioner
Kumberg made a motion to approve the consent agenda. The motion was seconded by Commissioner
Peters and carried unanimously.
BUSINESS:
2019 PROPOSED CITY OF
PRATT BUDGET:
Mayor
Meyer made a motion to open the public hearing.
The motion was seconded by Commissioner Schmidt and carried unanimously.
With
no one having any discussion on the 2019 budget, Mayor Meyer made a motion to
close the public hearing. The motion was
seconded by Commissioner Peters and carried unanimously.
CONSIDERATION AND
APPROVAL OF THE 2019 CITY OF PRATT BUDGET:
Finance
Director Garten stated that the Commission needed to approve the budget that
had been published. Ms. Garten stated that the mill levy was 49.898 with taxes
levied at $2,136,694. Ms. Garten commented
that, after the neighborhood revitalization, the City would receive $1,995,782
and the total budget was $22,469,624.
Mayor Meyer stated that the Commission and staff had met two whole days
and also had a special call meeting to finish up; therefore, he felt that they
had been diligent in the budget this year.
Commissioner Kumberg commented that the tax increase was flat if
compared with last year and that made it five years in a row. Commissioner Peters commented that City
Manager Eckert had met with the department heads ahead of time and then they
had met with the Commissioners and that was a good way to do it.
With
no further discussion, Commissioner Schmidt made a motion to approve the 2019
City of Pratt budget. The motion was
seconded by Commissioner Peters and carried unanimously.
PRESENTATION ON THE
CITY’S FUTURE ENERGY SERVICE:
Director
of Electric Utilities Huber stated that we were about at the end of our
contract with KMEA and we had some steps to take to get to the end of the EMP2
in April. Mr. Huber commented that the
Rainbow Energy representatives were here to help give the Commission a better
understanding of why and what we needed to do.
Mr.
Bob Moye, from Rainbow Energy, commented that there were some things that
needed done before the end of April and things that needed to be
transferred. Mr. Moye stated that this
business was complicated and their parent was United Energy Corporation. Mr. Moye commented that United Energy Corporation
was founded in the 1980’s in all aspects of oil and natural gas production
exploration along with marketing, which was what Rainbow Energy did. Mr. Moye stated that they had expanded all
across the country and did business in the United States, Canada and New
Mexico. Mr. Moye informed the Commission
that their revenue last year was $1.4 billion.
Mr. Moye stated that Rainbow Energy Marketing was founded in 1984 and
they had indirectly been doing marketing for the City for ten years by working
with KMEA. Mr. Moye explained the needs
to participate in the energy market and the regional transmission organization
(RTO). Mr. Moye stated that they were
very active in those markets.
Mr.
Nathan Sprague, from Rainbow’s Kansas City office, stated that the City had
issued an intent to terminate its contract with KMEA a couple of years ago and
would be out at the end of April 2019.
Mr. Sprague commented that the City wanted to procure their energy
management services under their own independent operation within the Southwest
Power Pool (SPP). Mr. Sprague stated
that the City would need to issue new transmission service reservation (TSR)
requests under a new master Network Integrated Transmission Service (NITS)
agreement with the SPP and designate all resources and energy contracts as designated
network resources if they intend to have all load, resources and power purchase
agreements to remain with the City.
Mr.
Sprague explained that the City would need to terminate the existing TSR’s as a
member of EMP2 through KMEA and ensure that all the PPA contracts transfer
directly to the City. Mr. Sprague
commented that the City would have to terminate the GRDA PPA scheduling
arrangements with KMEA and, once all the new TSR requests were confirmed, the
City could operate independently within the SPP as their own Asset Owner under
the REMC Market Participant agreement.
Mr. Sprague added that all of the market transactions would flow
financially through REMC and the City would pay them on a monthly basis for all
market activities and fees. Mr. Sprague
stated that the City could participate as their own market participant as a
member of SPP, but they could still execute the services they were providing as
a market agent. Commissioner Peters
questioned how their fees were determined.
Mr. Sprague stated that it was typically how many assets you had registered
in the market place. Mr. Sprague
commented that it was a function of how many schedules, how many settlement
locations and how many transmission locations they would be managing. Mr. Sprague stated that they use a software from
ABB called Nostradamus to generate an hourly rolling seven day load forecast
that would be based on recent load numbers and forward weather variables that
they would extract from local weather stations.
Mr.
Sprague stated that operational strategy development and optimization could be discussed
for hours. Mr. Sprague explained that
within SPP you had day ahead market and real time market. Mr. Sprague commented that they try to settle
as much of the transactions in the day ahead market as possible. Mr. Sprague stated that every market
participant in SPP would be submitting bids to buy energy and submitting offers
to sell energy. Mr. Sprague explained
that SPP would package all of that together and they would say here was where
supply meets demand and this was the marginal cost for power for this given
hour in the day ahead market. Mr.
Sprague stated that you want to sell most of the transaction in that day ahead of
market. Mr. Sprague added that some of
the tools and resources were their own weather forecasting software, an
in-house meteorologist, a software called Yes Energy and their own proprietary
applications.
Mr.
Sprague stated that demand bid and resource offer submittals were relatively
straight forward. Mr. Sprague explained
that there was one load settlement location that they submit a demand bid for
to buy energy at the Pratt load point and the resource offers were at the same
point for the internal generation. Mr. Sprague
commented that all the internal generation when Pratt runs would be sold at the
Pratt generation point. Mr. Sprague
stated that they would submit the bids and offers that were involved to SPP and
let them make the determination of how much energy you were awarded and in
demand bids how much energy you were selling in resource offers and what that
price would be. Mr. Sprague showed the
Commission an example of the software package they use called MCG IAM, which
was an Integrated Asset Management software package by Minneapolis Consulting
Group. Mr. Sprague stated that it was
their interface to SPP and was what they used to submit all their demand bids
and resource offers through.
Mr.
Sprague stated that congestion hedging management was like congestion on a
roadway and you also had that on the transmission system as well. Mr. Sprague commented that when SPP had
difficulty moving power due to line limitations, it causes price disparity
between those two points. Mr. Sprague
stated that you would be selling power at some other location, which you would
be on your GRDA contract. Mr. Sprague
explained that you would be selling that power at GRDA generator pricing note
and purchasing your energy at the Pratt load zone location. Mr. Sprague stated that those prices could be
totally different so, with the transmission service reservations, the City was
allocated option revenue rights entitlements.
Mr. Sprague explained that that meant that they allow the City to say
that we own the transmission between two points and we can put on a product
that was going to pay the price spread between those two points. Mr. Sprague stated that it basically brings
that basis difference of what you were purchasing energy for and what you were
selling energy for down to zero. Mr.
Sprague stated that they would make recommendations as to what portion of the
reservations they turn into the congestion hedging products to hedge off
expected sales with market place relative to the load that you were expected to
purchase.
Mr.
Sprague stated that they lean heavily on their YES Energy software to execute
these services. Mr. Sprague explained
that they could see the entire transmission system of above 69kv and look at
forecasted transmission outages. Mr.
Sprague commented that they could drill into those outages to see what
constraints pop in that overlap those outages, what pricing effects those constraints
had on price points and how correlated they were to the outages.
Mr.
Sprague pointed out that they have 24–hour RT operational support staff that
monitor all market unit commitments and then relay that information to the
City’s staff. Mr. Sprague stated that
bilateral scheduling would be in regards to GRDA, which was a power purchase
agreement where power was purchased through another counter party on a
bilateral agreement. Mr. Sprague
commented that SPP calls that a bilateral settlement schedule and that allows
them to tell SPP that we might not own the generator at that point; however,
you had made an agreement with another counter party to buy energy from them at
that point. Mr. Sprague stated that they
had to submit those bilateral schedules to facilitate that transaction. Mr. Sprague added that they were done hourly
around the clock.
Mr.
Sprague commented that Pratt had three internal generators that were registered
within SPP and, in order to keep SPP up to speed as far as resource
availability, they had to utilize their control room operations window to tell
SPP when we got forecasted generation outages, whether they were forced or
planned. Mr. Sprague stated that SPP
settles in the day ahead every hour and, in the real time balancing market, it
was a five minute market. Mr. Sprague commented
that there were fifty-five charge code types, so fifty-five different types of
market transactional settlements occur every five minutes. Mr. Sprague stated that they propose to
reconcile those statements and report back to the City in a package that was
more condensed and easier to understand.
Mr.
Sprague stated that their transitional fee of $2,000 per month would be
effective when we all came to terms on an agreement and would be through the
April date when the KMEA operational contract was terminated. Mr. Sprague commented that the operational
fee was $7,000 per month and would be effective once the City’s exit from KMEA
had occurred and you were under full independent operations of your own with a
SPP. Mr. Sprague added that the initial
term was three years with a subsequent annual evergreen renewal and a sixty day
notice to terminate the agreement.
Mr.
Sprague concluded stating that REMC had a skilled staff of experienced traders,
engineers and operators with decades of RTO management and marketing
experience. Mr. Sprague commented that
they did not own resources that would conflict with the City’s operations and
they were a private company that was bound by contractual terms to treat each
Energy Management Services customer the same.
CONSIDERATION AND
APPROVAL OF A 5K HELD ON SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 22ND SPONSORED BY THE
LEADERSHIP PRATT 2017-2018 CLASS:
Mr.
Todd Hoffman stated that the project for the Leadership Pratt 2017-2018 class
was to help Care Closet. Mr. Hoffman
explained that the program had been started at Southwest School and they just
wanted to support them with a 5K on September 22nd. Mayor Meyer asked if there were any conflicts
with schedules. Recreation Director
Pinkall stated that it was the Oktoberfest, but that should not be a problem. Mr. Hoffman commented that they would start
at Lemon Park and have volunteers along the route. Mr. Hoffman added that they would not be
crossing any major highways. With no further discussion, Commissioner Kumberg
made a motion to approve the 5K for Leadership Pratt 2017-2018 as presented by
Mr. Todd Hoffman. The motion was
seconded by Commissioner Schmidt and carried unanimously.
CONSIDERATION AND
APPROVAL OF ADDITIONAL FUNDS FOR THE MILL AND OVERLAY PROJECT:
Public
Works Director Rambat stated that he had made an error on quantities for square
yards on the mill and overlay project on Country Club Road. Mr. Rambat stated that the contractor got
two-thirds of the way through and had contacted him that they were going to go
over by quite a bit. Mr. Rambat
explained that they had already edge milled; therefore, he made the choice to
complete the project and he would be adjusting the street seal project. Mr. Rambat recommended that the Commission
approve the second payment to APAC of $19,759 and he would then adjust another
summer project so that there would not be any budgetary problems. Commissioner Peters made a motion to approve
the additional funds for the mill and overlay project in the amount of
$19,759. Commissioner Schmidt seconded
the motion and it carried unanimously.
CONSIDERATION AND APPROVAL
OF RESOLUTION 080618 AUTHORIZING THE CONSUMPTION OF ALCOHOL AT THE GREEN SPORTS
COMPLEX DURING OKTOBERFEST 2018 ON SEPTEMBER 22ND:
City
Attorney Probst stated that Mr. John Beverlin had actually drafted this
resolution so she asked that he address the Commission. Mr. Beverlin stated that the State Statute
requires the City to approve this resolution for the Oktoberfest, which would
be sent to ABC designating the date, time and references the ordinance
previously passed. Mr. Beverlin added
that ABC would then issue them the temporary permit.
The
following Resolution 080618 was then presented to the Commission for their
approval: A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CONSUMPTION AND SALE OF ALCOHOL AT THE
GREEN SPORTS COMPLEX, PRATT, KANSAS, FOR PRATT OKTOBERFEST ON SEPTEMBER 22,
2018 AS A SPECIAL EVENT PURSUANT TO K.S.A. 41-2645. Commissioner Kumberg made a motion to approve
Resolution 080618 authorizing the consumption and sale of alcohol at the Green
Sports Complex for Pratt Oktoberfest on September 22, 2018. The motion was seconded by Commissioner
Peters and carried unanimously.
CONSIDERATION AND
APPROVAL OF ORDINANCE 1808 INCORPORATING THE 2018 UNIFORM PUBLIC OFFENSE CODE
FOR KANSAS CITIES – 2018 EDITION:
City
Attorney Probst stated that pages 180-181 of the July Kansas Government Journal
summarizes the changes to the Uniform Public Offense Code and the Standard
Traffic Ordinance books. Ms. Probst
commented that the City was in need of a littering ordinance and there was one
added to the UPOC under Section 8 that was previously reserved, so that solved
the problem that the City had. Ms.
Probst explained that the City historically included an omission of a number of
items, such as worthless checks, vehicle sales, barbed wire, medical vending
machines and cruelty to animals. Ms.
Probst stated that she would also like to omit sections 9.9.1 and 9.9.2. Ms. Probst explained that the City had not traditionally
adopted an ordinance that would allow the City prosecutor to prosecute drug
paraphernal crimes. Ms. Probst commented
that she had tried to get hold of the County Attorney to see why the City had
not prosecuted those crimes, because they were misdemeanors and the City would
have the ability to prosecute.
Chief
Myers commented that they incorporate the crimes into District Court instead of
splitting the crime. Chief Myers stated
that he also questioned why the City could not adopt an ordinance that would
allow an officer to issue a Notice to Appear for a misdemeanor possession of
marijuana instead of having to make a custodial arrest. Chief Myers stated that he understood that in
order to do that through Municipal Court upon conviction, the person convicted
would be ordered to receive counseling and the City would be responsible for
that cost, but that cost was now passed on to the County.
Commissioner
Kumberg questioned if we had more restrictive ordinances for the ones that were
being omitted. Ms. Probst stated that we
did on cruelty to animals, but she did not think we did on the barbed wire and
medicine through a vending machine. Ms.
Probst added that the City was not following the UPOC, but would follow the
State Statute. Mayor Meyer asked about a
City ordinance or State Statute concerning bikes on sidewalks. Chief Myers stated that there was a municipal
ordinance for the downtown area; however, it did not apply to residential
areas. Chief Myers explained that that
did include skate boards, skates and bikes.
With no more discussion, Mayor Meyer stated that this ordinance would be
tabled until the next meeting so that Ms. Probst could make the changes she had
presented.
CONSIDERATION AND
APPROVAL OF ORDINANCE 1809 INCORPORATING THE 2018 STANDARD TRAFFIC ORDINANCE
FOR KANSAS CITIES – 2018 EDITION:
Ms.
Probst stated that the changes to the Standard Traffic Ordinances were also
outlined in the Kansas Government Journal and she asked that the Commission
pass the ordinance as it was presented in the agenda. Ms. Probst commented that the omissions had
to do with different speed limits and specific sections outlined for the 20 mph
for school zones. Mayor Meyer questioned
all those addresses; however, the City currently did not have the school at
Sacred Heart anymore and Haskins had changed to something else also. Ms. Probst stated that she had not had any
complaints to check into that. Ms.
Probst commented that she was thankful for the published STO’s since it made it
easier for the officers that transfer from other jurisdictions. Ms. Probst explained that the changes had to
do with constitutional complaints that had come before various courts and
orders from the various courts regarding preliminary breathe tests and
DUI. Ms. Probst added that there were a
few other minor wording changes and section updates. Ms. Probst stated that the primary change was
the DUI ordinance and it was the longest Statute in the Kansas Statutes. Ms. Probst commented that this also affected
the commercial DUI Statute.
The
following Ordinance 1809 was then presented to the Commission for their
approval: AN ORDINANCE AMENDING
CHAPTER 10.04 OF THE MUNICIPAL CODE OF THE CITY OF PRATT, KANSAS PROVIDING FOR
THE REGULATION OF TRAFFIC WITHIN THE CORPORATE LIMITS OF THE CITY OF PRATT;
INCORPORATING BY REFERENCE THE “STANDARD TRAFFIC ORDINANCE FOR KANSAS CITIES,” 2018
EDITION, WITH CERTAIN OMISSIONS, CHANGES, AND ADDITIONS; PRESCRIBING ADDITIONAL
REGULATIONS; PROVIDING CERTAIN PENALTIES; AND REPEALING CHAPTER 10.4. Commissioner Peters made a motion
to approve Ordinance 1809 as presented.
The motion was seconded by Commissioner Kumberg and carried unanimously.
CONSIDERATION AND
APPROVAL OF ORDINANCES IMPLEMENTING THE INCREASE OF THE MINIMUM CHARGES FOR
WATER, SEWER AND SANITATION:
·
Ordinance 1810-Sanitation Fees
·
Ordinance 1811-Water Fees
·
Ordinance 1812-Sewer Fees
Ms.
Probst stated that these ordinances were provided for in the budget meetings
and would increase the water, sewer and sanitation fees by $2.50 to help pay
for the increase in employee’s health insurance costs. Ms. Probst commented that these new rates would
be effective September 01, 2018. Mayor
Meyer stated that the City had had a substantial increase in health insurance
and this was the least painless increase that would generate the revenue. Commissioner Kumberg stated that they had
done away with the provision with the health insurance for the Commission in
order to limit the increase.
With
no further discussion, the following Ordinance 1810 was then presented to the
Commission for approval: AN ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTION 8.28.070 OF
THE MUNICIPAL CODE OF THE CITY OF PRATT, KANSAS; PROVIDING FOR REFUSE
COLLECTION FEES. Commissioner Peters
made a motion to approve Ordinance 1810 concerning the sanitation fees. The motion was seconded by Commissioner
Schmidt and carried unanimously.
The
following Ordinance 1811 was then presented to the Commission for approval: AN
ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTION 13.04.100 OF THE PRATT MUNICIPAL CODE OF THE CITY OF
PRATT, KANSAS: WATER RATES – ESTABLISHED.
Commissioner Schmidt made a motion to approve Ordinance 1811 pertaining
to water fee increases. The motion was
seconded by Commissioner Peters and carried unanimously.
The
following Ordinance 1812 was then presented to the Commission for
approval: AN ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTION 13.16.090 OF THE PRATT MUNICIPAL CODE OF
THE CITY OF PRATT, KANSAS: SEWER USER RATES – ESTABLISHED. Commissioner Kumberg made a motion to
approve Ordinance 1812 concerning sewer rates.
The motion was seconded by Commissioner Schmidt and carried unanimously.
OPEN AGENDA:
No
one in the audience wished to address the Commission.
REPORTS:
City Manager:
·
Retirements:
City
Manager Eckert stated that we were starting to see movement in some of the
longest serving staff. Mr. Eckert
clarified that we were looking at several that were talking about retirement
and giving advance notice. Mr. Eckert
added that he had a tremendous staff and we hoped to have people who come up in
the ranks to fill those positions.
·
Solar Farm:
Mr.
Eckert stated that they were in the early state of dirt work for the solar farm
and the crews were working on that portion of the project. Mr. Eckert commented that the terrain was
more significant than some had thought and it would take more work to get it to
the right level. Mr. Eckert added that
we had two weeks max to get that dirt work done.
·
Water legislation:
Mr.
Eckert stated that water legislation was an issue in Topeka and the problem was
saying that we had to use a lot of water to protect our water rights. Mr. Eckert commented that it was nice to be
on the water board because it was things like this that he heard about ahead of
time. Mayor Meyer stated that the
article in the paper was a good one.
·
Utilities:
Mr.
Eckert commented that sanitation, water and sewer were operated by City staff
and they were not just another situation that brings in revenue. Mr. Eckert stated that we could not live
without them and they get taken for granted sometimes.
·
Rainbow Energy:
Mr.
Eckert stated that he had met with Rainbow Energy one time in Pratt and he was
impressed then. Mr. Eckert added that he
had also accompanied Director of Electric Utilities Huber to Kansas City to see
their operation in house. Mr. Eckert
commented that it was amazing how they were monitoring what was changing and
when to lock it in. Mr. Eckert stated
that we were getting the best of the best.
·
Succession for Retirees:
Commissioner
Kumberg questioned if we were looking down the ranks for people to take over
for the ones that were thinking about retirement. Mr. Eckert stated that we had one retire
Friday and that was a surprise.
Commissioner Kumberg commented that we needed to be looking down the
line and start conversations to fill those rolls. Mr. Eckert stated that we were looking at it
now. Public Works Director Rambat stated
that there was not a lot out in the work force and it was hard to keep the
employees that we have now.
Public Works:
·
Mill and Overlay:
Public
Works Director Rambat stated that they were done with the mill and overlay, but
they had some small areas to get to out west by the Kwik Shop on
Washington. Mr. Rambat explained that
there was no curb in the 100 block of Washington and truckers and visitors park
on the front lawn. Mr. Rambat commented
that adding a curb would help with drainage also. Mr. Rambat stated that he also wanted to go
up north on Main Street and do some new curb and sidewalk by the Chapeau.
·
Street Sweeper:
Mr.
Rambat stated that he would be bringing the recommendation for the new street
sweeper to the next meeting and he thought that the financing paper work would
be ready at that time also.
Recreation
Department:
·
Municipal Building:
Recreation
Director Pinkall stated that he should have the final report from the
consulting engineer with some options and things we could do concerning the
heating and air at the Municipal Building.
Mr. Pinkall commented that he had met with some people who were fairly
knowledgeable with tax benefits for historical buildings. Mr. Pinkall stated that they would see if
this was cost effective, which was part of the initial survey. Mr. Pinkall added that they should have air
conditioning by the spring of 2019. Mr.
Pinkall commented that they were looking at other things like plumbing;
however, that was not their main focus.
Finance Department:
·
Sales Tax:
Finance
Director Garten stated that the City’s sales tax numbers were looking really
good; however, she thought it was due to the construction projects, the wind
farm, Americare and summer events. Ms.
Garten commented that she had not had time to research it but thought that
there were back taxes in there, but it was a positive trend.
Mayor and Commission:
·
Lemon Park:
Mayor
Meyer stated that he saw what had happened to Lemon Park after the rain and the
parks department did a great job getting it cleaned up. Mr. Rambat stated that those guys were all
over sixty and they did do a good job.
ADJOURN:
Commissioner
Schmidt made a motion to adjourn. That
motion was seconded by Commissioner Peters and carried unanimously.
_____________________________________
DOUG
MEYER, Mayor
ATTEST:
______________________________________
LUANN
KRAMER, City Clerk