MONDAY
DECEMBER 05, 2016
The
Governing Body of the City of Pratt met in Recessed session in the Commission
Room located in City Hall.
PRESENT:
Lucus
Kumberg Mayor
Bill
Hlavachick Commissioner
Jeff
Taylor Commissioner
Gary
Skaggs Commissioner
Doug
Meyer Commissioner
ALSO
PRESENT:
Roy
Eckert City Manager
LuAnn
Kramer City Clerk
Ken
Van Blaricum City Attorney
Glenna
Borho County Commissioner
Joe
Reynolds County
Commissioner
Dave
Ward County Commissioner
Sherry
Kruse County Clerk
Bob
Schmisseur County
Counselor
CALL TO ORDER:
The
recessed meeting was called to order by Mayor Kumberg. The Mayor instructed the Finance Director to
note that all Commissioners were present.
BUSINESS:
GENERAL DISCUSSION ON
CITY/COUNTY ISSUES:
·
Transition:
Commissioner
Skaggs questioned if the County anticipated any changes with a new
Sheriff. Commissioner Borho stated that
it would be a 180 from where they were today.
Commissioner Borho commented that Sheriff-elect White would get along
with Chief Myers and Detective Ward and we are all happy to hear that. Commissioner Borho added that there had been
a drug court meeting on Friday and Sheriff-elect White and Detective Ward
worked well together. City Manager
Eckert stated that he had also worked with him and he thought things would go
nicely.
·
LEC – Out of space:
Commissioner
Meyer stated that he knew there was a LEC Committee, but the City police
department was out of room at the Law Enforcement Center. Commissioner Meyer commented that it was
effecting their morale; however, he did not know what the answer was. Commissioner Meyer explained that there was
nowhere to process arrests if there were two or three at a time. Commissioner Meyer stated that Detectives
Ward and Bennett were in a small office and it may be that we need to
reconfigure where those offices were located.
Commissioner Reynolds stated that he did not know what they could do,
because there was no room in the jail.
Commissioner Reynolds added that a new jail would make people
unhappy. Commissioner Reynolds stated
that the Municipal Court area takes up quite a bit of room so maybe it could be
relocated to somewhere like City Hall.
Counselor
Schmisseur stated that he spends a lot of time at the Law Enforcement Center
and there was no question that they were busy.
Mr. Schmisseur commented that moving Municipal Court would be hard since
some of them were in custody and it would be a logistical nightmare moving them
for blocks. Mr. Schmisseur added that
you would not want them coming down this hallway. Mr. Schmisseur stated that there was a training
room downstairs, but moving that would make the on duty officers too far away
if they were needed immediately. Mr.
Schmisseur commented that he did not have a good answer, but he would suggest
not moving Municipal Court. City
Attorney Van Blaricum stated that Municipal Court was in a good location;
however, people were sitting on the floor during court on Tuesday’s and
Thursday’s because there was no room.
Mayor Kumberg stated that this could be discussed after the transition
and maybe there would be space in the basement that could be looked at. Commissioner Reynolds stated that the
basement was not ADA accessible.
Commissioner
Meyer asked who was in control of the building.
Commissioner Borho stated that it was a County owned building. Mr. Schmisseur commented that there used to
be a day room downstairs but Sheriff Chinn did not believe in having them watch
TV. Mr. Schmisseur stated that, one fall
down the basement stairs, and there would be large medical bills. Mayor Kumberg stated that we were needing to
expand the evidence locker, but that would be very expensive and a budgetary
issue. Commissioner Skaggs questioned if
the building could go up or out or if that was not affordable. Commissioner Borho commented that they were
not willing to build what was proposed and go south. Mayor Kumberg stated that this could be
addressed at the next LEC meeting.
Commissioner Borho commented that they only meet once a year. Mr. Schmisseur stated that the next meeting
was July 02, 2017. Mayor Kumberg stated
that we could have Chief Myers evaluate the situation and see what we have
access to and think outside the box.
Commissioner Skaggs asked if they store evidence on the main floor. Commissioner Meyer stated that it was in the
basement.
Commissioner
Meyer stated that the hallways were narrow and it would go a long way for
morale of the staff to look at this issue.
Commissioner Borho stated that the dispatchers were happy with their
room and they had talked about staying in the trailers. Mr. Eckert commented that he had heard that
there had been talk about moving City Hall back to the Municipal Building and
putting the police department here.
Commissioner Taylor questioned how many cars were in the garage area. Commissioner Reynolds stated that there was
not much room left in there since some of it was taken with the remodel. Commissioner Ward stated that we should get
Sheriff-elect White and Chief Myers together after the transition to look at
the best use of the space.
Mr.
Schmisseur commented that the chiller was not being used anymore, so we might
be able to build north. Commissioner
Ward stated that Detectives Ward and Bennett share that small office and all
the other officers share one smaller than theirs. Commissioner Ward added that the breakroom
was smaller than both of those offices.
Commissioner Meyer stated that we may need to redesign our area to use
the square footage to the best we can.
Commissioner Reynolds commented that it would not be cheap, but going
north would give us enough room. Mayor
Kumberg suggested having them look at what they have for space and see what
they could come up with. Mayor Kumberg
commented that we could knock out a couple of walls and have someone come in
and tell us what we can and cannot do.
Commissioner Ward stated that he knew that the City officers were
cramped for space, but he did not know about the sheriff’s side. Commissioner Ward added that we did not want
to do anything too soon or build too small.
Commissioner
Meyer stated that he appreciated the Commissioner’s willingness to look at
options. Commissioner Meyer asked if
something could be done for around $10,000.
Mayor Kumberg commented that the Municipal Building renovation was
around $12 grand. Commissioner Meyer
commented that this could be looked at for the next budget and get the entities
together. Commissioner Borho stated that
it did not hurt to plant the seed now.
·
Coalition group:
Mayor
Kumberg stated that several had attended the coalition group’s meeting and they
only wanted positive things to happen in the community. Mayor Kumberg commented that they felt that
doing this on their own was more viable.
Commissioner Borho commented that they discussed going to a neighborhood
watch program and that would make people mindful of what was going on in their
environment. Mayor Kumberg stated that
they want to do something so that there were more public eyes on things that
were happening in the community and bringing other people in on home security
systems. Mayor Kumberg added that we
were as interested as they are and would be available as much as possible. Mayor Kumberg commented that people had to
understand that we do not institute and run this group, but would help with
resources and education. Commissioner
Skaggs stated that neighborhoods change with the community watch signs and
questioned if they were viable anymore.
Mayor Kumberg stated that they were really viable at one time. Commissioner Meyer stated that we needed to
rejuvenate it again. Commissioner Meyer
suggested that the City could provide the poles for the signs so that they
would all be uniform in size, height and position.
Mr.
Schmisseur stated that Mr. Zimmerman was on a neighborhood watch when Mr. Treyvon
Martin was shot. Mr. Schmisseur
commented that anyone can conceal carry unless they had been convicted of a
felony. Commissioner Taylor stated that
he believes in the ‘if you see something say something’ attitude. Commissioner Meyer commented that he
sympathizes with the police because these guys disappear fast. Mr. Schmisseur commented that there had been
some discussion about bringing crime stoppers back. Commissioner Taylor stated that there should
be something we bring back. Mayor
Kumberg stated that it was sponsored by someone in the community and costs
money.
Commissioner
Meyer questioned how the bail system worked.
Mr. Van Blaricum stated that bail in Municipal Court was set by the
judges and they set the bond to make sure that they come back in. Mr. Van Blaricum added that the jails would
be overflowing if the bond was not easy.
Commissioner Reynolds stated that there was nowhere to go with those
people. Mr. Schmisseur commented that a
third of the jail roster was failure to appear and some of those were not dangerous. Mr. Schmisseur added that it was frustrating
that people would not show up. Mr.
Schmisseur stated that there would be plenty of money the first year you get
crime stoppers started again. Mayor
Kumberg commented that we had to put it together again. Commissioner Meyer asked how it was
traditionally funded. Mr. Schmisseur
stated that it was donations and they were not tax deductible.
·
Drug court:
Commissioner
Borho commented that a drug court had been discussed and they were wanting to
bring in mental health and expand that for people who had other issues. Commissioner Taylor asked if the Oxford House
had fallen through. Commissioner Borho
stated that it had for now and the people had to be employed. Commissioner Taylor stated that some of that
was court ordered and the people wanted to get straight so they were
employable. Commissioner Taylor added
that he was a firm believer in the Oxford House. Mayor Kumberg stated that he did not know
what Horizon’s budget was like, but it seemed that Hutchinson was the closest
mental health place and there was one in Dodge City and Wichita. Mayor Kumberg questioned if they would even
be interested in putting a facility here.
Commissioner Borho stated that Horizon’s was all out patient. Commissioner Taylor commented that they could
go to someone like Valley Hope in Norton, but it would not hurt to talk to them
again. Mayor Kumberg stated that it was
an interesting thought, because not having that service causes issues for us if
someone needs evaluated.
·
Spring clean-up:
Commissioner
Borho questioned if the City was going to do a spring clean-up again. Commissioner Skaggs stated that we were happy
with the last one. Mayor Kumberg
commented that everybody was happy.
Commissioner Borho stated that the County was also pleased with how it
went. Commissioner Taylor commented that
he could not remember what the cost was.
City Clerk Kramer stated that she thought it was around $7,000. Commissioner Skaggs stated that we should
keep doing it until we did not need to anymore.
Commissioner Borho stated that, from the County’s standpoint, having the
City employees helped. Mayor Kumberg
commented that it was less expensive than when the City did it by ourselves.
·
Next meeting date:
The
next joint meeting was set for February 06, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. at City Hall.
ADJOURN:
Commissioner
Meyer made a motion to adjourn. The
motion was seconded by Commissioner Taylor and carried unanimously.
_______________________________________LUCUS KUMBERG, Mayor
ATTEST:
________________________________________
LUANN
KRAMER, City Clerk