09/19/16-Approved City County Recessed Commission Meeting Minutes

MONDAY

SEPTEMBER 19, 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
Ken Van Blaricum       City Attorney

Diana Garten                Finance Director
Gary Myers                  Chief of Police
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: 

DISCUSSION ON DRUG COURT:

Commissioner Borho informed the Commissions that she had attended a KCCA meeting in May and Saline County presented a breakout session on drug court.  Commissioner Borho stated that the idea was to reduce inmates in jail by getting them help to stay away from drugs.  Commissioner Borho commented that the District Judge would have to be very willing.  Commissioner Borho added that Sedgwick County had also made a presentation on mental health court.  Commissioner Borho stated that it would take the cooperation of several entities to make this program successful, but it would help make our society a better place and help those inmates.  A representative from Celebrate Recovery stated that seventy-five percent of people in drug court do not show up back up in the system in the next two years.  Commissioner Meyer stated that he had read that it takes $20,000 to incarcerate someone and the program was about $2,500.  Commissioner Meyer added that that was a huge saving to the taxpayers. 

Commissioner Hlavachick asked if they had discussed the length of time.  Commissioner Borho stated that it had taken them about a year to get things started and get their first case.  Commissioner Borho commented that they had had a high success rate on the few people that were able to go.  Commissioner Borho stated that the drug user was constantly enveloped in these groups to try to keep them on the straight and narrow.  Commissioner Borho added that it takes a village to re-habilitate drug offenders.  Commissioner Taylor stated that they would need a place like the Oxford House to reside for thirty days.  Commissioner Reynolds and Commissioner Hlavachick stated that they did not believe thirty days was enough to rehab.  Commissioner Borho stated that an Oxford House was what we were lacking at this point.  Mayor Kumberg stated that we had all the resources we needed to get something like this going.  Commissioner Borho stated that we have a lot of support for this, barring a few.  Mayor Kumberg commented that we had Horizons Mental Health and DCCCA, who had taken a huge step forward in what they were doing, along with AA and the Hope Center.   

Commissioner Skaggs questioned if there was a different recovery for different types of addictions or if it was all inclusive.  Commissioner Taylor commented that it was pretty much the same for all addictions, but some were harder to get off their drug.  Commissioner Borho stated that the problem was that they were being dropped back into society after the thirty days and they go back into the same frame of reference.  Commissioner Taylor commented that you need a home or a place for them to stay where they were going to be followed and supported after the thirty day rehabilitation stay.  Commissioner Reynolds stated that the whole system for any offense was faulty and it was not set up to help them.  Commissioner Borho commented that they could not get a job if they committed a felony.  Commissioner Reynolds added that he did not know what they were supposed to do.    Commissioner Meyer commented that the concept of Drug Court was to supersede that and not have them go to prison.  Mayor Kumberg stated that the biggest piece is that the person had to want to change.  Mayor Kumberg added that, if it was not voluntary, they come out and do the same thing over again.  Mayor Kumberg commented that the success of Drug Court was that it attempts to fix the issue with the drug offender.   

County Counselor Schmisseur stated that the Commissions should bring the Judge into the mix before getting too far into this discussion.  Mr. Schmisseur explained that it would not happen if the judge was not on board.  City Attorney Van Blaricum stated that the cost involved was high and that was why you only see them in the larger Cities.  Commissioner Borho and Commissioner Taylor agreed that money was available and we needed to pursue the idea because we have a serious problem.  Commissioner Borho stated that the key was a Judge that would support the efforts.   

Commissioner Taylor asked what happened with the Oxford House.  Commissioner Borho stated that she was told that the clients had to be clean for six months before they could go in there and there were no clients that had that length of time.  Commissioner Taylor questioned that length of time.  Commissioner Borho commented that they had to pay rent and they could not find clean clients who were employed and could pay the rent, so it was not a go.  Commissioner Borho added that she could have misunderstood the length of time.  Commissioner Taylor stated that having a job was not a prerequisite to get in; however, they do have to find a job.  Commissioner Taylor stated that you also had to find employers who would hire someone who was trying to better themselves.   

Mr. Schmisseur commented that you sometimes run into zoning issues and other issues that make it harder to do than it maybe should be.  Mr. Schmisseur stated that it could become a complex issue because of community resistance.  Mayor Kumberg stated that he had found out that there was protection for those homes against zoning.  Commissioner Borho stated that the house had been set up and furnished; however, the issue was that there were no clients.  Commissioner Meyer commented that he believes that we were no worse than other areas.  Commissioner Borho stated that she agreed that it was a pervasive problem.  Police Chief Myers stated that all officers had been trained in critical incident training and mental health training.  Mayor Kumberg stated that PRMC connects patients with psychologists through technology.  Commissioner Skaggs asked why Pratt was worse than other communities.  Mr. Van Blaricum stated that a doctor in a nearby community had prescribed a lot of opiates that fed the epidemic in Pratt.   

Commissioner Meyer stated that they had talked about a drug take back program at the last Solutions with Actions Together (SWAT) meeting.  Commissioner Meyer explained that the drug take back program was a program where you could bring prescription drugs to a secure drop box and law enforcement would dispose of them with the cooperation of the DEA.  Commissioner Meyer stated that this would get the substances out of the home and it was a good program. 

Chief Myers stated that he had heard that there had been some problems with some law enforcement agencies that had the drug take back program.  Chief Myers commented that it had been a nightmare for Harvey County, but they did not have a DEA sponsored program.  Chief Myers stated that they had said that there was so much red tape and complications that they had decided that it was not a good thing to do.  Chief Myers explained that he had researched the DEA endorsed plans and provided a map where there were drop off sites, which most were pharmacies.  Chief Myers stated that he had visited with a Deputy from Kingman County, who offered a bring back program, and he gave him contact information for a State coordinator through DEA.  Chief Myers commented that there was a pick-up two times a year where DEA provides a box for any drug returns during a four hour period, but they recommend that there be no syringes, needles or liquids.  Chief Myers stated that the boxes would be monitored by police and the package was sealed at the end of day so the DEA could come pick it up and do the management of the disposal.  Chief Myers added that this would prevent it from being a burden to law enforcement.  Chief Myers stated that he could speak with the DEA coordinator and get more updated information and details if we wanted to move forward. 

Commissioner Meyer stated that, in his research, it looked like law enforcement had more latitude than a retail pharmacy.  Commissioner Meyer commented that he had contacted Med RX Return who had a collection unit in the Dodge City Law Enforcement Center.   Commissioner Meyer stated that the police may have more leeway than a retail pharmacy.  Commissioner Meyer commented that this was a good way to dispose of opiates etc., but the DEA should be involved due to liability issues.  Commissioner Meyer stated that, as a Commission, we needed to promote this.  Chief Myers stated that there were liability issues if DEA was not involved.  Chief Myers commented that, at the SWAT meeting, it was suggested that this was an easy thing to do and to just do it; however, it was more complicated.  Commissioner Meyer asked Chief Myers if this could happen by October 22^nd.  Chief Myers stated that he would check with the DEA representative.  Commissioner Taylor stated that you had to make it convenient for people because kids could get hold of them if you did not get rid of them.  Commissioner Meyer stated that it was brought up that we should make it a joint effort by the City and County.   

Commissioner Meyer stated that we could not solve all the issues, but we could help by removing availability of some of these drugs with the take back program.  Chief Myers stated that he would check on more information and have October 22 as a target date.  Mayor Kumberg suggested trying it for October and, even if it was small, we could then work on a more permanent program.  Commissioner Borho asked how you distribute the word to the public that we were going to do this.   Chief Myers stated that the media helps get the word out.  Commissioner Taylor asked if they had a brochure that could be put in utility bills.  After little more discussion, Commissioner Borho made a motion that the County pay for the drug take back box at the cost of $1,000.  Commissioner Reynolds seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. 

Mr. Van Blaricum stated that he had read that the drug companies that make these products were lobbying against take back programs.  Mayor Kumberg reported that he read that the United States consumes 75% of all drugs produced worldwide.  Chief Myers suggested that they look at the DEA drug bring back program site on the web for information.  Mr. Schmisseur stated that people must know that they would not be penalized for having or bringing in narcotics.  Chief Myers stated that this was part of the DEA program.  Mr. Eckert explained that there were differences between disposal and destruction of items.  Mr. Eckert asked if the drugs were disposed of or destroyed.  Commissioner Meyer stated that they were destroyed.   

GENERAL DISCUSSION: 

·        Meeting of all entities: 

Mayor Kumberg stated that he had been contacted by Mr. Rodney Lesh and he had extended an invitation to representatives of all the taxing entities to discuss ways to collaboratively save tax dollars. Mayor Kumberg commented that the hospital uses Benefit Management, Inc. out of Great Bend who offers insurance plans.  Mayor Kumberg stated that some of the ideas were to work on a community based model for health insurance that had the potential to save and keep money in the community.  Commissioner Borho stated that you keep the same anniversary date.  Mayor Kumberg stated that we would utilitize a communications coordinator for the shared resources, such as website updating and press releases.  Mayor Kumberg explained that it would require an interlocal agreement of the two school districts, the City and the County.  Mayor Kumberg commented that there was interest between all entities of sharing the cost for this and possibly asking the Chamber if they would be interested in working with this also and possibly housing this person there.   

Mayor Kumberg commented about sharing staff and the other opportunities in purchasing.  Commissioner Hlavachick stated that this same idea of having a person who would be the clearing house for activities had come up at the Pratt Health Coalition meeting a few weeks ago.  Commissioner Borho commented that it would be to create a brand that would market Pratt and Pratt County and appeal to the next generation.  Mr. Eckert stated that he had been through this type of thing before and it was phenomenal.  Mr. Eckert commented that it takes a tech savvy person, because it involves instant communication.  Mr. Eckert stated that he would shy away from the Chamber doing the communications, because the Chamber and the Government were entirely separate.   

·        New Theatre:

Commissioner Borho informed the Commissioners that there was a new Board of Directors formed for Pratt Community Theatre, Inc.  Commissioner Borho discussed the land where the theatre would be located and that the Corporation would want to own it.  Commissioner Borho explained that the Board was for building and maintaining the theatre only.  Commissioner Skaggs asked if the $1.7 million that had been pledged included the land.  Commissioner Borho stated that it did not.   

·        Sell of Excess Capacity: 

Mayor Kumberg stated that there had been talk about the City selling our electric utility as the paper had reported.  Mayor Kumberg commented that this was confusing and the City was selling something.  Mayor Kumberg explained that, if we decide to go through with the deal with GridLiance to build a second transmission line, we would sell them the current line.  Mr. Eckert commented that they had gone through a similar thing in Wellington with Westar where they put in new poles and things that they needed and Wellington got no power from it.  Mr. Eckert explained that Westar said that they could, but Federal or State regulations said that they could not.  Commissioner Meyer stated that GridLiance had guaranteed that they would help us through all that.  Mr. Eckert expressed his concern that GridLiance was only a two year old company and what their track record was.  Commissioner Kumberg stated that GridLiance had a division that deals with the regulations of FERC and NERC.  Commissioner Meyer stated that we need to do our due diligence.   

·        LEC Interlocal Agreement: 

Mr. Schmisseur reported that the Attorney General had approved the interlocal agreement between Pratt County and the City of Pratt regarding the LEC arrangements.  Mr. Schmisseur added that he would file the approved agreement with the State and the Register of Deeds.

·        Next meeting date: 

The Commissioners set the next meeting date for December 5^th at 11:00 a.m. at City Hall. 

·        County adjourns: 

Commissioner Borho made a motion to adjourn the County meeting.  The motion was seconded by Commissioner Reynolds and the motion and second passed unanimously. 

·        Discussion concerning GridLiance: 

The City Commission discussed GridLiance and the sale of excess capacity.  Mr. Van Blaricum informed the Commission that the GridLiance attorneys would be here next Monday to meet with Director of Electric Utilities Huber and to discuss a Memorandum of Understanding on the project.  Mr. Huber stated that they would be bringing the Letter of Intent to discuss it.  Mr. Huber added that he got a letter stating that they would be bringing their lawyers, so he had ask Mr. Van Blaricum to be there.  

Mr. Huber informed the Commission that Sunflower Electric was now wanting to do a proposal to build a connecting transmission line.

 

ADJOURN:

Commissioner Skaggs made a motion to adjourn that was seconded by Commissioner Hlavachick.  The motion and second passed unanimously.

 

_______________________________________
LUCUS KUMBERG, Mayor

ATTEST:

________________________________________

LUANN KRAMER, City Clerk

10/03/2016-City Commission Meeting Agenda

MONDAY

OCTOBER 03, 2016

PRATT CITY COMMISSION – REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING

COMMISSION ROOM – 5:00 P.M.

1.      CALL TO ORDER (Remind audience that meeting is being recorded and/or taped.)

2.      ROLL CALL

3.      INVOCATION & PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

4.        MINUTES –   September 19, 2016 Jt. City/County Commission Meeting

  September 19, 2016 Regular Commission Meeting                            

5.      BUSINESS:

5.1             Consideration and Approval of the Capacity Purchase and Sale Agreement with MKEC – Roy Eckert, City Manager; Ken Van Blaricum, City Attorney

5.2             Consideration and Approval for Street Closure on Rochester Street from 3^rd Street to 4^th Street for the High School 4A Regional Tennis Tournament on October 7^th & 8^th and Use of the Scout Cabin – Bruce Pinkall, Recreation Director            (No packet information)

6.      OPEN AGENDA (City Matters Only)(3 Minute Time Limit)

7.      REPORTS:

7.1             City Manager

7.2             City Attorney

7.3             Department Superintendents

7.4             Mayor

7.5             City Commission

8.   ADJOURN

09/06/16-Approved City Commission Meeting Minutes

TUESDAY

SEPTEMBER 06, 2016 

The Governing Body of the City of Pratt met in Regular 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:        

Russell Rambat             Interim City Manager/Public Works Dir.
LuAnn Kramer             City Clerk
Ken Van Blaricum       City Attorney
Diana Garten                Finance Director
Gary Myers                   Chief of Police
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 Kumberg.  The Mayor instructed the Clerk to note that all Commissioners were present.

The Mayor reminded the audience that this meeting may be taped and/or recorded. 

INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: 

Commissioner Taylor led the staff and audience in the invocation and Mayor Kumberg led the Pledge of Allegiance.

MINUTES:

Commissioner Meyer made a motion to approve the minutes of the August 15, 2016 regular Commission meeting and the August 18, 2016 special call meeting.  The motion was seconded by Commissioner Taylor and carried unanimously.  

BUSINESS: 

PRESENTATION BY GRIDLIANCE ON AN ALTERNATE FEED TO THE CITY:

Director of Electric Utilities Huber informed the Commission that the City was at a point where we needed to progress and GridLiance had some numbers that they did not have at their last presentation.  Mr. Kevin Hooper of GridLiance commented that there was no technology when he was growing up, no air conditioning or remote controls and your telephone was owned by the phone company.  Mr. Hooper stated that some technology that has taken place does not involve electricity.  Mr. Hooper explained that, in today’s world, outages could cause problems.  Mr. Hooper explained that, not by anything that Mr. Huber was doing or not doing, there were reliability concerns due to outages due to the way we were fed.  Mr. Hooper stated that it was mandatory to have reliable electricity.  Mr. Hooper added that they were excited to do this presentation to see if we could potentially work as a team to improve liability and the economics of the situation.  Mr. Hooper stated that it was mandatory to have state of the art liability for long term health, education and economic development. 

Mr. Brett Hooton then gave a presentation on Pratt’s electrical challenges by the way we are fed, solutions to that challenge and the value of a partnership with GridLiance.  Mr. Hooton stated that Pratt’s challenges were not unique and you did not usually see municipalities have large transmission systems.  Mr. Hooton explained that smaller Cities are fed by a single radial feed and larger Municipalities do not put their larger Cities on radial feed.  Mr. Hooton added that that requires the Cities to have their own generation.  Mr. Hooton stated that transmission was becoming more burdensome on public power, more expensive and building the transmission was expensive.  Mr. Hooton explained that there were seventeen zones and Mid-Kansas was one of those zones, so Pratt has a load ratio share in the Mid-Kansas zone and that was about 5%, which means that Pratt pays for 5% of all the transmission in Mid-Kansas and you pay for your own.   

Mr. Hooton stated that future transmission requires future financial investments.  Mr. Hooton explained that Pratt would eventually have to rebuild the current line since this one was built in 1981.  Mr. Hooton stated that buying transmission was not a one-time payment, but more like a mortgage payment that you pay over time.  Mr. Hooton commented that you not only have to make that payment, but you have upkeep, maintenance, utilities and that was how transmission was paid for also.  Mr. Hooton explained that you have an annual transmission revenue requirement (atrr) and, in the 1,100 miles of Mid-Kansas, Pratt pays their 5% of the annual transmission revenue requirement.  Commissioner Taylor questioned if 5% was all we pay even if there were repairs and maintenance.  Mr. Hooton stated that, if Mid-Kansas’ typical costs of transmission was $100 but they have a year that it was $110, then you pay 5% of that.  Mr. Hooton added that only Pratt pays for Pratt’s transmission line because it is not in the SPP tariff.  Mr. Hooton stated that transmission costs would rise over the next two years, so Pratt would pay the transmission service charge that rolls through KMEA that eventually ends up in the SPP of about $87,000 per month and that was Pratt’s 5% in Mid-Kansas.  Mr. Hooton commented that there would be a lot of new transmission being built in the next two years.  Mr. Hooton shared some numbers with the Commission concerning service within the SPP of fourteen states and the $2.6 billion worth of transmission service that goes into service.  Mr. Hooton added that there was $424 million worth of transmission charges and Mid-Kansas had $70 million.  Mr. Hooton explained that these were not charges that would be paid all at once.  Mr. Hooton stated that the typical cost of an attr on a transmission asset is a $100 million project, with an annual cost of $15 to $20 million.  Mr. Hooton commented that, instead of $70 million in a year, the cost could be $12 million every year.  Mr. Hooton stated that the cost of transmission would go up no matter what Pratt does with their transmission situation.  Mr. Hooton explained that this was the result of changing generation, wind development and load changes, which were the drivers to the cost.

Mr. Hooton discussed Pratt’s recent outage on June 16^th and that it was related to a Mid-Kansas equipment failure.  Mr. Hooton stated that you do not want to lose power, but these outages resulted in damages that caused the power to go out again on June 21^st and then again on August 19^th.  Mr. Hooton explained that you were never going to eliminate all outages, but they would like to see where one single equipment failure does not result in an outage.  Mr. Hooton showed a map of our current transmission line and he also pointed out the four points of failure.  Mr. Hooton stated that, if anything happens at either of the four points, you lose transmission until you get it up and running again and get the load down enough that you could carry the City.  Mr. Hooton stated that what you want would be an additional option so that there were no single points of failure.   

Mr. Hooton stated that there were three components to the solution, because this was not only a reliability problem but a financial problem.  Mr. Hooton explained that the first component was to build a loop around the City and a new substation at the Industrial Park and the last component was to rebuild the City’s current transmission line.  Mr. Hooton stated that the rebuild of the transmission line would happen in the future or the second phase of the project.  Mr. Hooton explained that there was a transmission line that runs east and west of the Ethanol Plant and they would recommend cutting into that line, building a double circuit line to the substation at the Industrial Park and from there it would be circuit down to the current substation.  Mr. Hooton added that the transmission side of the line would need to be done, but the distribution side of the improvements would be up to Mr. Huber.  Commissioner Taylor asked Mr. Huber if we could build the transmission line.  Mr. Huber stated that that was the plan and build the distribution back into town at our leisure.  Mayor Kumberg questioned if the line placements would be an issue with the future bypass.  Public Works Director Rambat stated that it was better to get in there first, which was what we had done with the water line to the Ethanol Plant.  Mr. Hooton stated that these things could be addressed, but would work out.  Commissioner Hlavachick questioned if this would be above ground.  Mr. Hooton stated that it would be.  Commissioner Hlavachick asked if it could be buried.  Mr. Hooton commented that they did not want to talk about how expensive that would be. 

Mr. Hooton stated that the project would consist of a new substation at the Industrial Park, a new substation south of the current substation and a new 115kv transmission line estimated to cost $12.1 million.  Mr. Hooton commented that that does include land that would need to be purchased from the City behind the current substation and a couple of acres at the Industrial Park at an estimated book value of $25,094.  Mr. Hooton stated that they would have to rebuild the current line that was now about a forty year old asset that would not be able to handle the additional flows once looped in.  Mr. Hooton explained that the line would be rebuilt after the looping project was complete.  Mr. Hooton added that, if something catastrophic happened and the line needed to be rebuilt, the City would be without transmission for a while.  Mr. Hooton stated that the new equipment would be more technologically advanced.   

Mr. Hooton commented that, by looping the transmission, it would qualify the City for the SPP tariff.  Mr. Hooton explained that that would allow them to pay for that transmission in the same manner as all other Mid-Kansas transmission.  Mr. Hooton stated that it treats the City’s rate payers in a more equitable manner.  Mr. Hooton added that it would also include all costs for maintenance operations, debt payments and depreciation on both the current line and the new line.   

Mr. Hooton stated that their proposal would be to have GridLiance build, own, finance and operate the new looping project.  Mr. Hooton commented that they would also purchase Pratt’s current transmission line at an agreed price.  Mr. Hooton explained that GridLiance would then rebuild, finance and operate the City’s current transmission line.  Mr. Hooton informed the Commission that they would not be asking for any transmission related funds from the City.  Mr. Hooton clarified that they were not asking the City to issue any bonds; however, the City was welcome to do that if they wanted to.  Mr. Hooton stated that they were open to discuss how much the City would want to invest.  Mr. Hooton stated that GridLiance would be responsible for all NERC, FERC and SPP obligations on the transmission, which was a very important point.  Mr. Hooton stated that the NERC compliance on this was a big one since the City had the 115kv transmission that was looped and there were a lot of compliance and reporting obligations that go along with that.  Mr. Hooton explained that this makes it hard for smaller cooperatives and municipals to own NERC type transmission assets.  Mr. Hooton stated that GridLiance would handle that and the SPP obligations for transmission that had over sixty stake holder groups.  Mr. Hooton explained that there would be the opportunity to contract back to the City for operations and maintenance, but it was not required; however, it was something they like to offer to their partners.  

Mr. Hooton explained the current estimates based on current cost estimates and that they assume certain information such as what rate the City could borrow money.  Mr. Hooton stated that any return had to be approved by FERC.  Mr. Hooton reviewed the numbers if Pratt would do this by themselves and that the one year impact in 2021 would be $1.1 million and $32 million over thirty years.  Mr. Hooton commented that the rate impact on Pratt would be $107,000 if GridLiance did it and, if the City went in at 10%, the impact would be $71,000.  Mr. Hooton stated that the City already had people that work on the distribution system and the short transmission lines now and GridLiance would contract back with the partner.  Mr. Hooton commented that the maintenance in 2021 with GridLiance in at 100% would be $131,000.  Mr. Hooton explained that that means that they get a bill once a year for costs of maintenance and operations on the transmission line and that would include a 10% add-on for their profit.  Mr. Hooton stated that the $117,000 was the third option and GridLiance would be responsible for 90% and the City had the remaining 10%.  Mr. Hooton stated that that figure increases to $4.1 million over thirty years.   

Mr. Hooton stated that he had talked about the Mid-Kansas zone and right now the annual transmission revenue requirement for all the transmission in the Mid-Kansas zone was about $15 million.  Mr. Hooton explained that the numbers used were based on current forecasts and were extremely low since they did not know what new projects were being built.  Mr. Hooton explained the first scenario as Pratt doing the project by themselves and the cost of transmission development being around $1.1 or $1.2 million starting in 2021, which would be depreciated over the years.  Mr. Hooton stated that this would be the impact on the rate payers since the City was the only one paying it.  Mr. Hooton added that, if GridLiance did it 100%, the atrr that would be added to the Mid-Kansas atrr would be about $2.1 million a year.  Mr. Hooton stated that the annual increase in the City’s rate would be $107,000 per year for Mid-Kansas rate payers.  Mr. Hooton explained that the City would receive a cash inflow from the SPP tariff of $31,000 if they went in at 10%.   Mr. Hooton shared a slide that showed the impact on a typical customer’s bill when there were 4,500 meters.  Mr. Hooton pointed out that the monthly cost, if Pratt did this by themselves, would be about $22 in 2021; however, if GridLiance did it by themselves the cost would be $1.98 in 2021.  Mr. Hooton stated that he did not want to set false expectations since fuel costs would be different and would impact this project.  

Mr. Hooton stated that there were several reasons to partner and one was that GridLiance was looking for partners and not customers.  Mr. Hooton commented that they were flexible to fix problems and that was why they were created.  Mr. Hooton added that they had the expertise in engineering in the regional planning process, construction and operations.  Mr. Hooton stated that they bring financial backing with zero transmission costs to the City if that would be their desire.  Mr. Hooton commented that they were here to solve problems and they look for win/win situations.  Mr. Hooton showed a slide where the GridLiance family and all that were related to public power cooperatives.  Mr. Hooton stated that the City was familiar with KPP who do similar functions as KMEA.  Mr. Hooton added that they also had Missouri and Oklahoma and Tri-County Electric Cooperatives.  Mr. Hooton stated that they had purchased all 400 miles of transmission from Tri-County and they would use those funds for distribution site enhancements. 

Mr. Hooton stated that the next steps would be a general agreement on the approach and he commented that he did not even need to know in the next couple of months if Pratt wanted to invest.  Mr. Hooton explained that they would draft a Letter of Intent and it was a non-binding document, but it would give each party an idea of what kind of deal we would like to reach.  Mr. Hooton stated that they would eventually like to purchase the City’s current facility and partner with the City of Pratt in a new project for whatever percent they were comfortable with.  Mr. Hooton stated that this would let them get started drafting the definitive agreements, such as the asset purchase agreement and the joint development agreement.  

Mayor Kumberg questioned what the time frame would be if we were going to partner with GridLiance right now.  Mr. Hooton stated that the construction would be ready to go in about eighteen months; however, the unknowns were tough, but it would be at least a couple of years before it would be energized.  Mr. Hooton informed the Commission that there was a lot of legal work, but they would move through that as quickly as Pratt wanted to.  Mr. Hooper stated that they were excited to work with Pratt and they were interested in each State and any project that lets them work with regulators and the KCC.  Mr. Hooper commented that the City would have their full disposal of the various legal regulatory engineering and they would do what they could to make this happen.  Mayor Kumberg asked if this would make KCC our regulatory agency for our utilities.  Mr. Hooton stated that it would not.  Mayor Kumberg commented that we liked the way it was now.  

Commissioner Skaggs questioned what would happen if we did not get along in the future and GridLiance owned our transmission lines.  Mr. Hooton stated that they were looking for long term partners.  Mr. Hooton explained that they like contracting back the operations and maintenance because you are here and available.  Mr. Hooton stated that they make money by the return on the investments through the SPP tariff.  Commissioner Meyer asked how the return on equity was determined.  Mr. Hooton explained that it was a formula rate that had to be approved by FERC, but they look for about 10.3.  Commissioner Meyer stated that one of the things he had been worried about was the impact on our electric rates, but it looks as though they would not be impacted.  Mr. Huber stated that there were things that were out of our hands, such as the price of gas.  Mr. Huber explained that it costs a lot of money when the City generates.  Mr. Hooton stated that they did not want Pratt to back themselves into a corner.  Mayor Kumberg stated that he did not have a problem with moving forward with the Letter of Intent since it takes a lot of time to get things worked out.  Commissioner Taylor commented that this had been on the back burner for years.  Mr. Huber stated that they had looked at prolonging this a little longer, but it would be about two years out even if we started today.    

Commissioner Skaggs questioned if there were other businesses doing this.  Mr. Hooton stated that there were other transmission companies, but GridLiance was the only one that allows investment opportunities for our partners.  Commissioner Skaggs asked if they were getting too big and also asked how much they could handle.  Mr. Hooton stated that they were backed by Black Stone Equity Group and they were the largest energy investor in the world.  Mr. Hooton added that they had an open check book in terms of resources spent.  Mr. Hooton explained that the transmission world was about $2.5 billion and this was a $12 million project.  Commissioner Taylor questioned what percent of electricity sold to our customers was transmission charges.  Mr. Hooton stated that it was around 5% to 10%. 

City Attorney Van Blaricum asked what the down side would be for the City of Pratt.  Mr. Hooton stated that there were two road blocks and the regulatory process moving forward was a big one.  Mr. Hooton explained that they want to be sure that KCC was on board even though they did not regulate Pratt; however, they could cause problems when we file with FERC.  Mr. Hooton stated that the second part of that would be the FERC process, but he does not see any problems there.  Mr. Hooton commented that they want to work well at Mid-Kansas since they were the dominating utility in the zone and we would be interconnecting to their facility.  Mayor Kumberg stated that right-of-way acquisitions of land that was not already ours.  Mr. Hooton stated that that was a big one along with railways.

Commissioner Hlavachick questioned if we could upgrade our own transmission line, because he did not like someone else owning our transmission.  Mr. Huber stated that our problems were with Sunflower and out of our control, but the outages would have been seconds if we would have had this loop line built.  Commissioner Meyer stated that this would be attractive to businesses, so it was a win/win.  Energy Agent Kreutzer stated that, if we built the loop ourselves and put it in the SPP, we would be regulated the same no matter who owns it, because the SPP controls it.  Commissioner Meyer asked if GridLiance would object to us contacting references.  Mr. Hooper stated that Mr. Larry Holloway was with the KPP and had worked with the KCC and he encouraged the City to talk to any of the partners.  Mr. Hooper stated that the only reason this company exists was because it was formed by industry veterans dealing with entities.  Mr. Hooper commented that the competitors were focused on financial profit and GridLiance was created to solve problems and to serve public power. 

After little more discussion, Commissioner Taylor made a motion to move forward with a Letter of Intent from GridLiance concerning the alternate feed to the City.  The motion was seconded by Commissioner Meyer and carried unanimously. 

CONSIDERATION AND APPROVAL OF SELLING THE CITY’S EXCESS CAPACITY: 

Director of Electric Utilities Huber stated that they had been discussing selling the City’s excess capacity for a while.  Mr. Huber commented that the excess capacity was a result of unit contracts over the years.  Mr. Huber explained that they had been to Sunflower about the bad breakers and they talked about buying our excess capacity.  Mr. Huber stated that Sunflower had sent a quote on what they would give the City for the next ten years. Mr. Huber explained that they went ten years because our Jeffries contract would be up in two years and we would lose the rest of the GRDA’s over the next ten years and at that point there would be no more excess capacity.  Mr. Huber commented that we would have to start looking for a contract to purchasing power again.  Mr. Huber stated that GRDA’s had kept our costs down over the years. 

Mr. Huber informed the Commission that Sunflower had sent a quote to purchase the excess capacity over the next ten years and, after reviewing this with Energy Agent Kreutzer, they felt that the best option was #3.  Mr. Huber stated that we had what they needed and they offered to pay the City $1.7 million over the next ten years.  Mr. Huber commented that they had contacted KMEA since they had first rights and they were not interested.  Mr. Huber added that everyone in the EMP either had enough or had too much.  Mayor Kumberg questioned if they were going to do about $174,000 for the next two years.  Mr. Huber stated that that was right and he did not know why we had not done this before. 

Mr. Kreutzer stated that everybody had waited to see what the SPP was going to do and, when they did not do anything, Sunflower was going to be short.  Commissioner Meyer questioned what we would do if we got a big industry in here that needed a lot of power.  Mr. Huber stated that we would have to buy off the market.  Mr. Kreutzer added that they were buying all our excess capacity and not buying the numbers.  Mr. Kreutzer stated that they had left the City 1.7 megawatts for load growth, so we were not selling everything.  Mayor Kumberg asked if we had a contract.  Mr. Huber stated that we did not, but he would call Sunflower tomorrow.  Commissioner Skaggs commented that it was hard to visualize ten years out so we might need the excess.  Mr. Huber commented that we would not sell them any excess if that was the case. 

Mayor Kumberg made a motion to give the Director of Electric Utilities the authority to get a contract for selling excess capacity to Sunflower.  The motion was seconded by Commissioner Meyer and carried unanimously. 

CONSIDERATION AND APPROVAL OF A STREET DANCE ON OCTOBER 1^ST FROM 7:00 P.M. TO 12:00 A.M. FOR THE TEEN CENTER: 

No representative from the Teen Center was at the meeting; however, the street dance was discussed anyway.  Mayor Kumberg stated that he had no problem with the Teen Center having a street dance.  After little discussion, Commissioner Hlavachick made a motion to approve the request for a Teen Center street dance on October 1, 2016 from 7:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. on East Fourth Street to the alley.  The motion was seconded by Commissioner Skaggs and carried unanimously. 

DISCUSSION ON DISC GOLF AT LEMON PARK:

Mr. Jason Winkel stated that the Pratt Disc Golf Club wanted to have their end of the year tournament at Lemon Park again this year and they would get ready on September 9^th and clean-up on September 11^th.  Mr. Winkel commented that they would have signs throughout the course to keep everyone safe.  Commissioner Skaggs made a motion to approve the use of Lemon Park by the Prat Disc Golf Club on September 9^th, 10^th, and 11^th for their tournament.  The motion was seconded by Commissioner Hlavachick and carried unanimously. 

CONSIDERATION AND APPROVAL OF RESOLUTION 090616 PROVIDING FOR A HEARING ON AN UNSAFE OR DANGEROUS STRUCTURE AT 911 SOUTH MOUND:

City Attorney Van Blaricum commented that the City had done this before and this resolution was concerning an unsafe structure.  Mr. Van Blaricum stated that this was a legal remedy to getting it repaired or torn down.  Building Inspector Blankenship shared pictures of the property at 911 South Mound Street and stated that there were holes in the roof that let rain in and the floors had rotted out.  Mr. Blankenship added that the garage was about to fall down and there were people staying there without utilities.  Mr. Blankenship stated that the owner was from out of State.  Commissioner Meyer stated that the cars had been taken care of.  Mr. Blankenship stated that they had been removed, but the house was not in good condition.  Police Chief Myers stated that, at one time, they had an extension cord going to the neighbors’ and had surveillance cameras on both entrances. 

The following Resolution 090616 was then presented to the Commission for their approval:  RESOLUTION PROVIDING FOR HEARING ON UNSAFE OR DANGEROUS STRUCTURE PURSUANT TO K.S.A. 12-1750, et seq. AND PRATT MUNICIPAL CODE SECTION 8.08.010 et seq.  Commissioner Taylor made a motion to approve Resolution 090616 providing for a hearing at 911 South Mound Street.  The motion was seconded by Commissioner Meyer and carried unanimously.  City Attorney Van Blaricum stated that the hearing would be on October 17^th at the regular Commission meeting and then the process would move forward. 

EXECUTIVE SESSION:

Mayor Kumberg made a motion to go into executive session for ten minutes to discuss non-elected personnel.  The motion was seconded by Commissioner Skaggs and carried unanimously. 

Mayor Kumberg made a motion to return from executive session.  The motion was seconded by Commissioner Taylor and carried unanimously. 

Mayor Kumberg reported that the Commission had spent a lot of time in the search for a City Manager and they had contracted with the League of Kansas Municipalities as a hiring agency for the City.  Mayor Kumberg commented that they had collected thirty applications and, after very careful consideration, interviewed seven by skype and four of those were interviewed personally later.  Mayor Kumberg informed the public that they had come to the decision to offer the position to Mr. Roy Eckert.  Having said that, Mayor Kumberg made a motion to extend a contract of employment for the City Manager position to Mr. Roy Eckert.  The motion was seconded by Commissioner Hlavachick and carried unanimously. 

Mr. Van Blaricum stated that he had been in contact with Mr. Eckert and he was excited about the job.  Mr. Van Blaricum commented that he would be here tomorrow to sign the contract.  Mr. Van Blaricum informed the Commission and staff that there would be a reception on Monday September 19^th from 2:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. to introduce Mr. Eckert to the public.  Mr. Van Blaricum stated that Mr. Eckert’s intention was to start as soon as possible, but they would need to sell their current home and look for one in Pratt.  Mayor Kumberg thanked Mr. Van Blaricum and the staff for making all this go smoothly.

OPEN AGENDA:

·        Thank you:

 

Ms. Glenna Borho stated that she and her husband had recently had a reason to buy two plots at Greenlawn Cemetery.  Ms. Borho commented that the City of Pratt had a beautiful cemetery and it was well run.  Ms. Borho thanked Cemetery Sexton Jeff Gilmore and Mr. Mike Wardlow for being very gracious to work with. 

·        Problem with City employee: 

Mr. Michael Florez stated that this was the second time that he had been here to address an ongoing problem with a City employee and City Attorney Van Blaricum had knocked him off the agenda.  Mr. Florez commented that he had a letter requesting an investigation of Officer Mike McAbee by the FBI.  Mr. Florez stated that he had been asked about a month and a half ago if he had a problem with the department investigating one of their own.  Mr. Florez added that this had been going on from 2013 until now and it was not fair.  Mr. Florez stated that he wanted a way to get over the situation, but he was not over it.  Mr. Florez commented that Mr. Van Blaricum was condoning McAbee’s actions and he would continue to come back here.  Mr. Florez stated that this was not professional and he requested a KBI investigation and presented a letter to Mayor Kumberg. 

REPORTS:

Interim City Manager: 

·        Speed limit changes: 

Commissioner Skaggs asked if we had heard anything on the speed limit changes.  Interim City Manager Rambat stated that he had not, but he had sent it to Mr. Scott Mullin.  Mr. Rambat commented that Mr. Mullin had stated that it could be thirty to forty-five days before we hear back from KDOT.

Public Works:

·        Pool closed: 

Mr. Rambat informed the Commission that the pool was done for the year and he had shut everything down and drained the pumps.  Mr. Rambat stated that he would let the chlorine settle and then he would drain it.  Mr. Rambat commented that it had been a successful year mechanically.   

·        Mosquitoes: 

Mr. Rambat stated that mosquitoes were a problem, but the weather was not cooperating so we could spray.  Mr. Rambat commented that they were going to try and spray this weekend if the winds were under 10 mph. 

·        Boulders at Wal-Mart:

Mr. Rambat stated that the large boulders placed at the Wal-Mart entrance had been hit.  Mr. Rambat explained that they had been crowded all together and a couple had been pushed into the street.  Mr. Rambat added that one had been broken in half.  Mr. Rambat stated that the Line crew helped them reset the boulders.  Mr. Rambat stated that he was going to get a sign that had an arrow to let the truckers know to use the south entrance.

·        New facility by Kincheloe’s: 

Commissioner Hlavachick asked what the new facility was being built out by Kincheloe’s.  Building Inspector Blankenship stated that it was the new Ninnescah Rural Electric and they owned about ten acres.  Mr. Blankenship commented that the west side of the property was exactly as close as they could get without being in our transmission area.  Mr. Rambat added that they would have geothermal heating and cooling. 

Building Inspections: 

·        Wal-Mart boulders: 

Building Inspector Blankenship stated that the boulders at Wal-Mart were near a main water valve and that vehicle had run over the top of that and the boulders had been put there to help protect that line.  Mr. Rambat commented that the water main was about 8’ to 10’ deep and that would be very costly to repair.  Commissioner Skaggs asked which direction the truck came in from.  Mr. Rambat stated that it appeared that it came in from the east if you looked at the tracks.  Mr. Rambat commented that the truck left us his fender, but there was no way to see who did it. 

·        Amusement Right Act Notice: 

Mr. Blankenship stated that he had received the Amusement Right Act Notice from the Department of Labor and that had come from the Schlitterbahn Water Park accident.  Mr. Blankenship added that this would filter down to any City that had any type of amusement ride and the train was part of that.  Mr. Blankenship stated that Mr. Rambat had filled it out and, as the owners, we were obligated to fill it out and maintain inspection records.  Mr. Blankenship commented that he had had a local mechanic take care of that and he looked after the tracks.   

Mr. Blankenship informed the Commission that he had contacted Chance Manufacturing also and he would post a valid certificate from them after they had finished the inspection.  Mr. Blankenship commented that this would have to be done annually.  Commissioner Taylor asked how much that would cost.  Mr. Blankenship stated that he did not know.  Mr. Blankenship commented that they had to have someone from Chance Manufacturing come out when there was the derailing issue and it was $1,200 and he thought it would be somewhere around that again. 

·        City Hall makeover: 

Mr. Blankenship stated that the side of City Hall was being painted and repairs were being made to fix holes and cracks.  Mr. Rambat commented that we would be taking down the wooden fence and then the street department would be building a parking lot for the staff.  Mr. Blankenship stated that we would need to be looking at putting on a good roof if we planned on staying here. 

·        Arby’s and Casey’s update: 

Mr. Blankenship stated that Arby’s would be opening on September 20^th.   

Mr. Blankenship stated that Casey’s was still waiting on KDOT’s decision about the openings on Dale Road and Highway 61.  Mr. Blankenship commented that he had visited with EBH Engineering and the Casey’s engineer and had found that it was only a right-of-way for a certain part and Dale Road did not start until the back side of Terry Hamilton’s old building location.  Mr. Rambat stated that he had been trying to get in touch with KDOT because they had asked if Dale Street was an official City street.  Mr. Rambat stated that it was not and he felt that Casey’s wanted to improve to Highway 61.  Mr. Blankenship stated that this was holding up Casey’s moving forward.  Mr. Rambat added that he had not heard anything negative from Casey’s. 

Recreation Department: 

·        Memorandum of Agreement: 

Recreation Director Pinkall stated that he would have a Memorandum of Agreement with Pratt Community College for the track and soccer field at the next meeting.  Mr. Pinkall commented that he had met with Dr. Calvert a few times to negotiate an agreement.  Mr. Pinkall stated that he would have Mr. Van Blaricum look at it also.  Mr. Pinkall stated that the City would provide the property and Pratt Community College would provide the funding.  Mr. Pinkall added that we would be the grant applicant and the Commission had approved a resolution for that earlier.  Commissioner Taylor asked if Skyline or Pratt were in on any of these discussions.  Mr. Pinkall stated that they had been invited, but no one attended.  Mr. Pinkall commented that they were interested in using, but not investing.  Mayor Kumberg questioned if we had a good chance of getting the grant.  Mr. Pinkall stated that we did.  Commissioner Taylor asked how many acres we were talking about.  Mr. Pinkall stated that it was over 40 acres, but he did not know the total design.  Mr. Pinkall added that the City would want to retain ownership and keep to the north edge of the property.

·        Resurfacing gym floor: 

Mr. Pinkall informed the Commission that they had completed resurfacing of the gym floor at the Municipal Building.  Mr. Pinkall stated that they were doing this on their own now. 

Police Department: 

·        Executive Session: 

Police Chief Myers requested an executive session at the meeting to discuss elected personnel to last thirty minutes. 

Finance Department:

·        Sales Tax: 

Finance Director Garten stated that the sales tax report shows that it continues to drop.  Ms. Garten added that we were about 5% down from last year.  Ms. Garten commented that the departments were watching their spending. 

·        Unemployment report: 

Mayor Kumberg asked about the unemployment reports that were in the packet.  Ms. Garten stated that we were low in unemployment.  City Clerk Kramer commented that Mr. Howard’s emails were being forwarded to her and she thought this would be something the Commissioners would like seeing. 

City Clerk/Utility Billing Department:

·        MDA Boot Block:

City Clerk Kramer informed the Commission that the fire department did their MDA Boot Block and had raised $4,600.  Ms. Kramer stated that this was about $400 more than last year and people were very generous this year.

·        Customer’s email: 

Ms. Kramer commented that the Commissioners had received an email from an unhappy customer the other day and she wanted them to know that that was something that her department handles daily.  Ms. Kramer stated that her employee was doing her job, which upset this customer.  Ms. Kramer thanked Mr. Blankenship, Mr. Rambat and Mr. Clay for stepping out and letting their presence be known.  Ms. Kramer added that, with Mr. Blankenship standing behind her, an agreement was reached later that afternoon.  

Mayor and Commission: 

·        Executive Session: 

Mayor Kumberg made a motion to enter into executive session for non-elected personnel to last 30 minutes.  The motion was seconded by Commissioner Taylor and carried unanimously. 

Mayor Kumberg made a motion to return from executive session with nothing to report.  The motion was seconded by Commissioner Meyer and carried unanimously. 

RECESS:

Upon proper motion, the meeting was recessed until Monday, September 19, 2016 for the City/County meeting at City Hall.

 

_______________________________________

LUCUS KUMBERG, Mayor

ATTEST:

________________________________________

LUANN KRAMER, City Clerk