MONDAY
DECEMBER 07, 2015
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:
Dave Howard City Manager
LuAnn
Kramer City Clerk
Ken
Van Blaricum City Attorney
Diana
Garten Finance Director
Gary
Myers Chief of Police
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 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 November 16, 2015 recessed
Joint Commission meeting and the November 16, 2015 regular Commission
meeting. The motion was seconded by
Commissioner Hlavachick and carried unanimously.
Commissioner
Taylor stated that he felt that we were getting somewhere with the City/County
meetings. Commissioner Taylor added that
he thought that it would be beneficial to meet more often. Commissioner Taylor commented that no other
meeting had been so beneficial since he had been on the Commission.
BUSINESS:
CONSIDERATION AND APPROVAL OF
2016 CEREAL MALT BEVERAGE APPLICATIONS:
Police
Chief Myers stated that the eleven retail merchants had filed their annual
cereal malt beverage applications and the back ground investigations had met
the requirements. Chief Myers
recommended that these merchants be issued their 2016 license. Commissioner Taylor made a motion to approve
the 2016 Cereal Malt Beverage applications for the business listed. The motion was seconded by Commissioner
Skaggs and carried unanimously.
CONSIDERATION AND APPROVAL OF
2016 LEASE AGREEMENT WITH THE SENIOR CITIZENS ORGANIZATION:
City
Attorney Van Blaricum stated that the 2016 Lease Agreement with the Senior
Citizens Organization was in good legal form and there were no issues that he
knew of. Mr. Van Blaricum commented that
this was the same as last year with the exception of the dates being
updated. Commissioner Hlavachick made a
motion to approve the 2016 Lease Agreement with the Senior Citizens
Organization. The motion was seconded by
Commissioner Meyer and carried unanimously.
CONSIDERATION AND APPROVAL OF
2016 LEASE AGREEMENT WITH THE AMERICAN LEGION:
City
Attorney Van Blaricum stated that this agreement was the same type of thing and
was the annual lease for the American Legion.
Mr. Van Blaricum stated that we had worked out a few things a year or two
ago and they seem satisfied. Mr. Van
Blaricum added that this was a good deal for them. Commissioner Skaggs questioned if they had
maintained insurance. City Clerk Kramer
stated that they had. A motion by
Commissioner Skaggs to approve the 2016 Lease Agreement for the American
Legion. The motion was seconded by
Commissioner Hlavachick and carried unanimously. Commissioner Taylor questioned if we had had
any problems when they request special permits to use the outside area. Chief Myers stated that there were no
problems.
CONSIDERATION AND APPROVAL OF
2016 AGREEMENT FOR PUBLIC DEFENDER SERVICES:
City
Attorney Van Blaricum stated that Ms. Tracey Beverlin had been the public
defender for the last several months and had done a very nice job. Mr. Van Blaricum added that she had agreed to
do it for another year. Mr. Van Blaricum
explained that this was the standard agreement that had been used for Ms.
Lattin. Commissioner Taylor made a
motion to approve the 2016 Agreement for the Public Defender Services between
Ms. Beverlin and the City. The motion
was seconded by Commissioner Meyer and carried unanimously. Mayor Kumberg questioned how many cases the
public defender handles. Mr. Van
Blaricum stated that he would have to look that up, but it was probably 90% of
the cases in Municipal Court.
CONSIDERATION AND APPROVAL OF
2016 MUNICIPAL JUDGE AGREEMENT:
City
Attorney Van Blaricum stated that this was the same contract that had been used
for several years for the Municipal Judge and it worked well. Mr. Van Blaricum added that there had been a
salary change a couple of years ago and Mr. Eisenhauer was happy with it. Commissioner Hlavachick made a motion to
approve the 2016 Municipal Judge agreement.
The motion was seconded by Commissioner Skaggs and carried unanimously.
CONSIDERATION AND APPROVAL OF
2016 CITY ATTORNEY AGREEMENT:
City
Attorney Van Blaricum stated that this was the exact same agreement as last
year. Commissioner Meyer made a motion
to approve the 2016 City Attorney agreement between Mr. Van Blaricum and the
City. The motion was seconded by
Commissioner Skaggs and carried unanimously.
CONSIDERATION AND APPROVAL OF
RESOLUTION 120715 EXEMPTING THE CITY FROM THE REQUIREMENTS OF K.S.A.
75-1120A(A) PROVIDING FOR UNIFORM SYSTEM OF FISCAL PROCEDURES, ACCOUNTING AND
REPORTING FOR MUNICIPALITIES:
City
Attorney Van Blaricum stated that this resolution was in good legal form and
fits with the statute. Finance Director
Garten added that this resolution was required so that we could report on a
modified basis rather than GAAP purposes.
The
following Resolution 120715 was then presented to the Commission for
approval: A RESOLUTION EXEMPTING THE CITY OF PRATT, KANSAS FROM THE REQUIREMENTS
OF K.S.A. 75-1120a(a) PROVIDING FOR UNIFORM SYSTEM OF FISCAL PROCEDURES,
ACCOUNTING, AND REPORTING FOR MUNICIPALITIES. Commissioner Skaggs made a motion to approve Resolution
120715 exempting the City of Pratt, Kansas from the requirements of K.S.A.
75-1120a(a) providing for uniform system of fiscal procedures, accounting, and
reporting for municipalities. The motion
was seconded by Commissioner Taylor and carried unanimously. Mayor Kumberg commented that this resolution
did not exempt the City from any accounting procedures, but refers to how we
report it.
OPEN AGENDA:
·
Luca Matei:
Mr.
Luca Matei addressed the Commission asking for help, justice and respect to the
Constitution. Mr. Matei stated that he
had been falsely accused eleven times by Officer Mike McAbee and the case was
ongoing. Mr. Matei added that the City
or County Attorney threatens him with jail.
Mr. Matei stated that he had asked for something to be done year after
year about the corrupt department. Mr.
Matei explained that people refuse to have a clearer judgement and that this
was torture. Mr. Matei added that he had
repeatedly asked the County Attorney to drop the case. Mayor Kumberg asked Mr. Matei if he had
retained an attorney. Mr. Matei stated
that he had not and they were not there to defend him but to play nice with the
prosecution. Mayor Kumberg stated that
he would highly recommend that he get an attorney since the Commission was the
legislative body of the City and had nothing to do with judicial matters. Mayor Kumberg commented that the Commission
could not comment or look into a case, so the proper way would be to get legal
counsel.
Mr.
Matei stated that it was the victims’ rights to be in court and he had not been
informed in at least three cases. Mr.
Matei commented that the Chief had requested an investigation and he had been
destroyed over the last ten years. Mr.
Matei commented that this had a big effect on the face of the City and any sane
person wants to live in peace, a better house, living and car. Mr. Matei stated that, when apartments were
destroyed and things were stolen or broken, he gets a case number and the
police do nothing. Mr. Matei stated that
he does not trust Kansas attorneys.
Commissioner
Meyer stated that, as a Commissioner and a citizen, he takes offense to Mr.
Matei’s comments concerning the police department. Commissioner Meyer stated that the City had
officers that were upright and our police force was upstanding. Commissioner Meyer commented that he was not
going to argue with Mr. Matei, but he wanted it known publically that he took
offense to Mr. Matei’s comments. Mr.
Matei referred to a case where someone was in the attic and things had been
stolen from storage and they fell through the ceiling. Mayor Kumberg stated that he needed to secure
legal representation. Mr. Matei
continued stating that he had been framed two years ago and convicted; however,
the case in district court had been dropped.
Mr. Matei commented that he was sick and had to suffer again, so
something had to be done in his case.
City Attorney Van Blaricum stated that Mr. Matei had filed a multi-page
document that had been reviewed and shared with Judge Eisenhauer. Mr. Van Blaricum added that the document
asked that Mr. Eisenhauer recuse himself; however, this matter would be in
court this Friday and it would be at the City’s cost to have an out of County
Judge. Mr. Van Blaricum commented that
this had to be done in an orderly process, so it was not that the City did not
listen. Mr. Van Blaricum agreed that Mr.
Matei would greatly benefit by having his own attorney.
REPORTS:
City Manager:
·
S.P.I.R.I.T. meeting:
City
Manager Howard informed the Commission that he had attended the S.P.I.R.I.T.
meeting and he had been able to visit with Secretary King and his aids. Mr. Howard commented that the trucking
community had good representation. Commissioner
Skaggs questioned what they had to say.
Mr. Howard stated that there was no doubt that truck traffic was going
to increase. Commissioner Skaggs asked
how much control KDOT had over truck routes.
Mr. Howard stated that they did not get into those kind of details.
·
Ice Storm:
Mr.
Howard stated that the ice on Friday and Saturday did cause some issues but it
all ended well. Mayor Kumberg questioned
if there were any outages. Mr. Howard
stated that there were some. Mr. Howard
added that the efforts of what the street, electric, police, fire and
sanitation do was appreciated.
·
Christmas Eve holiday:
Commissioner
Meyer commented that he wanted to talk about the employees doing all the extras
that they do. Commissioner Meyer asked
that the Commission consider giving Christmas Eve as a bonus this year since
Christmas falls on a Friday.
Commissioner Meyer stated that there would not be a lot happening on
Thursday. Commissioner Meyer commented
that we would accommodate the situation with sanitation and police since some
of them would not get that day off.
Commissioner Skaggs commented that he saw a problem with giving some the
day off, but not all staff could take it off.
Mr. Howard stated that they would all get a day off, but it might be a
day of their choice.
Commissioner
Meyer made a motion to give all City staff Thursday, December 24th
off or a day of their choice if they work.
Commissioner Meyer added that this would not happen every year. The motion was seconded by Commissioner
Hlavachick and carried unanimously.
Public Works:
·
Project updates:
Public
Works Director Rambat stated that the street department had been busy repairing
pot holes from the ice storm. Mr. Rambat
commented that they had started at the south end of town with crews picking up
broken limbs from the storm. Mr. Rambat
explained that they would sweep the town this week to get things picked
up. Commissioner Skaggs questioned what
we were going to do with people who had filled up their compost carts with
leaves since compost ended at Thanksgiving.
Mr. Rambat stated that he had visited with Sanitation Superintendent
Wright and they were going to continue to pick up compost carts this week. Mr. Howard commented that some of the limbs
that fell still had leaves on them.
Inspection
Department:
·
Hampton Inn:
Building
Inspector Blankenship stated that the Hampton Inn was finalized on Tuesday last
week. Mr. Blankenship explained that
Fire Chief Kramer and the State Fire Marshall had gotten it finalized and they
thought that they might open last weekend, but a few things needed to be changed.
·
Parrish Lofts:
Mr.
Blankenship informed the Commission that the Parrish Lofts should be finalized
sometime this week. Mr. Blankenship
commented that they had a few life safety things that they needed to finish up. Commissioner Skaggs questioned what the
expected move in date was. Mr.
Blankenship stated that they had told him it would be next week. Mayor Kumberg commented that the paper had
published that they would be in next week.
Mr. Blankenship stated that they would not be if certain safety factors
were not done; however, he added that they could get it done.
·
322 W. Blaine:
Mr.
Blankenship stated that he had received several calls concerning 322 West
Blaine Street and that address was now in the court system. Mr. Blankenship commented that he had written
letters and it was being taken care of.
Mr. Van Blaricum stated that we had done basically all we could do and
the owners had been served. Mr.
Blankenship added that the owners had shown up for court and she was disabled
and he was not well, but they understood what they needed to do. Mr. Howard explained that the complaint was
concerning the junk at the curb on Hamilton Street.
Electric Department:
·
Outages:
Director
of Electric Utilities Huber informed the Commission that they had about
nineteen calls over the Thanksgiving holiday.
Mr. Huber added that that was not very many and was due to all the tree
trimming they do all year around. Mr.
Huber commented that most of the calls were when things began to thaw out.
·
Bucket truck:
Mr.
Huber stated that they had lost a bucket truck due to the weather conditions
and he was in the process of seeing if it would be totaled out or not. Mayor Kumberg asked if there were any
injuries. Mr. Huber stated that there were
not.
·
Moving house:
Mr.
Huber commented that the house at Blaine Street and Main Street would be moved
down South Main Street on Wednesday. Mr.
Huber explained that they would be swerving in and out of the traffic lights,
but it should not take too long to get it out of town. Mayor Kumberg questioned if we bill our time
to them. Mr. Huber stated that they paid
up front. Commissioner Taylor asked if
Spin City would be effected since they show up about 5:00 a.m. Mr. Huber stated that he would know more
tomorrow. Mr. Huber stated that they
were taking the house to Haviland, but would go south on Highway 281 to 30th
Avenue.
·
Hospital generator:
Mayor
Kumberg questioned if Mr. Huber had gotten in touch with Mr. Mike Patton
concerning the generator. Mr. Huber
stated that they had taken some pictures and were discussing how to get it out
of there. Mr. Huber commented that they
may wait until after the first of the year.
Recreation
Department:
·
Employee Christmas dinner:
Recreation
Director Pinkall informed the Commission that the employee Christmas dinner
would be on Wednesday, December 16th from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
·
North Main project:
Mr.
Pinkall stated that the North Main Street project was moving along as quickly
as possible. Mr. Pinkall commented that
they were putting the bricks back in place.
Commissioner Skaggs questioned when they would be done. Mr. Pinkall stated that they should be done
before Christmas. Mr. Pinkall added that
this was supposed to be a good weather week and they were working hard at
getting it done. Commissioner Hlavachick
questioned how long they had to let it cure.
Mr. Pinkall stated that they want it to be ten days. Mr. Pinkall added that they would fix any
bumps once it was poured. Mayor Kumberg
commented that people were getting anxious.
Police Department:
·
Christmas safety:
Police
Chief Myers reminded everyone to be careful when out shopping during the
holiday season. Chief Myers commented
that there had been some problems with bandits breaking into vehicles and they
thought they were going down Highway 54.
Chief Myers added that you should try to put presents in your trunk and
not leave your vehicle for long periods of time. Chief Myers stated that people take advantage
of this time of year so it was best to be extra cautious.
Finance Department:
·
Auditors visit:
Finance
Director Garten stated that the auditors would be here next Wednesday to get
some of their preliminary work out of the way.
·
Commission chairs:
Ms.
Garten stated that some of the chairs around the dais were failing, so she
would be looking into replacing those.
Mayor and Commission:
·
Fincham Street:
Commissioner
Skaggs questioned where we were on the Fincham Street project. Mr. Howard stated that they should pour
Wednesday. Mr. Howard added that the
road was ready and, once they did the street, they would work on the curb.
·
Gas Line break:
Commissioner
Skaggs asked if there was a gas line break today. Mr. Howard stated that there was one a few
blocks west of here. Mr. Howard added
that the fire department was called. Mr.
Blankenship added that they had been pulling up a driveway.
ADJOURN:
Commissioner
Hlavachick made a motion to adjourn. The
motion was seconded by Commissioner Meyer and carried unanimously.
____________________________________
LUCUS
KUMBERG, Mayor
ATTEST:
_____________________________________
LUANN
KRAMER, City Clerk
