MONDAY
MAY 04, 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 City 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
Taylor made a motion to approve the minutes of the April 20, 2015 recessed
joint City/County Meeting and the April 20, 2015 regular Commission
meeting. The motion was seconded by
Commissioner Hlavachick and carried unanimously.
BUSINESS:
CONSIDERATION AND
APPROVAL OF A 5K RUN ON SATURDAY, JUNE 6TH:
Mayor
Kumberg stated that Ms. DeClue was unable to attend the meeting tonight and
they had not finalized the route for the 5K, so she requested to be on the next
agenda.
CONSIDERATION AND
APPROVAL OF THE LOW BID FOR THE 2015 KLINK PROJECT FROM JACKSON STREET TO MOUND
STREET:
Public
Works Director Rambat stated that the 2015 KLINK project was a mill and overlay
from Jackson Street to Mound Street. Mr.
Rambat explained that this had been scheduled for this year and there had been
two bids received and opened last week.
Mr. Rambat commented that Venture Corporation out of Great Bend had
submitted a bid for $213,283 and APAC Shears out of Hutchinson had bid
$189,033.24. Mr. Rambat stated that he
would recommend the low bid from APAC and added that this would be the last
stretch of the highway that needed done.
Commissioner Taylor questioned when it had been done last. Mr. Rambat stated that he thought it had been
ten or eleven years ago. Commissioner
Taylor commented that it had been bad for a little while, because we usually
get seven or eight good years out of them.
Mr. Rambat stated that that was correct
Mr.
Rambat commented that the City had gotten a GEO improvement project for North
Main Street and we could look at this stretch in a couple of years since there
was a piece between Mound Street and New Street that was starting to come
apart. Mr. Rambat added that this would
last longer if the traffic dwindles down in the future. Commissioner Taylor agreed that there was a
lot of traffic on Highway 54.
Commissioner Skaggs questioned the thickness of asphalt in some areas. Mr. Rambat stated that they would be down to
the original concrete when they mill that down and there would be a significantly
big difference in dollars to tear it out and replace it.
Mayor
Kumberg questioned what the start date would be. Mr. Rambat stated that he thought it was
sometime in August, but he would have to look on their bid to see for
sure. Mr. Mike Youngers, EBH Engineer,
stated that the action needed by the Commission this evening was to approve the
low bid and to sign the Notice of Award for APAC Shears in the amount of
$189,033.24. Mr. Younger added that this
would be contingent on KDOT’s approval.
Mr. Rambat added that KDOT had to approve the actual bid, but he had
sent the bids to them after the opening and they did not see any issues. Mr. Youngers commented that the signed Notice
of Award and a copy of the minutes would be sent off to KDOT as soon as they
were available.
Commissioner
Skaggs made a motion to approve the low bid from APAC Shears for the 2015 KLINK
project in the amount of $189,033.24, which is contingent upon KDOT’s approval,
and also for the City Manager to sign the Notice of Award. The motion was seconded by Commissioner
Hlavachick and carried unanimously.
CONSIDERATION AND
APPROVAL OF LOW BID FOR A SANITATION PACKER:
Public
Works Director Rambat stated that they had put off doing anything to the
sanitation trucks as long as they could.
Mr. Rambat commented that the packer had become an issue dollar wise and
the last fix was not guaranteed to last too long. Mr. Rambat explained that the sanitation
department had put money back in their budget for the purchase of a
packer. Mr. Rambat added that we would
replace the packer but keep the cab and chassis, which would give us a little
more life out of it.
Mr.
Rambat informed the Commission that two companies had submitted bids and Armor
Equipment from Arnold, Missouri bid $66,105.80 and Midwest Truck Equipment out
of Wichita bid $74,615. Mr. Rambat added
that Armor Equipment would be using Central Truck (Mitch Withers) here in Pratt
to do the installation, which made the bid more attractive when there was a
local business involved. Mr. Rambat
explained that the bid had been speced so that it would be a turn-key situation
and the truck would be operational and ready to be put back on the street once
the work was done. Mr. Rambat commented
that he would recommend the low bid from Armor Equipment in the amount of
$66,105.80.
Commissioner
Meyer questioned how they would manage when that truck was out of service. Mr. Rambat stated that it was not easy, but Mr.
Withers had said that, if he got the new packer and truck on a Thursday or
Friday, he could have it done by Monday.
Commissioner Taylor added that it was nice to have him local if we had
any other issues. Mayor Kumberg
questioned how many more years we would get out of this packer. Mr. Rambat stated that we should be able to
get ten years out of the packer. Mr.
Rambat explained that they were trying to keep consistency on name brands for
parts and this one was built more for municipal use and being used five days a
week. Commissioner Meyer questioned how
this compared price wise. Mr. Rambat
stated that they had been thinking it would cost around $70,000 and they were
surprised when it came in lower with metal costs going up. Mayor Kumberg asked how much we had spent on
maintenance on this truck. Mr. Rambat
stated that he was not sure, but the last invoice was around $3,000 to $5,000
and that was to replace the main blade that does the sweeping. Mr. Rambat added that Morgan Diesel had
rebuilt the railing and hoped that it would last until the packer came in. Mr. Rambat guessed that there had been
$10,000 to $15,000 spent to keep this packer going.
Commissioner
Meyer made a motion to approve the purchase of a Heil PT 1000 model packer from
Armor Equipment in the amount of $66,105.80.
The motion was seconded by Commissioner Hlavachick and carried
unanimously.
CONSIDERATION AND
APPROVAL OF THE APPOINTMENT OF DR. IAN KOVACH TO FINISH OUT THE TERM OF MR.
AUSTIN BOND:
City
Manager Howard stated that the letter from Airport Manager Reid Bell explained
that Mr. Austin Bond would be resigning from the Airport Authority Board due to
being relocated for his job and Dr. Ian Kovach had agreed to be back on the
board after a business venture did not materialize. Commissioner Hlavachick made a motion to
approve the appointment of Dr. Ian Kovach to finish out the term of resigning
board member Mr. Austin Bond. The motion
was seconded by Commissioner Skaggs and carried unanimously.
OPEN AGENDA:
No
one in the audience wished to address the Commission.
REPORTS:
City Manager:
·
Downtown happenings:
City
Manager Howard commented that it was the City that had talked about the
contractor doing only one block at a time during the downtown project, but that
was not what was happening. Mr. Howard
commented that the sidewalks were open most of the time and the contractor’s
progress was impressive. Recreation Director
Pinkall stated that any calls that the Commission would get should be directed
to him and he would visit with the contractor about it. Mr. Pinkall added that the contractor was
working very well with the businesses.
Mr. Howard stated that they were meeting tomorrow to talk about how the
project was going. Mayor Kumberg
questioned if they would be doing the other side the same way. Mr. Pinkall stated that they would be. Mayor Kumberg asked if the City would be
sending out a letter with details. Mr.
Pinkall commented that it would either be a letter or an email. Mr. Pinkall explained that they would be
going from north to south on the other side so that they stayed with the flow
of the traffic. Mr. Howard added that
they did not have any issues this weekend with people getting in and out of the
stores. Commissioner Taylor mentioned
that he had seen a couple of workers helping an elderly person the other day
and he thought that was nice of them.
·
Sludge:
Mr.
Howard stated that EBH had done an outstanding job addressing the sludge issue
at the wastewater treatment plant. Mr.
Howard explained that they had been able to use the sludge as cover that had
been taken out to the landfill on Friday.
Mr. Howard stated that he had met with County Commissioner Borho,
Landfill Supervisor Winkel and EBH so that they could decide what to do and he
had decided to pay the County the $4,000 charge for the effort they had already
put forward. Mr. Howard added that the
last three or four loads had improved and we may not be charged for the last
one.
Mr.
Howard explained that summer could keep the sludge to a certain quality, but
winter would see it change. Mr. Howard
stated that this may be incorporated into the landfill agreement next year, but
it would help if we had some history.
Mr. Howard commented that they should bill us if they need to and they
were keeping accurate records of their time.
Commissioner Skaggs questioned if we were helping them if the sludge was
perfect. Mr. Howard stated that we
were. Commissioner Skaggs asked if we
were going to be given credit. Mr.
Howard stated that this was a big help to them, but there was no cost to them
or us.
Mayor
Kumberg questioned if it was in the contract we signed that we would recoup the
costs to the landfill. Mr. Howard stated
that we probably would not do that and the County did not actually have to take
it. Commissioner Skaggs clarified that
Mayor Kumberg was talking about recouping costs from the company and not the
landfill. Mr. Howard stated that EBH had
taken on a lot of costs to get it where it needs to be and not billed us for
their time. Mr. Howard explained that
the landfill was going to build a mixing strip and EBH would also pay for
that. Commissioner Meyer questioned
where that would be at. Mr. Howard
stated that it would be east of the landfill and east of where they stock pile
theirs. Mr. Howard added that you did
not want it where their operation of the landfill was.
Mayor
Kumberg commented that it was cost neutral to us. Mr. Howard stated that it was as of
Friday. Mr. Howard added that there was
a back log of sludge and that had been all cleared out and we would have to
figure out what to anticipate and make adjustments as we get to September or
October. Commissioner Meyer asked if we
knew what had actually happened. Mr.
Howard explained that the compressors that make the pure oxygen may have been
under sized, but they were working the way they should now.
City Attorney:
·
Spring meeting:
City
Attorney Van Blaricum stated that the attorney’s spring meeting was in Mulvane
on June 12th and he anticipated a good agenda concerning Municipal
Court.
·
Executive Session:
City
Manager Howard apologized, but he had forgotten to request an executive session
for non-elected personnel to last ten minutes at the end of the meeting.
Public Works:
·
Pool:
Public
Works Director Rambat stated that he had been doing the final touches to the
pool and hoped to start filling it with water the first of next week.
·
Pedestrian Crosswalk:
Mr.
Rambat stated that he had met with Recreation Director Pinkall and K & O
Railroad about installing a pedestrian crosswalk on Country Club Road that
would tie into our walking trail going to Wildlife and Parks. Mr. Rambat added that he was in the process
of putting together a thank you letter letting them know how much we
appreciated them getting to us so quickly.
Commissioner Skaggs asked if they would be pouring more concrete. Mr. Rambat explained that they would be going
south through the wastewater treatment plant.
Mr. Pinkall added that there would be a crossing at the first road there
through the wastewater plant and Wildlife and Parks would go on east with their
trail. Mr. Howard added that we would also
tie into Fincham Street and the Sixth Street intersection. Commissioner Skaggs questioned if there would
be signage letting people know where they could go. Mr. Pinkall stated that there had been no
signage planned, but he would mention that to Ms. Linda Lanterman.
·
Getting ready for pageant week:
Mr.
Rambat stated that the street department had been working on painting curbs and
sprucing things up for the Miss Kansas week that was coming up.
·
Mowing:
Mr.
Rambat informed the Commission that the guys would be busy mowing if we get
more rain. Mr. Rambat added that Mr.
Eddie Gould was busy spraying the weeds and he was doing a good job.
·
Mail drop off:
Commissioner
Skaggs questioned if we had heard any reports from the postal department on the
usage of the relocated drop box.
Recreation Director Pinkall stated that he had talked to the Postmaster
and she said it was increasing and there had been good production so far. Mr. Pinkall commented that it was pretty
handy for them. Commissioner Taylor commented
that they use it if they miss the last pickup at the post office. Mr. Pinkall commented that he had noticed
that there were no big back-ups at Dillon’s even when there were cars waiting
in the pharmacy drive thru. Mayor
Kumberg and Mr. Rambat agreed.
Inspection
Department:
·
Street Closure for Parrish project:
Building
Inspector Blankenship stated that Haren/Laughlin had changed the date of the
street closure due to the weather. Mr.
Blankenship commented that he had authorized them to close it on Friday because
the HVAC guys had to get the unit up on the roof. Mr. Blankenship explained that they had
started at lunch time and were done when school got out.
Mr.
Blankenship stated that they would be trying to close South Jackson Street
between Third and Fourth Streets again on Thursday, weather permitting. Mr. Blankenship informed the Commission that
they would be using a boom truck instead of the crane for safety reasons and it
would be for about a day and a half. Mr.
Blankenship stated that they had put some windows in for fitting purposes, but
the historical lady had to give them the okay on those before they do them
permanently.
Mr.
Blankenship stated that the contractor had taken about five hundred bricks off
the chimney that was on the northwest corner of the building and about a
quarter of the northeast corner took one hundred of those bricks and the southeast
corner used about twenty, so they would come close to using all of the five
hundred bricks. Mr. Blankenship also
reported that they were about done with the mechanicals, such as electrical and
plumbing, on the eighth floor and going down and they had finished the roof.
·
New Hotel:
Mr.
Blankenship stated that the other hotel had been busy with drywall and putting
rock on the outside of the building. Mr.
Blankenship commented that the first floor was all rocked and they would be
doing limestone in the entry way.
·
Baptist Church:
Commissioner
Skaggs questioned what the hold-up was on the Baptist Church on South
Main. Mr. Blankenship stated that they
were working on the inside right now.
Mr. Blankenship explained that the contractor on that job was also the
plumbing contractor on the Parrish project.
·
Trash issue:
Commissioner
Taylor requested Mr. Blankenship to encourage the crews on the Parrish project
to take their trash to the dumpster instead of throwing it on the ground. Mr. Blankenship stated that he would talk to
them tomorrow. Commissioner Taylor
stated that they might be throwing it in a hole, but it blows out and we do not
want to impose on the merchant’s downtown nor do we need to be cleaning up
every morning. Mr. Pinkall stated that
he would visit with the downtown contractor tomorrow also.
Electric Departments:
·
Plant maintenance:
Director
of Electric Utilities Huber commented that the power plant crew continued to do
plant maintenance. Mr. Huber stated that
they had gotten the battery pack to replace the twenty year old one and it was installed
and working well. Mr. Huber explained
that they had replaced thirty feet of three inch steel water line and they
would have to have one of the welders in town come and work on that this week.
·
Run Unit 6:
Mr.
Huber informed the Commission that the Power Plant would be doing their monthly
test by running Unit 6 this week.
·
Tree trimming:
Mr.
Huber stated that the line guys had been busy and were back to full time tree
trimming.
·
Line behind Skaggs:
Mr.
Huber commented that the guys were also busy replacing the A structure in the
alley behind Skaggs Ace Hardware.
·
Streetscape:
Mr.
Huber stated that they had been removing the poles on each side of the street for
the streetscape project.
·
Fincham Road:
Mr.
Huber stated that they were at a stopping point on Fincham Road and they were
waiting on Cox Communications to get rid of their equipment and relocate so the
City could pull the poles.
Recreation
Department:
·
Weekend tournament:
Recreation
Director Pinkall stated that they had another big tournament this weekend and
there was a solid stream of revenue. Mr.
Pinkall explained that they had played games on Dickerson Diamond and at the
Sports Complex. Mr. Howard added that
the motels were full.
·
Summer registration:
Mr.
Pinkall informed the Commission that summer registration was about to kick off
and they would be pretty busy with that.
Police Department:
·
Downtown project:
Police
Chief Myers stated that they had no accidents or complaints since the downtown
project had started, so people were paying attention to any limitations due to
the construction.
Finance Department:
·
Auditors:
Finance
Director Garten stated that the auditors had been here and would be back the
second meeting in June with their report.
·
Sales and Guest tax:
Ms.
Garten commented that the tax numbers were down from last year, so she would
watch and monitor those. Ms. Garten
added that sales tax was down about $20,000 and guest tax was down about
$60,000. Mr. Howard commented that the
whole State was down. Ms. Garten
explained that these were the figures from the slow period and we hoped to be
able to rebound.
Mayor and Commission:
·
National Guard parking lot:
Commissioner
Skaggs asked if we had heard any more from the National Guard. Mr. Howard and Mr. Rambat stated that they
had not heard anything from them.
Executive Session:
Mayor
Kumberg made a motion to go into executive session for non-elected personnel to
last ten minutes. The motion was
seconded by Commissioner Hlavachick and carried unanimously.
Mayor
Kumberg made a motion to return from executive session with nothing to
report. The motion was properly seconded
and carried unanimously.
ADJOURN:
With
little more discussion, a motion and second to adjourn carried unanimously.
________________________________
LUCUS
KUMBERG, Mayor
ATTEST:
________________________________
LUANN KRAMER, City Clerk