TUESDAY
SEPTEMBER 08, 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 CommissionerJeff Taylor Commissioner
Gary Skaggs Commissioner
Doug Meyer Commissioner
ALSO PRESENT:
Dave Howard City Manager
LuAnn
Kramer City ClerkKen Van Blaricum City Attorney
Gary Myers Chief of Police
Russell Rambat Public Works Director
Brad Blankenship Building Inspector
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 August 17, 2015 regular
Commission meeting. The motion was
seconded by Commissioner Skaggs and carried unanimously.
BUSINESS:
CONSIDERATION AND APPROVAL OF
CITY MANAGER’S AGREEMENT:
City
Attorney Van Blaricum stated that he had drafted an agreement for the City
Manager over the last several months and it was before the Commission for their
approval. Mayor Kumberg questioned
whether everyone had had time to review the agreement and they had. With no further discussion, Commissioner
Skaggs made a motion to approve the contract as submitted and written effective
September 01, 2015. The motion was
seconded by Commissioner Hlavachick.
Commissioner
Taylor stated that Mr. Howard had been the City Manager for thirteen and a half
years and during that time, he had negotiated a lot of contracts and got good
deals for the community. Commissioner
Taylor commented that he had paid for his salary with things that he had done
and the Commission had wanted to lock him in for more years even though his
contract was on a year to year basis.
Commissioner Taylor added that Mr. Howard had surrounded the City with
good employees and it spoke highly of this Commission to enter into this
contract. Commissioner Skaggs also added
that this was a five year contract.
The
motion and second passed unanimously.
CONSIDERATION AND APPROVAL OF
DELEGATE(S) AT THE LKM ANNUAL CONFERENCE:
Mayor
Kumberg questioned if anyone was planning on going to the League’s Annual Conference. Mr. Van Blaricum stated that he was going and
would be glad to represent the City as a voting delegate. Mr. Howard stated that he had not asked
Finance Director Garten if she was going, but they could appoint her if they so
choose to. Commissioner Taylor made a
motion to appoint City Attorney Ken Van Blaricum and Finance Director Diana
Garten as delegates at the League of Kansas Municipalities Annual
Conference. The motion was seconded by
Commissioner Hlavachick and carried unanimously.
OPEN AGENDA:
·
Story Walk in Lemon Park:
K-State
Research employee Jody Drake approached the Commission about having a Story
Walk in Lemon Park. Ms. Drake explained
that this was something new to Pratt, but they take pages from a story book and
post them around the park. Ms. Drake
stated that she had been in contact with the library about partnering with them
and they were on board. Ms. Drake
commented that this would start in the spring and would go along with the Walk
Kansas program; however, they would be doing a test run during the Christmas
event. Commissioner Taylor questioned if
they would need to close down the park.
Ms. Drake stated that they would not and this was going to be an
on-going thing with the books being changed out once a week.
Ms.
Drake stated that they encourage the children and parents to read the whole
book. Ms. Drake explained that they have
to buy two books to post the whole book and that prevents any copyright
issues. Commissioner Skaggs questioned if
they expected some vandalism. Ms. Drake
stated that there could be and that could up the cost if they had to purchase
more books. Commissioner Taylor asked
where they would be doing it. Ms. Drake
stated that it would be on the sidewalk trail.
Commissioner Meyer questioned if they would be putting stakes in the
ground. Ms. Drake explained that there
would be something in the ground.
Ms.
Drake commented that she would be applying for a grant. Mayor Kumberg stated that this was a great
idea and asked that she call Public Works Director Rambat if she had any
questions. Commissioner Taylor
questioned if this was a year around program.
Ms. Drake stated that it would be for about eight weeks and coincide
with the Walk Kansas program.
With
little more discussion, the Commission were in agreement to allow Ms. Drake to
go ahead with her plans for the Story Walk in Lemon Park in the spring.
·
Private property flooded:
Mr.
Ernie Smith commented to the Commission that there was private property in the 200
block of South Hamilton Street that had flooded during the heavy rain this
afternoon. Mr. Smith stated that it had
gotten up on two properties and was an on-going issue when there were sudden
down pours. Public Works Director Rambat
stated that he had examined the drainage ditch for restrictions and there were
not any. Mr. Rambat commented that this
property was fairly level and did not have any grasp to pull the water back
down. Mr. Rambat added that other
properties tend to taper up from the top of the concrete on the ditch.
Commissioner
Skaggs stated that there had not been any history before the ditch was
concrete. Mr. Smith commented that water
got in one time. Commissioner Skaggs
questioned if the City had any liability.
City Manager Howard stated that other properties had had this happen and
it was fairly common to flood into yards.
Commissioner Skaggs asked if the McFarland’s had flood insurance. Mr. Smith stated that they did and added that
the Gimpel’s had built a retainer wall and the water was coming up the back
side and would not drain. Mr. Howard
stated that this was not something that the City caused, but it was a natural
event. Mr. Howard added that the City
does what they can to prevent areas of flooding, but there were some areas that
we cannot do much about.
REPORTS:
City Manager:
·
Home Lumber project:
City
Manager Howard stated that the Home Lumber project had been put on hold due to
the economic conditions and the down turn of the oil industry. Mr. Howard stated that he had talked with the
general manager and they were just being cautious. Mr. Howard commented that he felt the City
should continue with the Fincham Street project.
·
Sales Tax:
Mr.
Howard reported that sales tax was down for the third month in a row.
City Attorney:
·
Crime and Punishment in Pratt:
City
Attorney Van Blaricum stated that he had had a good conversation with Chief
Myers after he left the joint meeting and he had since jotted down some
thoughts and facts for the Commission.
Mr. Van Blaricum informed the Commission that there had not been any
home invasions that he knew of and there had been no robberies. Mr. Van Blaricum commented that the police
had had a number of leads on the recent business burglary, but they had not
checked out. Mr. Van Blaricum stated
that there had been some home burglaries where some had been solved and others
had not.
Mr.
Van Blaricum stated that 95% of all police reports were prosecuted due to our
police department being as good as any in the State. Mr. Van Blaricum commented that bond
conditions were flexible and were set by the Judge. Mr. Van Blaricum stated that he does not set
bond. Mr. Van Blaricum stated that he
was unaware of any unusual crime in the City, but there were rumors that crime
was up and prosecution was down. Mr. Van
Blaricum stated that he did not know where they came from.
Commissioner
Skaggs asked if he had any comments on the drug situation in Pratt. Mr. Van Blaricum stated that there was one
and a lot of people use marijuana. Mr.
Van Blaricum commented that attitudes were changing in Pratt, but he still
prosecutes. Mr. Van Blaricum stated that
he absolutely prosecutes meth and heroin cases, but they typically do not go to
prison the first time around. Mr. Van Blaricum commented that those that do go to prison were
those who sell to others and they were hard to catch, but they were prosecuted
all the way through. Mr. Van Blaricum
added that they were sent to prison on a regular basis. Commissioner Skaggs questioned if Pratt had more
of a problem than other communities this size.
Mr. Van Blaricum stated that we did not.
Mr. Van Blaricum explained that, if caught in Wichita in a routine
traffic stop, they might not be charged at all and we do. Mr. Van Blaricum stated that we were pretty
hardnosed on those cases and were very hard on robberies, home invasions,
etc. Commissioner Skaggs commented that
the rumors they were hearing were either exaggerated or they had been
misinformed about drugs being a severe problem and that our schools were full
of drugs. Commissioner Skaggs added that
negative rumors give the community a bad name and he wants what we have heard to
be accurate. Mr. Van Blaricum stated
that you need to be careful what you read on Facebook.
Police
Chief Myers reported several crime statistics that included aggravated
burglary, assaults, disorderly conduct, drug violation and driving while on a suspended
license. Chief Myers stated that
burglaries were on the rise this year.
Commissioner Meyer commented that he hears about repeat offenders and a
core group of people. Chief Myers stated
that they know that those individuals are out there and some are on the
bicycles. Chief Myers commented that
those individuals were in their twenties or late twenties and most were on
probation. Chief Myers explained that
the judges make a decision to put them in prison or put them back out on the
street and, if they are out there, they are up to no good. .Chief Myers stated that people were
encouraged to not leave any valuables in their cars and to secure their garage
and house. Chief Myers added that he had
a limited number of officers, but they do the best that they can. Chief Myers stated that the economy had put
people out of work and some were out doing criminal acts to subsidize their
lack of income. Chief Myers commented
that there were no towns in the country that were immune to drug issues, but we
had had a pretty good success rate even if it was only the small time users. City Manager Howard questioned when the Attorney
General’s office was called in. Mr. Van
Blaricum stated that it was on cases that we were not geared up to handle, such
as child molestation.
Mr.
Jeff McCaskey stated that he meant no disrespect to Chief Myers or Mr. Van
Blaricum when he made his remarks at the joint meeting. Mr. McCaskey commented that he had voiced the
opinion of many people in the community and they wanted to see the level of
crimes lowered and to see progress and results.
Commissioner Skaggs asked if anything that Chief Myers or Mr. Van
Blaricum had said changed anything he had talked about earlier. Mr. McCaskey stated that he sees that there are
no comments at the meetings from the community; however, the perception was
that there was no action taken on these matters. Mr. McCaskey commented that he might have
caught Mr. Van Blaricum off guard and that was not his intention. Mr. McCaskey explained that he was not
pointing the finger at anyone, but the community just wants to see results
whether that means policy adjustments or a ‘tune-up’ that would be visible to
the community. Mr. McCaskey stated that
people do not realize the work that the Commission and attorney do. Mayor Kumberg agreed that there should be
more communication. Mr. McCaskey stated
that more people should come here to listen to what Mr. Van Blaricum had to say,
but he was not sure how to get them to come in.
Mr.
Van Blaricum commented that it was hard to get the media to report results and
he did not have time to call Hutchinson or the Tribune and try to go through
what they had accomplished. Chief Myers
stated that he does send a daily email to the Tribune with their
activities. Chief Myers explained that
citizens need to call as soon as they see something happening, but many did not
want to be a witness to the fact. Chief
Myers commented that he was disappointed in the discontinuance of Crime
Stoppers. Chief Myers stated that that
was something that we needed to try and get back and people would know that
they were going to stay anonymous. Mayor Kumberg stated that any help from the
community would be worthwhile and we take that very serious. Mr. Howard stated that citizens had the fear
of retribution if they call in.
Commissioner Skaggs encouraged the officers to stop and visit if they
see someone sitting outside so that we keep the lines of communication open. Chief Myers stated that they would be glad to
talk to any civic organizations and he or someone in the department with
expertise could address different areas.
Public Works:
·
Wastewater Plant:
Public
Works Director Rambat stated that the wastewater plant was back in
business. Mr. Rambat commented that they
had been working with the tech on any forms that needed to be protected and
they would be keeping an extra controller on the shelf from now on. Mr. Howard stated that the lightning strike
several weeks ago could have weakened the system.
·
Pool closed:
Mr.
Rambat stated that yesterday was the last day for the pool to be open, but they
had not drained it yet. Mr. Rambat
explained that they would let the chlorine dissipate some before they do drain
it.
Inspection Dept.:
·
Hampton Inn:
Building
Inspector Blankenship stated that the Hampton Inn had been putting furniture in
and were looking at being ready to open by the end of the week. Mr. Blankenship informed the Commission that
he would be doing a mechanical inspection there tomorrow.
·
Parrish Lofts:
Mr.
Blankenship stated that tomorrow was the final roof inspection at the Parrish
Lofts and they were working on the parking lot.
Mayor Kumberg asked how much further they had to go. Mr. Blankenship stated that there was quite a
bit, but the top floors were done and they were working on the bottom floors.
Mr.
Blankenship assured the Commission that the windows would eventually only open
up to about four inches and that would be done with a kit that was locked
in. Commissioner Skaggs questioned if
there would be screens. Mr. Blankenship
stated that there would be. Commissioner
Hlavachick asked if they were all rented.
Mr. Blankenship commented that he did not know, but he thought they were
getting close. Mr. Howard stated that he
had heard that they only had two left.
Recreation Dept.:
·
Movement on Main Street project:
Recreation
Director Pinkall stated that there was movement on Main Street and they were
getting closer to getting done. Mayor
Kumberg commented that the light poles looked awesome. Commissioner Taylor asked if they would move
the electrical wires among the stop lights.
Mr. Pinkall stated that Director of Electric Utilities Huber had the
plans for all that, but it was the last thing to get done. Commissioner Hlavachick questioned if they
were going to paint the stop light poles.
Mr. Pinkall stated that he was not aware that they were, but Mr. Howard
stated that that was an idea.
Mayor and Commission:
·
City/County meeting:
Mayor
Kumberg stated that he had enjoyed the City/County meeting earlier and he
thought that they had several good discussion points.
·
Allocate funds for Joint Mental
Health Program:
Commissioner
Meyer questioned if the Commission should allocate funds for the Mental Health
Program. Mr. Howard stated that we
should get everything in place first.
Commissioner Skaggs stated that we had accomplished several things today
and it was a true joint venture.
ADJOURN:
Commissioner
Hlavachick made a motion to adjourn.
Commissioner Meyer seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
_______________________________
LUCUS
KUMBERG, Mayor
ATTEST:
________________________________
LUANN KRAMER, City Clerk