MONDAY
MARCH 06, 2017
The
Governing Body of the City of Pratt met in Regular session in the Commission
Room located in City Hall.
PRESENT:
Lucus Kumberg Mayor
Doug
Meyer CommissionerBill Hlavachick Commissioner
Gary Schmidt Commissioner
Don Peters Commissioner
ALSO PRESENT:
Roy Eckert City Manager
LuAnn
Kramer City ClerkRegina Goff Acting 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 City 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
Meyer led the staff and audience in the invocation and Mayor Kumberg led the
Pledge of Allegiance.
MINUTES:
Commissioner
Hlavachick made a motion to approve the minutes of the February 20, 2017
regular Commission meeting. The motion
was seconded by Commissioner Schmidt and carried unanimously.
BUSINESS:
CONSIDERATION AND
APPROVAL OF SCKSEC’S ‘WALK FOR HOPE’ ON SEPTEMBER 16, 2017:
Ms.
Jo Walker, SCKSEC representative, requested approval for a 5K walk/run in Lemon
Park on September 16, 2017. Ms. Walker
stated that they had never done anything like this before, but they were doing
it as a fundraiser. Ms. Walker commented
that they would be walking the trail in Lemon Park; therefore, they would not
need to close the park and they would have volunteers stationed at the cross
walks. Public Works Director Rambat
stated that he did not think we needed to be too involved since they were not
going to be leaving the park. With no
more discussion, the Commission were all in agreement to allow SCKSEC to hold
their 5K on September 16, 2017 in Lemon Park.
CONSIDERATION AND
APPROVAL OF 2017 CMB APPLICATION FOR CASEY’S GENERAL STORE:
Police
Detective Jeff Ward informed the Commission that Casey’s had applied for a
cereal malt beverage license and they had met all the requirements. City Clerk Kramer added that there were two
representatives from Casey’s present, which was a requirement of a first time
applicant. With no further discussion, Commissioner Meyer made a motion to
approve the 2017 Cereal Malt Beverage application from Casey’s General
Store. The motion was seconded by
Commissioner Hlavachick and carried unanimously.
CONSIDERATION AND
APPROVAL OF BID FOR A 500 KVA PAD MOUNT TRANSFORMER AT SOUTHWEST SCHOOL:
Director
of Electric Utilities Jamie Huber informed the Commission that Southwest School
was going to need a bigger transformer for their renovation project because
their load would increase. Mr. Huber
stated that Stanion Wholesale Electric submitted a bid of $10,262 with tax
included and Kriz-Davis bid $10,169.70 tax included. Mr. Huber recommended the local bid from
Stanion Wholesale Electric due to the 5% leeway for local businesses. Commissioner Meyer asked what we would do
with the old transformer. Mr. Huber stated
that it would be put into stock. Mr.
Huber explained that the school would pay the difference for the upgrade. Commissioner Hlavachick made a motion to
approve the bid from Stanion Wholesale Electric for a 500 KVA pad mount
transformer for $10,262 tax included.
The motion was seconded by Commissioner Meyer. Commissioner Meyer questioned if we were
buying two. Mr. Huber stated that we
were not because one project fell through.
With nothing further, the motion and second passed unanimously.
CONSIDERATION AND
APPROVAL OF 2017 PRATT CITY ATTORNEY AGREEMENT:
Acting
City Attorney Regina Goff reminded the Commission that, in lieu of a City
Attorney contract in January, they had introduced Charter Ordinance 21 that
would exempt the City from State Statute.
Ms. Goff explained that the Charter Ordinance would not take effect
until the end of March unless there was a petition. Ms. Goff stated that she was presenting the
contract with an effective date of Charter Ordinance 21. Commissioner Peters questioned how we would
help with clerical assistance in Section 4.
Ms. Goff stated that Municipal Court Clerk Jamie Walker sends out
letters reminding people of infractions and there would be letter writing to
and from defense attorneys. Ms. Goff
commented that she had taken the previous contract and changed what was
personal to her. Commissioner Meyer made
a motion to approve the City Attorney Agreement for 2017 as presented by the
Acting City Attorney and City Manager.
The motion was seconded by Commissioner Hlavachick and passed
unanimously.
CONSIDERATION AND
APPROVAL OF THE UPDATED EMPLOYEE PERSONNEL POLICY MANUAL:
City
Manager Eckert stated that the personnel policy handbook he had gotten when he
started was from 1995 and he felt it was time to do an update. Mr. Eckert commented that it was a major
undertaking to revise it, but the League had been very helpful since they had
just finished a 2017 draft example. Mr.
Eckert stated that we had tweaked it to pertain to us and Ms. Goff had looked
it over also. Mr. Eckert commented that
this was a group effort and staff had done a tremendous job to get this
accomplished successfully. Commissioner
Peters questioned if the old policy was outdated due to Federal and State regulation
changes. Mr. Eckert stated that that was
correct and explained that there was no Veterans requirement in the 1995 manual
and there was also nothing that designated a nursing room for women.
Commissioner
Peters questioned if full and part–time employee evaluations would be done
quarterly as stated in Section D-3b on page eleven. Mr. Eckert stated that that was the
recommendation since we tend to forget if we wait until the end of the year. Mr. Eckert commented that all the departments
were doing a good job; however, any issues should always be documented. Commissioner Peters asked if there was an
approved evaluation form. Mr. Eckert
stated that he had one that was standard and would be bringing it to the
Commission.
Commissioner
Schmidt questioned if we had a plan in writing where somebody was able to fill
in for a period of time in the event of an emergency in a department. Mr. Eckert stated that that was done at the
department level on who would step in and that had not been a problem in the
past. Public Works Director Rambat
stated that most departments initiate that possibility and it goes from a
superintendent to the foreman. Mr.
Rambat added that most people were versed on equipment in their departments and
Mr. Eckert or he would be there to guide them.
Commissioner Schmidt stated that the biggest would be payroll and who
would write checks. Commissioner Schmidt
explained that his concern was if the second person was to take a two week
vacation and where it would state in the policy book who down the ladder would
fill in. Mr. Rambat commented that
people plan their vacations around projects and we all work well as a
team. Mayor Kumberg stated that the
handbook should be the rules for employment and then those situations could be
handled through departmental policies.
With
little more discussion, Commissioner Peters made a motion to approve the new
personnel manual amending page 11, Section D-3b as discussed. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Meyer
and passed unanimously. Mr. Eckert
thanked his staff and stated that he was proud of the accomplishment.
OPEN AGENDA:
No
one in the audience wished to address the Commission.
REPORTS:
City Manager:
·
Executive Session:
City
Manager Eckert requested an executive session for real estate purchase issues
to last thirty minutes at the end of the meeting.
·
Crime issue:
Mr.
Eckert stated that our prayers and thoughts go out to the young man who got
shot and to his family. Mr. Eckert
commented that we continue to have a crime issue; however we were seeing some
good things being pushed from Ms. Goff and law enforcement. Mr. Eckert explained that the person who shot
the young man could be prosecuted in Kansas or he may go to Mississippi or New
Mexico for his other crimes. Mr. Eckert
added that Mississippi had very tough standards.
·
Casey’s:
Mr.
Eckert stated that Casey’s was on the ball and was a little ahead of schedule.
·
Property for State:
Mr.
Eckert stated that there was interest from the State in property that would
have a large building or green space on it and our airport had both. Mr. Eckert commented that he had given the
information to Mr. Reid Bell and the deadline to submit the information was the
9th. Mr. Eckert explained
that they were looking at somewhere close to an airport that would create
around one hundred jobs. Mr. Eckert
stated that they would also need utilities and we had that. Commissioner Peters asked what the next step
would be. Mr. Eckert stated that we send
in everything and the State takes it from there.
City Attorney:
·
Properties needing attention:
Acting
City Attorney Goff stated that she was working on a number of projects, but she
was making great strides. Ms. Goff
explained that she had emailed the County Counselor concerning eight properties
that the City had been doing the upkeep and she had requested that those
properties be included in a tax sale.
Ms. Goff commented that she had visited with County Counselor Schmisseur
today and most of those properties had been included in his petition and he
would amend the petition to include the others.
Ms. Goff commented that each property owner would receive notification
and the County Counselor would sell the property, which would take several
months. Ms. Goff added that the proceeds
would go to pay the cost of litigation and then would be divided on how much
each entity would get.
Public Works:
·
Refurbish Maple Street bridge:
Public
Works Director Rambat stated that he had been working with EBH on plans to
refurbish the bridge on Maple Street.
Mr. Rambat explained that the City has Federal government money saved
back and we would be able to use that on this project so that it would not come
out of the budget. Mr. Rambat commented
that we would have to make a choice on saving money and closing it down or do
it in halves, which would cost us more.
·
Getting ready for spring:
Mr.
Rambat stated that the departments were keeping busy getting mowers ready and
the street department was finishing up their crack sealing project. Mr. Rambat commented that they were also
looking ahead to the pool. Mayor Kumberg
stated that spring clean-up had been brought up at the joint meeting with the
County and they had decided to let Mr. Winkel and Mr. Rambat coordinate
that. Mr. Rambat stated that he was
looking at doing it at a similar time frame as last year.
·
Storm clean-up:
Commissioner
Peters asked where we get the money for the storm clean-up. Mr. Rambat stated that he had had a quick
meeting with FEMA since the County did declare.
Mr. Rambat added that we were the only one in the County with much
clean-up. Mr. Rambat explained that they
would have a kick-off meeting in a couple of weeks and then there would be a
lot of paperwork to fill out. Mr. Rambat
commented that 85% of what was done during the storm was with budgeted funds
and that would not be reimbursed.
Finance Director Garten stated that it would pay for overtime and
regular time. Ms. Garten explained that
75% for all qualified expenses would come from Federal and 10% would come from
the State. Mr. Rambat stated that
anything we got back would take stress off of the regular budget.
Inspection
Department:
·
Properties:
Building Inspector Blankenship
thanked Ms. Goff for tackling the mowing issues. Mr. Blankenship commented that we may not get
anything out of it, but to get them to the right people in a Sheriff’s sale who
would keep them clean.
·
Casey’s:
Mr.
Blankenship stated that Casey’s was trying to pour concrete as fast as they
could and they wanted to get the communication lines in there before the
concrete. Mr. Blankenship commented that
they were looking at April 12th for the opening and they would have
free pizza and free drinks at the opening.
Mr. Blankenship explained that they did not want anyone to go on the
inside; however, the managers would go in next week and start doing their
thing. Mr. Blankenship added that the
sign company would also be here next week.
Police Department:
·
Traffic stops:
Commissioner
Peters stated that he appreciated the report that Sgt. Gimpel sends out and he
had noticed that the amount of traffic stops had gone up big time. Commissioner Peters questioned if there were
actual tickets issued or just a warning.
Detective Ward stated that an officer generates a report when they make
a stop. Commissioner Peters commented
that the report showed ninety-two items other than traffic stops and questioned
if that was a lot for a month. Detective
Ward stated that it was not, because the system was tweaked to count the types
of incidents, such as larceny, embezzlement and fraud. Detective Ward explained that larceny was
just theft and embezzlement was an employee type situation and fraud was simply
that. Mayor Kumberg questioned where
passing a bad financial instrument was.
Detective Ward stated that the County Attorney tracks those and the
police department tracks any crime that was associated with deception.
Commissioner
Peters asked what a DL violation was.
Detective Ward stated that that was driver’s license. Ms. Goff explained that the most serious
sentences were for driving while suspended.
Ms. Goff stated that this was a serious crime and there could be
mandatory jail time if there was a previous conviction of a DUI and their
license was suspended.
Commissioner
Meyer asked about the call over the weekend for shots fired. Detective Ward stated that that was under
investigation and there was not a lot to follow up on.
Finance Department:
·
Sales tax:
Finance
Director Garten stated that the economic indicator showed that sales tax was up
3 ½ to 4%, but we were still down from the last two years. Ms. Garten added that it was a positive
indicator that we were looking upwards.
Mayor and Commission:
·
Tribune article:
Commissioner
Peters commented that he appreciated the article in the Tribune about the
people that were trespassing.
Commissioner Peters stated that it was good to see that the police were
answering calls.
·
Meeting with Public Works:
Commissioner
Peters thanked Mr. Rambat for entertaining Commissioner Schmidt and himself and
getting to meet the department heads.
Commissioner Peters stated that they had good communication with Mr.
Rambat and they do a good job.
Executive Session:
Mayor
Kumberg made a motion to enter into executive session for consultation with an
attorney on matters that would be deemed privileged in an attorney-client
relationship not to exceed thirty minutes.
Commissioner Peters seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
Mayor
Kumberg made a motion to return from executive session with nothing to
report. The motion was seconded by
Commissioner Hlavachick and carried unanimously.
ADJOURN:
Upon
proper motion, the meeting was adjourned.
LUCUS KUMBERG, Mayor
ATTEST:
_______________________________________
LUANN
KRAMER, City Clerk
**CORRECTION:
After return from executive session there was a motion and second not to
sell the property north of Sandy Creek.