MONDAY
JUNE 04, 2018
The
Governing Body of the City of Pratt met in Regular Session in the Commission
Room located at City Hall.
PRESENT:
Doug Meyer Mayor
Lucus Kumberg Commissioner
Gary Schmidt Commissioner
Don Peters Commissioner
Jason Leslie Commissioner
Lucus Kumberg Commissioner
Gary Schmidt Commissioner
Don Peters Commissioner
Jason Leslie Commissioner
ALSO PRESENT:
Roy Eckert City Manager
LuAnn Kramer City Clerk
Regina Goff City Attorney
Diana Garten Finance Director
Gary Myers Chief of Police
Russell Rambat Public Works Director
Brad Blankenship Building Inspector
Jamie Huber Director of Electric Utilities
LuAnn Kramer City Clerk
Regina Goff City Attorney
Diana Garten Finance Director
Gary Myers Chief of Police
Russell Rambat Public Works Director
Brad Blankenship Building Inspector
Jamie Huber Director of Electric Utilities
CALL TO ORDER:
The
regular meeting was called to order by Mayor Meyer. The Mayor instructed the City Clerk to note
that all Commissioners were present with the exception of Commissioner Peters.
The
Mayor reminded the audience that this meeting may be taped and/or recorded.
INVOCATION AND PLEDGE
OF ALLEGIANCE:
Commissioner
Schmidt led the staff and audience in the invocation and Mayor Meyer led the
Pledge of Allegiance.
CONSENT AGENDA:
·
Minutes: May 21, 2018 Recessed City/Commission Meeting
May
21, 2018 Regular Commission Meeting
Commissioner
Kumberg made a motion to approve the Consent Agenda. Commissioner Schmidt seconded the motion and
it passed unanimously.
BUSINESS:
REQUEST TO PUT HORSES
BEHIND CENTRAL TRUCK AND EQUIPMENT ON NORTH MAIN:
Mr.
Mark Staats addressed the Commission concerning stabling a horse in a ten acre
patch by Central Truck and Equipment.
Police Chief Myers stated that the City had an ordinance that prohibits
any farm yard animals, horses, cows, chickens or ducks, from being inside the
City. Chief Myers added that those
issues were addressed by complaint.
Mayor Meyer questioned if there were horses there before. Mr. Staats commented that there had not been
a horse there; however, there were some about a block south. Commissioner Schmidt stated that he drove by
the area and there were three or four horses in a corral and a number of
calves. Mayor Meyer asked if they had
gotten an exemption. City Attorney Goff
stated that there could be certain properties that were exempt; however, that
should not include any babies.
Commissioner Leslie questioned if that property could be exempted. Mayor Meyer stated that we would have to poll
the surrounding area. Ms. Goff commented
that residents were in violation if they had farm animals. Ms. Goff added that it was not good
Government to piece meal an ordinance and the Commission should curtail
this. Commissioner Peters agreed and
also stated that we would be opening up a can of worms for ourselves if we
change the ordinance for this property.
Mr. Staats stated that he did not want to cause anybody any
trouble. Mayor Meyer stated that the
Commission did not have enough information to approve or deny; however, they
would look at it closer. Mr. Staats
commented that it would be fine if it was denied.
CONSIDERATION AND
APPROVAL OF A 2019 BUDGET REQUEST FROM PRATT PUBLIC LIBRARY:
Library
Board President Amy Schrag thanked the City for their past support of the
library and added that they could not do it without them. Ms. Schrag stated that she was at the meeting
to request the full four mills per the charter ordinance. Mayor Meyer stated that the Commissioners
appreciated their detailed report and had no questions. Mayor Meyer commented how nice the library
was. Ms. Schrag commented that it was
not the library we grew up with.
Commissioner Kumberg stated that it was not easy to try to make the
library relevant in the world today, but it was a wonderful asset.
Commissioner
Schmidt questioned if the Commission would rather do all the budget requests at
one time. Finance Director Garten stated
that the library had to do a budget also and needed this approval to move
forward. Mayor Meyer stated that their
max was four mills and we had done it early in the past. Ms. Schrag commented that she would be going
to the County next week and Ms. Westerhaus would immediately get the budget
ready. Commissioner Peters stated that
he had no problem approving this tonight.
With no further discussion, Commissioner Kumberg made a motion to
approve the four mills as requested by the library. Commissioner Peters seconded the motion and
it carried unanimously.
CONSIDERATION AND
APPROVAL OF KDHE LOAN AGREEMENT FOR THE AIRPORT WATERLINE PROJECT:
City
Attorney Goff stated that she had looked at the repayment schedule and the
agreement and there were a lot of references to State and Federal laws. Ms. Goff commented that she had spot checked
the agreement that requires a special audit, but it was a boiler point
contract. Ms. Goff added that there were
additional requirements on the City to ensure that we were following
policy. City Manager Eckert stated that
we had a similar loan for the water main and the waste water treatment plant. Mr. Eckert added that they were as interested
in solving the problems at hand. Mr.
Eckert stated that the loan had a 2.13% interest, 30% forgiveness and the first
payment was a year after construction was completed, which would be 2020 if
things stayed on schedule.
Ms.
Goff stated that we were covenanting to adjust our rates to pay for this. Ms. Garten clarified that we would be doing a
rate increase to cover this, but not until 2020 and there had already been some
adjustments made. Public Works Director
Rambat stated that water sales had picked up.
Mayor Meyer commented that the increase would be about $2. Ms. Garten stated that that was correct and
that would generate about $77,000 per year.
Mr. Rambat explained that we were hoping for a good bid and there was
also the potential that the water department could lay the water main. Mr. Rambat added that it needed to be brought
out that this depends on how we look at covering it. Mayor Meyer stated that we would already have
water there if the bypass comes in. Mr.
Rambat stated that we were north of that, but it would allow us to up the
capacity.
Commissioner
Peters asked if the principle forgiveness was a check at the end of the
project. EBH Engineer Michael Youngers
stated that they wait until the project was done and then they adjust the loan
payback. With little more discussion,
Commissioner Leslie made a motion to approve the KDHE loan to the airport
waterline project as presented. Commissioner
Peters seconded the motion. Mr. Youngers
added that we did not want to put a dollar amount on this in case of unforeseen
expenses. The motion and second passed
unanimously.
CONSIDERATION AND
APPROVAL OF ORDINANCE 1807 AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTION OF THE LOAN AGREEMENT:
City
Attorney Goff stated that this ordinance came in form from KDHE and it did
acknowledge that we were entering into a loan agreement. Ms. Goff added that they allowed for the
Mayor and City Clerk to sign and that we were willing to accept the responsibility
that rates may need to be increased.
With no further discussion, the following Ordinance 1807 was presented
to the Commission for their approval: AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTION OF A
LOAN AGREEMENT BETWEEN PRATT, KANSAS AND THE STATE OF KANSAS, ACTING BY AND
THROUGH THE KANSAS DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT FOR THE PURPOSE OF
OBTAINING A LOAN FROM THE KANSAS PUBLIC WATER SUPPLY LOAN FUND FOR THE PURPOSE
OF FINANCING A PUBLIC WATER SUPPLY PROJECT; ESTABLISHING A DEDICATED SOURCE OF
REVENUE FOR REPAYMENT OF SUCH LOAN; AUTHORIZING AND APPROVING CERTAIN DOCUMENTS
IN CONNECTION THEREWITH; AND AUTHORIZING CERTAIN OTHER ACTIONS IN CONNECTION
WITH THE LOAN AGREEMENT. Commissioner
Kumberg made a motion to approve Ordinance 1807 authorizing the execution of a
loan agreement with KDHE. The motion was
seconded by Commissioner Schmidt and carried unanimously.
CONSIDERATION AND
APPROVAL OF THE SOLAR FARM DOCUMENTS AS DIRECTED BY THE CITY ATTORNEY:
City
Attorney Goff stated that there had been countless hours spent on this
Interconnection Agreement and the Solar Power Purchase Agreement. Ms. Goff commented that all concerns had been
implemented into the contract after the special call meeting with Kenyon and
Inovateus representatives. Mayor Meyer questioned
that all the blanks would be filled in.
Ms. Goff explained that Inovateus and Kenyon were not asking that we
sign the contracts tonight; however, Kenyon needed the City’s approval so they
could send these agreements to the tax equity lawyers and form the additional LLC
that would be the carrier of the agreement.
Ms. Goff clarified that the minutes needed to reflect that the contract
before the Commission this evening, unless substantially modified or unless a
material change occurred after it goes to the tax equity lawyers, would be
approved by the Commission as it stands today with the caveat being that the
addresses and signature lines would be filled in.
Mayor
Meyer commented that Ms. Goff and the staff had spent countless hours on this
and he did not know what typical negotiation processes would be, but we had to
have good cooperation with both Kenyon and Inovateus. Mayor Meyer stated that we were ready to sign
a contract, in his opinion. Commissioner
Leslie made a comment about the fair market value being removed so it became a
dollar amount of zero at the end of fifteen years. Ms. Goff stated that that was correct and a
majority of the bids had a buyout number that was the greater amount of the
fair market value, so this would not give them a minimum amount. Ms. Goff explained that the City could elect
to purchase the system at fair market value after fifteen years; however, if
the fair market value was more than the City anticipated, they did not have to
purchase it. Ms. Goff commented that
there were two optional five year terms that the parties could enter into.
Ms.
Goff stated that the City had three options and one was to purchase the
property at the end of the term under the five year extensions, another was to
say that we were done and the last option was to enter into an extension of the
agreement. Mayor Meyer stated that he
felt that we got the best of both worlds.
Mayor Meyer commented that if there were no reasonable numbers in future
Commissions, they could walk away then. Commissioner
Leslie questioned if the City was obligated to pay if damaged equipment was not
replaced before ten or fifteen years.
Ms. Goff explained that, if the equipment incurs damage equal to 50% or
greater of the value, the solar company could terminate the agreement. Ms. Goff added that that would mean that the
other provisions would come into effect so they would be required to remove the
system. Ms. Goff stated that we also had
the option to purchase the system as is for fair market value.
Mayor
Meyer asked Director of Electric Utilities Huber if the connection agreement was
all good. Mr. Huber stated that it
was. With no further discussion,
Commissioner Leslie made a motion to approve the solar farm documents as
presented. The motion was seconded by
Commissioner Kumberg. Ms. Goff reminded
the Commission that this all goes to the tax equity lawyers so long as no
alterations were made. The motion and
second passed unanimously.
OPEN AGENDA:
·
Microphones:
Ms.
Jan Luttrell asked that the Commission and staff use their microphones
better. Ms. Luttrell added that we had a
tendency to lean back to talk and that was too far from the mics.
REPORTS:
City Manager:
·
New Website:
City
Manager Eckert stated that we were ready to start the training process on the
new website and Mr. Rambat, City Clerk Kramer and he were excited to start that
training. Mr. Eckert commented that
there would be daily updates to the website, which becomes a problem when that
does not happen. Mr. Eckert explained
that we would like to do a contest for local pictures that we could put on the
website and push the City of Pratt in what we have to offer, why live here and
why to do business here. Mr. Eckert
added that there would be links so that people could connect with the Chamber
and others.
·
Budget:
Mr.
Eckert stated that he had been working with Finance Director Garten and staff
on the budget.
·
Solar Farm:
Mr.
Eckert stated that they were doing different things with the solar farm and
commented that Ms. Goff had done a fantastic job on the negotiations. Mr. Eckert stated that it was intense at times,
but it got done and he was really pleased.
Mr. Eckert added that this was a tremendous opportunity for Pratt and
this was only the third one in the State.
·
New Dental Office:
Mr.
Eckert stated that there were some dental specialists in the new office by
Wal-Mart and they were open for business at the new location.
·
Thanks to Mike:
Mr.
Eckert thanked EBH Engineer Michael Youngers for all his help in getting
projects off the ground.
City Attorney:
·
Solar Farm:
Ms.
Goff stated that she had been very busy with the solar farm communications the
last couple of weeks.
·
Executive Session:
Ms.
Goff requested a fifteen minute executive session at the end of reports for
attorney/client privilege.
Public Works:
·
Pool:
Public
Works Director Rambat stated that the pool was doing good.
·
Miss Kansas week:
Mr.
Rambat stated that he had visited with the department superintendents on the
prep for Miss Kansas. Mr. Rambat
commented that the parade was Friday at 6:00 p.m. and they would put the
detours in place around 5:15 p.m.
·
KDOT reps:
Mr.
Rambat stated that he and EBH would be meeting with representatives from KDOT
on Wednesday the 20th so that we could try and reapply for State
funding to replace the two blocks on West First Street from Mound Street to New
Street. Mr. Rambat commented that that
was the worst part of Highway 54 and needed to be torn out and replaced. Mr. Rambat explained that this project would
be funded 90% if we were approved.
·
Bike Across Kansas:
Mr.
Rambat informed the Commission that Bike Across Kansas would be in town next
Monday and a majority of the bikers would be at the football field.
·
Bind Weed:
Mr.
Rambat commented that there was a lot of bind weed this year. Mr. Rambat stated that they had put a dent in
it last week and he was also working with staff and private businesses to get
some areas treated that were prevalent in town.
Mr. Rambat added that he had visited with County employee Robert Torres
about it being a noxious weed. Mr.
Rambat stated that it was difficult to treat because it was normally on City
right-of-ways and we did not want to go onto private property.
·
Pool comments:
Commissioner
Leslie stated that the pool looks new.
Mr. Rambat added that the guys did a good job. Commissioner Peters questioned if there had
been any comments on the small increase in pool fees. Mr. Rambat stated that he had not heard any.
Building Inspections:
·
Dental Office:
Building
Inspector Blankenship stated that he had finalized the new dental office last
Friday. Mr. Blankenship commented that
it looked very nice and modern inside and there was a good view of the baseball
field. Mr. Blankenship added that the
new dentist was going to be graduating and they wanted to get him right in
there.
·
Weed letters:
Mr.
Blankenship commented that weed letters were going out and lawns were growing
good with the humidity and rain. Mr.
Blankenship stated that these were habitual violators and some were out of town
home owners and some were for sale.
·
Wal-Mart:
Mr.
Blankenship stated that Wal-Mart was making progress on their remodel and they
were currently working on a temporary pharmacy being built inside.
·
Plans for McDonald’s:
Mr.
Blankenship explained that he had the civil plans for McDonald’s and it was in
no way the City’s fault for the delays.
Commissioner Leslie stated that he had asked for an update at the last
meeting because the employees were being told something about closing on the 21st. Mr. Blankenship commented that he had visited
with the engineers on Wednesday to get the okay. Mr. Blankenship stated that the departments
were making sure that everything was alright and again repeated that the delay had
nothing to do with the City.
·
House on Austin:
Mayor
Meyer asked what was going to happen to the house that had the fire on Austin
Street. Mr. Blankenship stated that they
had backed out because they did not want to pay the fees for asbestos abatement. Mr. Blankenship commented that he had visited
with the City Attorney about tearing it down.
·
House on 10th Street:
Mayor
Meyer questioned the house on 10th Street that we had
purchased. Mr. Blankenship stated that
we were going to tear it down ourselves.
Mr. Rambat commented that it would be taken down this fall.
·
Wal-Mart:
Commissioner
Peters asked whether Wal-Mart was doing business with local suppliers. Mr. Blankenship stated that their stuff was
specialized and we could not grind floors dealing with diamond bit.
Electric Department:
·
Outage:
Director
of Electric Utilities Huber stated that the outage on the east end of town was
due to a lightning shot that we took Wednesday evening. Mr. Huber commented that it took a half hour
to find it and half an hour to fix it.
Police Department:
·
May stats:
Police
Chief Myers informed the Commission of the statistics for May. Those numbers are attached.
Finance Director:
·
Sales tax report:
Finance
Director Garten stated that the sales tax report looked a little bit better and
it had gone up this time. Ms. Garten
commented that there was still a 7% decrease from last year. Mayor Meyer questioned if other
municipalities’ sales tax was down due to internet sales. Ms. Garten explained that that was on an
honor system that you report on your own and you did not know who all did
that. Ms. Garten added that the national
economy was looking up, but we were not seeing it here yet.
·
Budget Work Session:
Ms.
Garten stated that she had set the budget work session for June 21st
and 22nd from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. with lunch being provided the
first day.
City Clerk/Utility
Billing Departments:
·
City/County Joint Meeting:
City
Clerk Kramer asked the Commission to check their calendars to see if July 16th
at 11:00 a.m. would work for them for the next joint meeting. All the Commissioners agreed to that date and
Ms. Kramer stated that she would get with the County Clerk to set it in stone.
·
Cemetery:
Ms.
Kramer asked that Mr. Rambat let Cemetery Sexton Gilmore know that the cemetery
looked amazing over Memorial Day.
·
Commissioner candidate:
Ms.
Kramer introduced Mr. Zack Deeds to the Mayor, Commission and staff and let
them know that he was a candidate for the open City Commission seat.
EXECUTIVE SESSION #1:
Mayor
Meyer made a motion to enter into executive session for attorney/client
privilege personnel for fifteen minutes.
The motion was seconded by Commissioner Kumberg and carried unanimously.
Mayor
Meyer made a motion to return from executive session with nothing to
report. The motion was seconded by
Commissioner Schmidt and carried unanimously.
Commissioner
Kumberg made a motion to retain Ms. Heather Morgan for an additional six months
to help with Economic Development and to split the cost with the County. The motion was seconded by Commissioner
Schmidt and carried unanimously.
EXECUTIVE SESSION #2:
Mayor
Meyer made a motion to enter into executive session for non-elected personnel
for twenty minutes. The motion was
seconded by Commissioner Leslie and carried unanimously.
Mayor
Meyer made a motion to return from executive session with nothing to
report. The motion was seconded by
Commissioner Peters and carried unanimously.
ADJOURN:
Upon
proper motion, the meeting was adjourned.
DOUG MEYER, Mayor
______________________________________
LUANN
KRAMER, City Clerk