October 23
CITY OF HIAWATHA
CITY COMMISSION MINUTES
MONDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2006
5:35 P.M.
HIAWATHA CITY HALL
723 OREGON ST.
1. Pledge of Allegiance/ Call to Order
The Hiawatha City Commission met in regular session at 5:35 p.m. on Monday, October 23, 2006, at City Hall with Mayor Gernon, Commissioner Schmitt, Commissioner Gamble, Commissioner Collins and Commissioner Shamburg present.
2. Approval of minutes of the October 16, 2006 City Commission meeting.
On page 1, item 1, the date needs to be changed from October 9 to October 16. On page 2, item 7, paragraph 1, sentence 4, “the” needs to be changed to “they;” paragraph 4, sentence 2, eliminate the space between Commissioner and “s” to make it read “Commissioners;” paragraph 5, sentence 2, change “whom” to “who”.
Commissioner Shamburg made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Gamble, to approve the minutes of the October 16, 2006, City Commission Meeting with the corrections. Motion carried. 4 ayes. Commissioner Collins abstained.
3. Presentation of petitions, public comments, memorials.
a. Jingle Bell Ride for NEK-CAP
Lana Reigle presented information on the upcoming tenth annual Jingle Bell Ride which will take place on Sunday, November 12, 2006.
She explained that the Jingle Bell Ride is a benefit for the children and families served by the NEK-CAP Christmas Store. Residents may donate Christmas gifts or monetary donations. Horseback riders and walkers will be picking up the donations along an advertised route.
Mrs. Reigle said that the Boy Scouts will be helping out as “pooper scoopers” behind the horses, and the 4-H club & the Mennonite Church group will be singing Christmas Carols.
She said that they are also trying to involve the Horton community in this effort this year, as NEK-CAP assists families from areas other than Hiawatha. She encouraged any community member who would like to help with the effort to come forward and help out.
Mrs. Reigle asked the Commission for permission to block off South 7th Street between Oregon and Utah Streets this year.
Commissioner Collins made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Gamble to approve the Tenth Annual Jingle Bell Ride and allow the City to block off South Seventh Street from Oregon Street to Utah Street. Motion carried. 5 ayes.
Old Business
New Business
4. Consider Request for Handicapped Playground.
Brynn Wright, Sammie Shamburg, and Sophia Fortmeyer explained to the Commission about the “Playskool Win a BOUNDLESS Playground Essay Contest” which they, along with Nancy Jackson, had entered. They passed out information sheets to the Commission which explained the rules of the contest. If they win the grand prize in the essay contest, they could receive a BOUNDLESS playground to be constructed by no later than December 31, 2007 on a selected site.
The group asked the Commission if the City could provide the land to put the BOUNDLESS (handicapped) playground equipment if they won the contest.
[According to the official rules, the minimum site requirements were that the site size must be a minimum of 7,500 square feet; site must be located outside of any wetlands, floodway or floodplain; site must be located outside of contaminated soils or brown field areas; site owner(s) must have good and clear record and marketable title to the site, free from all liens and encumbrances; site owner(s) must grant permission for the BOUNDLESS playground to be built on his/her/its property; and site owner(s) or government entity must be willing to assume full responsibility for the maintenance and upkeep of the BOUNDLESS playground after construction. Each of these requirements is subject to verification by, and must be established to the satisfaction of Sponsor and Contest Entities and their respective representatives, whose decisions are final and binding in all respects.]
Dean Bailey asked if the City owned the property across from Starr Park. No comment was made by any member of the Commission concerning this location.
Administrator Ladner noted that Terry Smith, Recreation Director, had mentioned that Bruning Park might be a good location to put the BOUNDLESS playground equipment.
Other locations discussed were the existing Kiddie Corral, and an area between the swimming pool and The Pines, a piece of ground owned by the City, or a selected area near the swimming pool.
A potential problem with the Kiddie Corral was that it was all sand, which would make wheel chair navigation difficult. The group was not sure if the installation of blacktop areas would be included in the prize.
Commissioner Shamburg asked the girls to think about having a playground that would be integrated with a regular playground. If this would work, then he thought that Bruning Park would be a good area to use since it already contained regular playground equipment.
Mayor Gernon asked the girls when the deadline was.
They replied that November 30, 2006 was the deadline.
Mayor Gernon said that if they didn’t need a decision tonight, it would give the Commission time to discuss it and make a decision at a later date.
Mayor Gernon asked if it required a hard surface parking area, which Bruning Park did not have.
Administrator Ladner said that while it didn’t require it, not having the hard surface parking area would make it more difficult for wheel chair navigation. She thought that a gravel parking lot might work.
Commissioner Gamble said that Terry Smith, Recreation Director, had talked about getting a gravel driveway on the east side of “D” and “E” Fields at one time. He didn’t think it would be that difficult or costly to do. He said that Terry may have some figures as to what it would take.
Mayor Gernon said he thought that Commissioner Shamburg had made a good point about integrating the handicapped playground with the regular playground.
Mayor Gernon asked the group to talk it over with Administrator Ladner and give her a short list of what they felt would be best, and they would bring it back next week.
5. Consider Approval of Payment to Community Credit Corporation of the Brown County FSA.
Administrator Ladner explained that during the month of September the City received a payment from the Brown County FSA related to the Conservation Reserve Program for 2006 in the amount of $1,860. The City has since been informed that the payment had been made in error and has received a request for the City to return the funds to the FSA. We need the Commission’s approval to return this payment to the FSA in the amount of $1860.
Commissioner Schmitt asked why they had issued a payment and then wanted it sent back.
City Administrator Ladner explained that the City was not eligible to receive the payment in 2006 because there was only a limited amount of funds available for CRP payments this year. Selection of those to receive the payments was done by a lottery this year. She thought that the City might not be eligible because it was a government entity.
Commissioner Collins asked who was taking care of the CRP program for the City.
City Administrator Ladner said that Dave Grimm, Wastewater Supervisor, was in charge of the FSA programs for all farmland owned by the City.
Commissioner Schmitt asked if the City had received the CRP payment in the past.
Administrator Ladner said that she didn’t believe that they had. She explained that the Federal Government only allows so many dollars for CRP funding. The agency randomly selects CRP applications from a drawing until all the funds have been used.
The Commission asked for further research and a written explanation to be brought back to the Commission.
Commissioner Schmitt asked if the person who leases the ground might have received the CRP payment.
Administrator Ladner explained that CRP ground is not production property so was not rented out.
6. Consider Renewal of Maintenance Agreement with Layne-Western for water system.
City Administrator Lynne Ladner introduced Don Caillouet of Layne-Western, who was at the meeting to answer any questions concerning the maintenance agreement for routine maintenance on the City’s water system.
Commissioner Collins asked if this had been put out to bid.
City Administrator Ladner explained that the contract with Layne-Western had been in place prior to her becoming the city administrator.
She explained that it was because of Layne-Western’s routine maintenance inspection that the problem with the pump was found last year.
Mayor Gernon asked Rick Koenig, Water Supervisor, if he had any comments on this.
Koenig explained that they had also found a problem with one of the north well pumps two years ago during their inspection. He said that they have been having the inspections done since 2004.
Mr. Caillouet handed out copies of the maintenance figures from prior years. He explained that they had done repairs for the city in the past. He told the Commission that they have the necessary equipment on their truck to do the inspections and make the repairs; and that with the maintenance contract, they give a discount to the City if they have to do repairs. He explained that they check the integrity of the seal that the State requires the City to have on their wells. They check the voltage, the packing, and the specific capacity, among other things. He pointed out that the capacity had gone down on the south well. He said that he didn’t think that the pump on that well was operating properly.
Mr. Caillouet said that they did catch some problems, as Rick Koenig had said. He reminded the Commission that they had asked for a bid on the repairs and another company had gotten the bid. However the pump still had a vibration in it after the repairs were made. Layne-Western had to be called to find the vibration, for which they had to charge the City $600 to come out and run a vibration test. If they had been doing the original repair, this equipment was on their truck and could have been done at the time the repair was made. This caused not only delays in the final repairs, but made more expense for the City. Mr. Caillouet said that whenever they do an inspection and find a problem, they can usually repair it at that time, keeping delays and potential complete breakdowns to a minimum.
Mayor Gernon asked Mr. Caillouet to explain how the specific capacity was computed.
Mr. Caillouet made a drawing on the board to show what the specific capacity was. He showed how this measure would indicate whether there was something wrong with the well, or if there was something wrong with the pump. He said that this was one of the ways that Rick Koenig, Water Superintendent, monitored the wells.
Mayor Gernon asked what “cascading water” meant on the south Beckwith well.
Mr. Caillouet explained that this meant that air was getting into the well and was going into the customer’s water systems. He said that he had asked the Commission to have them clean it about three years ago, but that it had been done by a different company. He didn’t think that it had been cleaned properly at that time, which could be causing the problems they were having with it now. He said that when they clean a well, they take samples and send them to their lab to see what it has in it. He said that Rick knows pretty well what it has in it, but that he doesn’t have the investigative analysis that Layne- Western has.
Commissioner Gamble asked Rick if he knew how to tell the water levels.
Rick explained that they do the basic draw downs once a month. He said that they actually had to throttle the Beckwith well to keep from drawing it down too far. He didn’t know if that could be because the screens were dirty. He said that the well should probably be cleaned again.
With the maintenance contract, Mr. Caillouet explained that he could be called up at any time to answer questions concerning the wells at no extra charge to the City.
Commissioner Gamble said that his disagreement with Layne-Western on a prior repair was because he didn’t specify a worst case scenario.
Mr. Caillouet explained that they could not tell everything that was wrong with it until they pulled the pump out.
Commissioner Gamble argued that since they had the experience and the equipment they should have been able to make an educated guess as to what was wrong.
Mr. Caillouet said that on the Hansbury well, the other company made the lower bid, repaired it, and it still didn’t work. Layne-Western finally had to come up and repair it again at the City’s expense. He said that the City was not saving any money by using the bid process.
Mr. Caillouet said that a maintenance contract with Layne-Western would save the City money; they wouldn’t be charging the City for the routine maintenance inspections; they would give a discount on repairs; and the repairs would be done right the first time.
Commissioner Schmitt asked if this contract would go from October to October as in previous years.
Mr. Caillouet replied that it would.
Commissioner Schmitt asked for verification on next year’s renewal that there would be a maximum of a 5% increase.
Mr. Caillouet replied that was correct.
Mr. Caillouet said that the City has another well which is not included in the contract and has no baseline history. He would like to add this to the contract at an additional cost of $400.
Commissioner Schmitt asked Rick Koenig what he thought about doing that.
Rick explained that it would be a good idea to do this and to have this baseline history so that they could tell in future years if something was starting to go wrong with it.
Mr. Caillouet explained that they check a lot more things than just the specific capacity.
Commissioner Collins argued that the City has employees who can do those maintenance checks.
Rick explained that the City does several tests once a month. He said that the specific capacity tests were the important part of the contracted inspections. Those are generally checked annually.
Commissioner Collins said that the City sends in water samples periodically for tests so they would know if the water was high in nitrates or anything else from each well.
Rick said that the State requires testing at the point of entry, which is the reservoir. They do this testing quarterly to once a year, depending on which well it is.
Mayor Gernon asked if the screens would be replaced whenever necessary.
Mr. Caillouet replied that they would be.
Administrator Ladner explained that this agreement was similar to any maintenance agreement, and that it would be $1800 for a maintenance agreement to protect the water system for the City of Hiawatha.
Commissioner Schmitt explained that preventive maintenance was often less costly that waiting until something goes bad and then having a major cost.
City Administrator Ladner said that a good example of that was the stop light on First Street this past year. They had cancelled the insurance on it to save money. When the light was damaged by lightning, it cost a lot more than the insurance premium would have been to repair it.
Commissioner Gamble said that there was a lot of duplication of efforts with what the City employees could already do. They should be able to tell if a pump is going bad and needed to be repaired. They also do a lot of preventive maintenance. They know when a well is going down and not pumping right.
Mayor Gernon said that the City’s Water Department Head, Rick Koenig, sees value in this maintenance contract. He said they should rely on what Rick has to say as far as a benefit to the City. He asked Rick how he felt about the duplication of efforts.
Rick explained that the fact that if a pump goes down, they (Layne-Western) want to see the City’s records on voltage and amperage and they have those because they do check those things. That in itself helps Layne-Western to be able to make a diagnosis of the breakdown. He said that it was not duplication of efforts. It was just record keeping. Also, if the City needs a specific capacity analysis done, he can’t do that in house. If he needs to pull a pump to check a screen, he can’t do that in house. If he needs a vibrations check, he can’t do that. There are a lot of things that he could not do. He explained that it was also sort of a blanket security because if we have a major well go down, that Layne-Western would be here within 24 hours to make repairs.
Mr. Caillouet explained that if a pump went down and they could not repair it immediately, he would install a loaner pump at no charge to the City until they could get the repairs made.
Commissioner Schmitt asked if there would be funding for the additional $400 to add the new well.
City Administrator Ladner replied that there would be.
Commissioner Gamble thought the City could do without the maintenance contract and didn’t see any point in spending the money.
Commissioner Schmitt mentioned that on the well that had the vibration, had the inspection not been done, it might have ended up being a lot more costly to repair. She thought that it would be good to have the new well added on and start the baseline reports to have for future use.
Commissioner Schmitt made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Shamburg, to approve the renewal of the well maintenance and pumping inspection contract with Layne-Western with the addition of the new well for a total cost of $2200. Motion carried. 3 ayes. 2 nays. Commissioner Gamble and Commissioner Collins voted nay.
7. CONSENT AGENDA
b. Appropriation Ordinance #1104 in the amount of $15,086.34.
c. Approval of a Contractor’s License for Kreider Construction.
Commissioner Schmitt made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Shamburg, to approve the consent agenda as presented. Motion carried. 5 ayes.
8. Lynne Ladner, City Administrator.
City Administrator Ladner told the Commissioner that KDOT is hosting a series of meetings to discuss transportation projects. There will be one on Thursday, October 26, at the Fisher Center to discuss the future transportation projects that are coming up as well as the introduction of a long range transportation plan. The Commissioners have also been invited to attend. She will attend and ask Dennis Hartter to attend. They will be discussing the resurfacing of First Street.
She reminded the Commission that they had talked last week about the strategic planning session. She said she had spoken with Lynne Schall at Wichita State University. She would be available on Saturdays in January. Administrator Ladner said that January 13 would work for Commissioner Schmitt and wondered if it would work for the rest of the Commissioners.
The commissioners didn’t know at this time because it was still four months away.
Commissioner Gamble said that he was still trying to evaluate what they got out of it the last time. He felt that they had already identified the areas, which he didn’t think had changed that much. Right now he didn’t know if they would even utilize the information that they had already received.
Administrator Ladner noted that there was a charge of approximately $2500 for the session. She asked them to let her know.
Administrator Ladner told the Commission that the Sac & Fox Fire Department had ceased to exist and had approached the City about equipment they wish to sell. Chief Shear sent a representative tonight to let the Commission know what would be a priority. They were hoping to meet with the Sac & Fox Council representative this week and find out what these items would cost if she could have the Commissions approval to do so.
Tom Stone, representing the Hiawatha Fire Department, said that there were six DR-400 radios, an International pumper truck, a 100-foot aerial which could probably be bought for cents on the dollar but we could probably get by without it, tools, hoses, nozzles, and six black helmets.
Commissioner Collins asked if there was money in the budget for purchasing any of these items.
Administrator Ladner said that the 2006 budget is expended, but there would be money in the equipment fund for 2007.
Administrator Ladner said that she would like to go and look at the items. She said that the majority of the equipment was brand new, never been used. She said that she thought that the Federal Government had provided top-quality equipment to the tribe at basically no charge. It would be a good opportunity to pick up some good items at a low cost.
Commissioner Collins asked if this would be an auction deal or if they were just pricing it.
Administrator Ladner explained that the tribe was willing to negotiate with the City on the items.
Administrator Ladner explained that with their Fire Department disbanding, the Cities of Hiawatha and Horton would be taking over the responsibilities of both the north part and the south part of the tribal area.
Commissioner Collins asked if the City would be responsible for the Casino.
Administrator Ladner replied that they would not, that it would fall under Horton’s jurisdiction.
Tom Stone noted that if there were ever a fire at the Casino, all area fire departments would probably be responding.
Commissioner Collins asked if the City really needed the equipment.
Stone replied that they do.
Mayor Gernon felt that if the government provided the equipment to the tribe, they should just give it to the City.
Administrator Ladner said that was not likely to happen.
The Commission agreed that they should go look at it.
Administrator Ladner said that they will go up on Wednesday, October 25, to look at the equipment.
Administrator Ladner explained that the City would be negotiating a contract with the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) for the fire protection of the tribal area.
9. Mayor Gernon.
Mayor Gernon asked where the City was at with the RFQ’s.
Administrator Ladner replied that they are due Monday, October 30, from all of the engineering firms.
11. Com. William Collins.
12. Com. Curtis Gamble.
Commissioner Gamble asked for an update on the houses listed as derelict, especially on the ones that have already been given more than one extension.
Administrator Ladner said she would get with Malcolm Grier, Code Enforcement Officer, on this.
12. Com. Marianne Schmitt.
Commissioner Schmitt asked about the status on the Streetscape Project. She reported that there were rumors that some of the workers stated they were getting ready to close down for the winter.
Administrator Ladner explained that they are finishing up the north side of Oregon Street hopefully by Wednesday. With the Halloween parade only eight days away, the crew was moving to the 100 block of South 7th Street until after Halloween.
The light poles have finally arrived; however the electrical boxes for installing the lights have not yet arrived. She had asked the contractors to find out if they would arrive in time to install the lights before next Tuesday on the north side of Oregon Street.
The planters are being poured.
During the weekly construction meetings with the contractors, there has not been any comment that they will be closing down for the winter. They are doing this project through to completion which will include the north and south sides of the 500, 600, and 700 blocks on Oregon Street and the 100 block of South Seventh Street.
They will attempt to open parking on the north side of Oregon in the 600 and 700 blocks for the next two weeks. It will be temporary and based on whether there are problems with the trench dug for the new water main, which cannot be closed until the services have been connected on the south side of the street.
Commissioner Schmitt asked if Oregon Street would be completed then.
Administrator Ladner said that the asphalt wedging was scheduled for November 15, which is the last day the asphalt company would be making the asphalt. They have every intention in being at that point by then so that it can be done.
13. Com. Steffen Shamburg.
14. Adjourn.
Commissioner Shamburg made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Gamble to adjourn. Motion carried. 5 ayes. Meeting was adjourned at 6:46 p.m.