May 14
CITY OF HIAWATHA
CITY COMMISSION MINUTES
MONDAY, MAY 14, 2007 at 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 on Monday, May 14, 2007, at 5:35 p.m. at City Hall with Mayor Gernon, Commissioner Denton, Commissioner Sheeran, and Commissioner Collins present. Commissioner Shamburg was absent.
2. Approval of minutes of the May 4, 2007, Special City Commission meeting.
Approval of the minutes of the May 4, 2007 Special City Commission meeting was tabled until next week due to only two commissioners being present who could vote on these minutes.
3. CONSENT AGENDA
a. Approval of the May 7, 2007, City Commission meeting minutes.
b. Approval of Payroll Appropriation #1083 in the amount of $40,996.39.
c. Approval of disbursement of tax funds to Morrill Public Library in the amount of $1644.72.
d. Approval of Plumbing License for Young Backhoe & Trenching, Inc.
e. Approval of Cereal Malt Beverage License for Pinul H. Sulvi.
Commissioner Collins made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Sheeran, to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. Motion carried. 4 ayes.
4. Presentation of petitions, public comments, memorials.
There were no petitions, public comments or memorials.
Old Business
5. Consider approval of allowing a temporary permit application for sale of alcohol at the Sesquicentennial Street Dance on June 30, 2007.
Mayor Gernon announced that this item had been removed from the agenda by the Sesquicentennial Committee.
New Business
6. HFED Discussion Concerning Airport.
Jon Daeschner, Hiawatha Foundation for Economic Development Board, said that Hiawatha is in the running for placement of a large manufacturing company from the eastern United States which has been in business for 57 years. The company wants to put a plant in the Midwest, and is interested in Hiawatha because we are not union and because we have a stable work force. They plan to employ 300 to 400 people, and offer jobs with a wage scale of around $11.00 and up, with 10% to 25% of employees being on the upper end; such as engineers and specialty people. They need approximately 40 acres with good highway access, a building approximately 250,000 square feet and expandable to 350,000 square feet. They need a parking lot large enough to handle this many employees.
One reason they did not want to offer Nigus Industrial Park is that it is only 32 acres which is not large enough, and has a railroad track running through the middle. This company does all their shipping both in and out by truck.
Daeschner said that this company is environmentally friendly.
He said that HFED is proposing an option to close the airport and use that land for this company. It is a prime location. It is a level property and has a ten inch water line running nearby. The utilities are close by.
HFED has been invited to make a presentation to the company, which he felt was very encouraging.
Daeschner said that this would be a huge opportunity for Hiawatha. He requested the City Commission to consider using the airport ground for this economic development project. Even though there may be other locations available, the airport ground would offer the least infrastructure cost to the City because the City already owns it. He said that the building would be on the company’s shoulders.
Mayor Gernon asked Daeschner what the time frame was. Daeschner said that the company would like to be up and running by the first quarter of 2008, so construction would need to start by the middle or end of June 2007. They were looking at a short time span to put this building up. He said that they were going out to make their presentation next week, and should know shortly after that where Hiawatha stands.
Mayor Gernon asked if they had looked at other sites. Daeschner said that they had and were currently having options drawn up for those other sites.
Mayor Gernon asked Administrator Ladner what the legal procedure would be to close the airport.
Administrator Ladner said that it depended upon whether the City closed all or just a part of the airport. She said that there was not a minimum standard for airports, if it was not closed in its entirety. If we left the north-south runway operational, we would need 125 feet on either side of the center line of the runway as the primary runway surface. It would need to be cleared of trees at each end of the runway with a wind sock at each end. From the edge of that 125 feet, an additional 7 to 1 ratio was required for any vertical construction near the airport. Depending on the height of nearby structures, which would be approximately 40 feet in height, an additional 280 feet must remain clear from the edge of that primary surface. There are over 130 acres in the airport site currently. If we choose to close the cross wind runway, we must submit a form 7480-1 to the FAA for approval. She said that she had talked to the State Aviation Department, and that they do not see that as a problem. If we do any kind of vertical construction near the airport, we must submit form 7460-1 to the FAA for approval. They basically just want to know what is going in near the airport.
She said that if the City chooses to close the entire airport under State Statute 3-144b, upon the completion of any existing leases, we may do so by a resolution of the Governing Body, by finding and determining that such real estate is no longer needed for airport purposes, and that it is in the best interest of the City to sell or dispose of that real estate. If the City does sell or transfer the property, it must be by the traditional real estate property sales set up in our code.
Mayor Gernon asked Daeschner if he felt that they had advanced far enough with this recruitment that it is time to show this company that we are serious.
Daeschner said that we need to show them that we are serious. He said that if we find out we are not in the running, then it wouldn’t be necessary to close the airport. If we find out that we are, then we need to move along quickly.
He said that the company is currently making their product in Adelanto, California. Administrator Ladner had received encouraging information from the people out there.
Commissioner Collins asked if they had other options that were better than the airport site.
Daeschner said that there are other options, but that the airport is the most reasonable. The other options would cost more for the infrastructure. The other options along Highway 36 do not have highway access, which they have to have. To get that, they would have to get legislative approval to give highway access on at least one of the options. They need level ground without a lot of dirt moving which is very expensive, utilities, and highway access to the site, all of which the airport site does have. They also would require a large enough water line to provide water for their sprinkler system. A ten inch line is available to the airport. The other sites would require a 10 inch water line to be put in.
Daeschner said that Hiawatha is in a growth mode, with the addition of Crosswinds, Hemisphere GPS, and Koch & Co. They are employing the people that they had agreed upon. Koch & Co. is starting to expand now. He said that the addition of this new company would be great for other businesses in town and would help our hospital to grow with the addition of that many people who would have health insurance benefits.
Mayor Gernon said that it was important to have more than one option to offer this company in case they did not approve of the one location.
Commissioner Sheeran asked Daeschner if they would need the whole airport. Daeschner said that they would only need approximately 40 acres, so they would not need the entire airport. He said that the company plans to start with a 250,000 square foot building, but that the company said that their projections are continuing to grow and may enlarge that building to 350,000 square feet in a short time.
Daeschner said that with that wage scale, they will attract employees who are currently going to other towns to work.
Marian Tubach, Executive Director for HFED, is currently putting together a cost-benefit analysis for this project which will show how much a company like this would mean to the City of Hiawatha.
Daeschner said that they have also talked to the county about this project.
Dean Bailey said that although there was a gas line out there, it was not a Kansas Gas Service line, and that they would need to check to see if that company, Southern Gas Service, would allow them to tap into their line.
Daeschner said that this company would be using natural gas only to heat the building.
Mayor Gernon asked what the best method to proceed with this would be from HFED’s standpoint and expressed his appreciation to HFED for their work on this project.
Daeschner said that he needed to know how long it would take for the City to close the airport if the company selected Hiawatha and the airport property for their site. He said that after they make their presentation to the company, he expected them to send a team out to investigate the site options. He said that HFED would probably push the airport site first, because the City already owns the property and it would be our best option financially.
Daeschner said that the City needed to be prepared and ready to close the airport or a portion of the airport if the company selected that site, if it takes a motion or whatever it takes at this point to do that. If the company decided not to locate here, then the airport would not need to be closed.
Mayor Gernon said that it would be better to start the paperwork on closing the airport on the assumption that the company would want the entire site, and then come back and change it if they decide to leave a part of it open or not close it all if they do not select that site.
Daeschner said that he would hate to see things slow down because we don’t have the ground.
Administrator Ladner said that a contingent resolution could be presented to the Commission next week. The next step would then be to go into the sale or transfer of real estate process which includes public notice to be published for three weeks, with the sale or transfer to be scheduled no sooner than 40 days from the first day of publication. If the Commission passed the resolution on Monday, May 21, it could be published on Friday, May 25. The soonest anything could happen would be 40 days after that date.
Commissioner Collins said that the City should get the process started as soon as possible.
Mayor Gernon asked Administrator Ladner to go ahead and prepare the resolution.
7. Bio-energy request for water capacity test.
Mayor Gernon asked Commissioner Collins to direct this discussion due to a conflict of interest. Commissioner Collins asked Steve Smith to present his request.
Steve Smith, NEK Bio-energy, said that they have been collecting data for the past several months and looking into all sources of information related to water resources. He said that they want to build the bio-diesel plant, which would require 150 gallons of water per minute. Looking at the City’s water rights and the City’s usage of water, he said it looks like there would be plenty of water. To be safe and to protect everyone involved, they would like to have the City do a water system capacity test of their current water infrastructure. He said that NEK Bio-energy would pay for one-half of the cost of the test. He said they would need to identify what the City currently has and what they are currently using.
Smith said that at the request of the Division of Water Rights, they have identified the aquifer and the length and the depth of it. There are currently two drilling rigs drilling north and east of town, which are drilling up to eighty test holes in which they are identifying how the aquifer is replenished. They are also doing a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the City’s gray water from the sewer plant, and a cost feasibility study of using the gray water as part of the operations of the bio-energy plant.
He felt that the best way to protect the City of Hiawatha would be to find out what we have available by doing the capacity test.
Commissioner Collins asked what the cost would be for these tests. Smith said that a rough estimate would be $4,000 to $5,000. He said that he assumed that the City would want to put it out to bid, and that the NEK Bio-energy group would stand one-half of that cost; that it was important to the City and important to the bio-energy group.
Commissioner Collins said that it was very important to the City to make sure there is enough water before we agree to supply water to anybody else. He asked if there was enough money in the budget to pay for the other half of the tests.
Administrator Ladner said that the cost would have to come out of either the water or the sewer budget, and that although it was not budgeted for this year, we could find the money in one of the budgets to pay for the other half of the tests.
Rick Koenig, Water Superintendent, said that he thought it was a good idea, and that the tests would speak for themselves.
Smith said that their motion of action had already taken place to fund one-half of the cost of the testing.
Commissioner Collins said that the City should put the testing out for bids.
Administrator Ladner said that the normal process would be to write out the bid and give at least ten days for bidders to reply. Then it could be put back on the agenda.
Commissioner Collins made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Denton, that we go out for the bid process on the water capacity test. Motion carried. 3 ayes. 1 abstain. Mayor Gernon abstained.
8. Consider authorizing the City to have a water system capacity study conducted.
Since authorization was given for the water system capacity study was given in item 7, this item was removed from the agenda.
9. Consider modifying the water contract between the City of Hiawatha and Brown County Rural Water District #1 to increase the maximum water usage from 70,000 to 250,000 gallons per day.
Administrator Ladner explained that it would be peak usage, if Rural Water District #1’s entire well field shut down and they had no water. They may not ever need that much, it would be just a cushion. She said that they also talked about putting in a larger pipe so that if we ever had problems with one of our wells they would be able to supply the City of Hiawatha as well.
Commissioner Collins suggested that we wait until we do the water system capacity study to make a decision.
Mayor Gernon mentioned that it would be a good idea for them to put in a larger pipe in order to supply the City in case some of our wells went down, and Rick Koenig, Water Superintendent, said that it would be good to have another interconnection.
Action was tabled until after the capacity study is conducted.
10. Review bids for air conditioner or air conditioner and furnace replacement for City Hall.
Administrator Ladner explained that as was budgeted in the 2007 fiscal year budget and authorized by the Commission, the City has received bids for the replacement of the air conditioner or the air conditioner and furnace units at City Hall. The City had budgeted the funds in the Capital Expenditures account 10-11-8030 for the replacement of the unit as well as for the installation of the windows in the upstairs of City Hall. She said that there was $9000 budgeted for those items.
She said that the low bidder is Koehn Cooling of Hiawatha, if we replaced just the air conditioner, at $1,601.08. For the air conditioner and furnace, the low bidder was Matthew’s Heating and Plumbing at $3,710.00.
Malcolm Grier said that the furnace was 20 years old and all of the companies said it would be a good idea to replace both at the same time. He said it would be cheaper to replace the furnace at this time than to replace it later.
Commissioner Collins made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Sheeran, to accept the low bid for the replacement of the air conditioner and furnace from Matthew’s Heating and Plumbing at $3710.00. Motion carried. 4 ayes.
11. Consider adopting a resolution calling for the immediate condemnation of the property located at 107 Shawnee.
Administrator Ladner explained that following the heavy rains a week ago, a large section of one foundation wall for this property had collapsed into the basement. This collapse had caused additional damage to the remaining structural walls making the property unsafe and very dangerous.
As an immediate hazard to the community for safety reasons, it is necessary to condemn the property or require immediate action to be taken by the property owner. The City requests that if the owner seeks to repair the property, a building permit must be issued and work commence by May 17, 2007. If the property owner seeks to demolish the property, the demolition permit must be issued and the work completed by May 21, 2007, or the City will take immediate action to remove the structure and levy the costs back to the property owner. If no action is taken by the property owner by May 17, 2007, the City will take immediate action to remove the structure and levy the costs back to the property owner.
Administrator Ladner said that she had given each member of the commission two documents prior to the meeting. One was dated August 20, 2002. On page 3, that house is listed as having a basement wall cave-in. On the other document dated October 9, 2003, at the bottom of the front page, that same house is listed as having a serious foundation problem with the east basement wall collapsing into the basement.
Mayor Gernon asked Malcolm Grier, Code Enforcement Officer, for his input.
Grier said that he had visited the property after receiving a complaint from the tenant of the property, who indicated that they had heard noises in the middle of the night, went downstairs and found the approximately 20 feet by 7 foot high basement wall had caved into the basement. He said that he had advised the tenant to move because of the risks involved. He said that the inner structure of a support that was there before had cracked and was also caving in. He said that he did not know how the rest of the foundation was under the house.
Merlin Goodman, property owner, said that he had contacted Mr. Scates, a local contractor, who could not do the work until in June to fix the wall. He said that he had contacted Aller, who said he could put braces under it but could not do the work for two weeks.
Administrator Ladner stated that the property was barricaded and that the tenants had moved out.
Mayor Gernon said that he thought it would take more than fixing that one wall to bring the house up to code.
Grier said that he didn’t know how the rest of the foundation was, that a structural engineer would need to make that call. The house could not remain the way that it was right now.
Commissioner Collins asked if Mr. Goodman was going to do anything else to the house besides the foundation. He replied that he was not.
Grier also said that there were reports of problems with the foundation of that house several times over the last several years.
Commissioner Collins asked Grier if he had worked with Mr. Goodman on anything else in the house. He replied that he had only addressed the foundation issue at this point.
Commissioner Sheeran asked whose responsibility it was to check the work after it was done to be sure that it was safe. Administrator Ladner replied that it would be Malcolm Grier, Code Enforcement Officer.
Grier replied that due to the foundation problems of the structure, that they needed someone who could do a stress test on the structure.
Mayor Gernon asked Mr. Goodman if he was prepared to do whatever it took to bring the house up to City code, because it could be substantially more than what he was contemplating at this point.
Commissioner Collins asked what his timeline would be before the work could be done. Mr. Goodman said he would like to have 50 days.
Commissioner Denton asked which wall had collapsed this time. Grier replied that it was the east wall, which was the same wall which had collapsed before.
Commissioner Collins said that he would estimate that it would take a minimum of $20,000 to fix up the property and asked Mr. Goodman if he realized that.
Mayor Gernon told him that he might be ahead to go ahead and tear it down.
Grier offered to go with him to the house and figure out what repairs needed to be made to bring it up to code.
Mayor Gernon said that they would give him two weeks to begin work on the house, with no extensions. He also said that the City would expect it to be fixed to be in compliance with City Code. If repairs were going to be made, the City would expect them to begin within two weeks.
Commissioner Collins said that they would put this back on the agenda in two weeks.
Mayor Gernon asked that Grier take a check list and go over it with Goodman and both sign it.
Action was tabled for two weeks.
12. Consider adopting a resolution fixing the time and place and providing notice of hearing to appear and show cause why such structures located at 1105 Oregon should not be condemned and ordered repaired, demolished or removed or made safe.
Administrator Ladner explained that the property located at 1105 Oregon has become a derelict property. It has remained vacant for 13 years, the roofing material is deteriorating, allowing for animal access. Rats have been seen entering the property through an open area near the basement by a resident to the west of the property and a complaint has been filed at City Hall. This house has become unsafe and poses a health hazard to the community in its present condition.
This resolution would set the hearing for the 11th of June, 2007, during that Commission meeting.
If adopted, this resolution would be 2007-09.
Commissioner Collins made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Sheeran, that Resolution 2007-09 be approved. Motion carried. 4 ayes.
13. Consider adopting a resolution waiving GAAP requirements as set forth in K.S.A. 75-1120(a).
Administrator Ladner explained that the Commission had made the decision last year when the 2005 audit was being done to waive the GAAP requirements as set for the in K.S.A. 75-1120(a). This resolution is required to be adopted each year. Waiving the GAAP requirements is part of our audit process. If adopted, this resolution would be 2007-10.
Comissioner Sheeran made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Denton, to adopt Resolution 2007-10. Motion carried. 4 ayes.
14. Consider a Charter Ordinance exempting the City of Hiawatha from the provisions of Section 14-1308 of the Kansas Statutes Annotated relating to the meetings of the Board of Commissioners of a City of the Second Class.
Administrator Ladner explained that over the past year, the length of City Commission meetings has reduced overall. Several meetings have lasted less than one hour and in many cases between 20 and 30 minutes. In an attempt to make City Government more efficient for the community the City has the option of exempting themselves through a charter ordinance from the state statute that requires the Commission to meet weekly and set a schedule that better suits the needs of the community.
The amount of man hours each week to prepare the Commission agenda and packet varies from 6 to 10 hours between the City Administrator, City Clerk, and other office staff. In addition there is a cost associated with the compilation of the packet each week that is provided to the Commission and the media.
She said that she was presenting for review and consideration by the Commission a Charter Ordinance that would set the City Commission meetings for specific Mondays during each month with a provisional day for holidays. This ordinance would not preclude the Commission from requesting or scheduling special meetings during the month if deemed necessary by the Commission.
She would like to review this ordinance tonight and prepare for final adoption at the May 21, 2007, meeting. If adopted, this ordinance would take effect August 2, 2007.
Commissioner Collins said that he was not interested in doing this.
Mayor Gernon asked if the City staff had actually gathered information on these 20 to 30 minute meetings. He was interested in seeing how much time we actually were meeting.
Commissioner Collins asked if we would be meeting on the weeks to approve the payroll appropriations.
Administrator Ladner said that if they did not meet every week, they would have to modify how payroll and appropriations were approved. She mentioned that most cities do not even approve the payroll appropriation before it was paid.
She said that the state statute mandates that cities of the second class with a mayor-commission form of government meet every week unless they opt out by adopting a charter ordinance. Otherwise, they must meet every week, and when a holiday falls on the meeting day, they must either go ahead and meet or reschedule the meeting to be held the next legal business day.
Mayor Gernon explained that without the Charter Ordinance there is no flexibility in scheduling for the Commission. He thought that we should look into it. If it is unworkable, we could always go back to the old way of doing it. He was in favor of putting it on the agenda for next week.
Administrator Ladner said that the ordinance would allow the City to decide when they wanted to meet, obviously continuing on Mondays, it could be set for the first and third Monday or the second and fourth Monday, or the first, third and fifth Monday, or however the Commission wanted to set it. She asked the Commission for direction on how to word it. She explained that it would have to set the regular meeting times, but would allow the Commission to schedule extra meetings as needed. So if the Commission decided to meet every Monday as we are currently doing, they still could, but a future Commission could, with proper notice, change the schedule to meet only the days specified in the ordinance.
This would also allow for more flexibility when the meetings fell on holidays.
Mayor Gernon asked to have it put on the agenda for next week.
15. Lynne Ladner, City Administrator.
Administrator Ladner told the Commission that she had received from the State the Transportation Enhancement Grant package, including a work session in August. She said that she had been approached and asked if it would it be timely for the Commission to reform the Streetscape Committee in order to put together the grant application for State fiscal year 2009-2010. She asked for direction from the Commission on that, and then they could move forward with Phase II of the Streetscape Project. Mayor Gernon said that he thought it would be a good idea.
Quail Unlimited has asked permission to hold a Youth Shooting Class at the Hiawatha Airport. She said that she had spoken with Police Chief Woehlecke concerning this. In the past, another group has held a turkey shoot out there with the Commission’s permission. With HFED’s information this evening concerning the airport, they may not wish to follow through with this request.
Mayor Gernon asked about liability issues. Administrator Ladner said that she would check into the liability issues. Mayor Gernon also mentioned that there was a place in Troy where they do sporting clay shooting.
Commissioner Sheeran thought that it was important to teach youngsters to safely shoot and that they should investigate it further to see if they could accommodate it.
Administrator Ladner asked permission to seek bids for a preliminary engineering review. She said that we might be able to get grant funds for the Fourth & Pottawatomie drainage ditch problem if the grant is worded properly under the CDBG Community Facilities Grant Program. The application would be due November 1, 2007. We would find out in January 2008. She would like to put out for bids for the preliminary engineering review that would be required. Mayor Gernon said to proceed.
She said that several agencies including the Kansas League of Municipalities and the Kansas Rural Water Association have put together funds for Greensburg disaster relief. She thought that the City could donate to this $1000 to $1500 out of building improvement funds. The funds would go directly to the City of Greensburg to be used at their discretion.
Commissioner Collins made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Sheeran, to make a $1500 donation through KRWA to the City of Greensburg. Motion carried. 4 ayes.
Administrator Ladner said that Memorial Day falls on May 28. She asked the Commission if they wanted to meet on Monday, which is Memorial Day, or Tuesday, May 29. The Commission agreed to meet on Tuesday, May 29.
16. Mayor Crosby Gernon.
17. Com. William Collins.
18. Com. Vicki Denton.
19. Com. Steffen Shamburg.
20. Com. John Sheeran.
21. Adjourn.
Commissioner Sheeran made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Collins, to adjourn. Motion carried. 4 ayes. Meeting adjourned at 6:51 p.m.