February 14, 2018

The regular monthly meeting of the Chapman City Council was held February 14, 2018 at the Chapman City Office. Mayor Jeff Blixt called the meeting to order at 7:00pm. Council members present were Luan Sparks, Tim Jury and Clint Thornton. Council members absent were Howard Battishill and Lee Wolf. Also in attendance were City Clerk Erin Tilton and City Administrator John Dudte. Others in attendance were Dana Gaither, Bob Diehl, JoAnn Atkinson, Jon Arveson, Mike Stutz, Kevin Diercks and Josh Smith.

Agenda #2 Consent Agenda

Motion by Sparks to accept the consent agenda, 2ndJury, Vote: yes, unanimous. Motion carried.

Agenda #3 Public Comments

St. Patrick’s parade will be March 14th at 1:00pm.

Agenda #4 Introduction of new employee – Jon Arveson, Public Works

Jon Arvesonintroduced himself. Arveson began working in the public works department this summer as a seasonal employee and has now joined the city full time.

Agenda #5 Introduction of new employee – Nathan Tolle, Parks & Recreation Director

Nathan Tolle was unable to attend and hopes to come to the March 14th meeting.

Agenda #6 Appointment of Kayla Hern to Chapman Economic Development Board

Chapman economic development requested the appointment of Kayla Hern by the Mayor and city council. Mayor Blixt asked for a motion to appoint Hern to the board.

Motion by Jury to appoint Kayla Hern to Chapman economic development, 2nd Thornton, Vote: yes, unanimous. Motion carried.

Agenda #7 Dickinson County Communication new software and hardware upgrade

Dickinson County is in the process of updating the 911 system. In the past the city has not been billed. The city will be responsible for roughly 2% of the total cost of the project.

Motion by Sparks to approve the invoice in the amount of $6510.38, 2nd Thornton, Vote: yes, unanimous. Motion carried.

Agenda #8 KMEA appointment – Director #2 Vacancy

Vacancy of Bobby Kamm’s position on the KMEA board. City staff requested Mike Stutz, public works director, to fill position as director #2. Director #1 is John Dudte and alternative is Tim Jury.

Motion by Jury to appoint Mike Stutz as Director #2, 2nd Thornton, Vote: yes, unanimous. Motion carried.

Agenda #9 Consideration of parking restrictions at 428 Marshall

Property owners are changing directions and will bring additional information to the council in March if necessary. No discussion or action needed.

Mayor Blixt requested an amendment to the agenda to add 9A for preapproval of recreation payments, 9B for public works pickup purchase, 13A for ordinance 1006- court collections through Collection Bureau of Kansas and 15A as additional executive session for real estate.

Motion by Sparks to add 9A, 9B, 13A and 15A to the agenda, 2nd Thornton, Vote: yes, unanimous. Motion carried.

Agenda #9A – Preapproval of recreation payments

City staff will now be cutting the checks for all recreation officiating and requested approval to pay officials on a weekly basis. Past history showed that expenditures for officiating has not exceeded $3000 a month.

Motion by Thornton to approve up to $3000 preapproved to pay officials on a weekly basis, 2nd Jury, Vote: yes, unanimous. Motion carried.

Agenda #9B – Public works pickup purchase

Public works has two vehicles that are in need of significant repair or all together replacement. Repair of both vehicles would be $10-12,000. City staff has located some options through the state surplus program with turnaround time of three days. Currently there is a nine year old box truck with only 33,000 miles that staff is looking at. City staff requested preapproval of $25,000 to purchase a box truck for public works when the right one is found.

Motion by Sparks to purchase a public works truck in an amount not to exceed $25,000, 2nd Jury, Vote: yes, unanimous. Motion carried.

Agenda #10 Ordinance 1004 – Establishing city committees and boards and defining their general duties

City staff explained that this ordinance does not change what committees are currently doing but puts in writing expectations so new members coming onboard have an idea of what to expect. Guidelines will now be in place for when they are needed.

Motion by Jury to approved ordinance 1004, 2nd Thornton, Vote: yes, unanimous. Motion carried.

Agenda #11 Charter Ordinance 920 – Expanding the size of the Chapman parks and recreation board to seven members

Mayor Blixt explained that under the previous structure the recreation board was a taxing authority. With this new structure they are an advisory board only. Blixt is requesting approval of a five person board to a seven person board. Blixt advised there are a lot of families outside of city limits that participate in Chapman recreation programs and appointment flexibility is important.

Motion by Thornton to approve charter ordinance 920, 2nd Jury, Vote: yes, unanimous. Motion carried.

Agenda #12 Collection Bureau of Kansas, Inc. to collect debt owned on behalf of the city of Chapman contract approval

City staff has been talking to Collection Bureau of Kansas, Inc. as a way of collecting future debts in a more effective manner. Currently processes go through debt setoff with only about 10% of owed debt being returned back to the city. Collection Bureau of Kansas, Inc. has additional means of collections and has historically shown 30-40% return on debt owed. Collection fees will be assessed to the debtor so that the city does not accrue any costs. CBK only collects their fee on the debts collected.

Motion by Jury to enter into contract with Collections Bureau of Kansas, Inc., 2nd Sparks, Vote: yes, unanimous. Motion carried.

Agenda #13 Ordinance 1005 – Collection Bureau of Kansas, Inc. to collect debts owned on behalf of the city of Chapman

Motion by Jury to approve ordinance 1005, 2nd Thornton, Vote: yes, unanimous. Motion carried.

Agenda #13A Ordinance 1006 – Collection Bureau of Kansas, Inc. to collect court debts owed to Chapman Municipal Court

Court collections will be handled the same but fall under a differed state statute. Court collections only go through a debt agency when ordered by a judge.

Motion by Jury to approve ordinance 1006, 2nd Sparks, Vote: yes, unanimous. Motion carried.

Agenda #14 Executive Session – non-elected personnel

Mayor Blixt entertained a motion to recess the city council into executive session to discuss non-elected personnel pursuant to the real estate exception, K.S.A. 75-4319(b)(1). The meeting will resume in the city council chambers at 7:50pm. The executive session included the mayor, council members, city administrator and city clerk.

Motion by Jury to move the requested motion, 2nd Sparks, Vote: yes, unanimous. Motion carried.

Executive session ended at 7:50pm, no action taken.

Agenda #15 Executive Session – Real Estate

Mayor Blixt entertained a motion to recess the city council into executive session to discuss real estate pursuant to the real estate exception, K.S.A. 75-4319(b)(1). The meeting will resume in the city council chambers at 8:11pm. The executive session will include the mayor, council members and city administrator.

Motion by Jury to move the requested motion, 2nd Thornton, Vote: yes, unanimous. Motion carried.

Executive session ended at 8:11pm, no action taken. Work session set up for Wednesday, February 28th at 5:30pm.

Agenda #15A Executive Session – Real Estate

Mayor Blixt entertained a motion to recess the city council into executive session to discuss real estate pursuant to the real estate exception, K.S.A. 75-4319(b)(1). The meeting will resume in the city council chambers at 8:20pm. The executive session will include council members and the city administrator, with Mayor Blixt recusing himself.

Motion by Jury to move the requested motion, 2nd Sparks, Vote: yes, unanimous. Motion carried.

Executive session ended at 8:20pm, no action taken.

Agenda #16 Reports

City Administrator

  • Presented organizational chart
  • Advertisement for a lineman is out and applications are being collected
  • RecDesk is the new web-based software being used for Parks & Recreation, Nathan is working to get it up and running so online registrations can begin happening
  • Netting for the fencing at the ball fields is going to be replaced
  • Public works got the civic organization sign up on North Marshall coming into town
  • West 5th curb work along Londeen’s is completed and next will be curb work in front of 428 Marshall due to a state inspection that was done for the daycare getting set to open
  • Public works is still averaging one water leak a week
  • For sale signs for the development lots are done and will be installed
  • Sludge truck purchase is complete
  • Demolition is complete at 413 Marshall, sewer is in and plumbing and framing are currently being installed
  • City staff has heard from a few citizens about the need for a dog park, city staff is currently assessing the need and cost for a potential one at the old city dumb site at the corner of Nicholson and Irish Drive
  • Thank you to the police chief and his staff for their work on the school investigation, school staff has been in and has been very complimentary of their work
  • Work session Wednesday, February 28th at 5:30pm for waste water

Luan Sparks

  • Situation with bug kill? City staff is still watching it, nothing new since the last reported hit
  • Great day on January 24th at Local Government Day in Topeka, thank you to the school district for providing the vehicle

Tim Jury

  • Thank you to the police department and fire department for all their hard work
  • “Hats off” to Daryl Beemer on all his hard work with the recreation activities, excited to move forward and continue growing

Agenda #17 Adjournment

Motion by Jury to adjourn, 2nd Thornton, Vote: yes, unanimous. Motion carried.