CITY OF OVERBROOK

 

 

MINUTES                       REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING                                           JULY 12, 2006

 

 

 

MEMBERS PRESENT:        Larry Coursen, Bob Sisson, Rich Hamit, Ira Allen, Bruce Smith, Mayor

                                    Jack Young.

 

 

 

OTHERS PRESENT:          Ken Krause, Joni Hudson, Steve & Charlene Gibbs, Roger Harmon, Charles

                                    Hamner, Mike Dickerson, Jason Hielscher, Jon Brady, David & Kathy Alcorn,

                                    Patty Hylton, Ed Harmison, Cheryl Brown.

 

 

 

 

            The meeting was called to order at 7 PM.  Roll call was taken to determine the presence of a quorum.

 

 

MINUTES / WARRANTS:              Ira Allen moved to approve the minutes of the June 28, 2006 meeting as written.  Larry Coursen seconded; motion carried 5-0.  

            Ira Allen made a motion, seconded by Bob Sisson, to pay all warrants presented.  Motion carried 5-0.

 

 

 

CITY PARK ACCOUNTS:      Larry Woodson, representing PRIDE, asked if the city would be willing to open an account for the purpose of handling the funds for the City Park project.  This would allow donations to be tax-exempt.  Derrick Dahl has indicated that Kansas State Bank would be willing to be the depository, such as it was when the tennis courts were being funded.   Woodson also recommended that a certain percertage of funds be kept in reserve for future maintenance of any additions to the city park.  The council agreed by concensus to authorize a joint account for the city park project, and will determine the amount to be set aside for maintenance at a later time.

 

 

POOL PERSONNEL:          Rich Hamit made a motion, seconded by Bruce Smith, to go into executive session for 10 minutes at 7:10 PM with Steve and Charlene Gibbs and Joni Hudson present.  Motion carried; meeting was recessed.  Mayor Young called the meeting back to order at 7:22 PM. 

            Bob Sisson told Joni Hudson that he’s had some complaints from a few people who have mentioned that some of the lifequards not paying enough attention to the kids in the pool, and wanted her to be aware of the situation. 

 

 

TRAILS PROJECT:            Roger Harmon, representing PRIDE, came before the council to explain that he’s helping with a grant application for the second phase of the Trails project.  The application is due August 1st.  He gave a brief review of Phase I, showing that the actual cost to the city was around $900 out of the city’s share of $17,000 of the total $54,000 project.  The grant is an 80/20 percentage grant, with inkind labor counting towards the city’s cost.  The city would have to be the official sponsor, with PRIDE helping.  The estimated cost of Phase II is $133,000, with the city being responsible for $26,000 which Harmon thinks will actually be around $2,000 using volunteer labor and equipment as before.   The grant is through the National Trail’s Act which uses taxes from off-road fuels.  Harmon said that the original plan is for three phases.  Phase I and II will be around 1 mile of trail.   Bruce Smith asked about the problems with installing a bathroom that requires sewer service.  Harmon said that the restroom being considered uses a foundation that’s a giant holding tank which would require servicing only once or twice a year.  One advantage of this type of facility is that it can be used year-round.   Bruce Smith moved to pursue Phase II.  Bob Sisson seconded the motion; motion carried 5-0.

 

 

STANGIS PROPERTY DRAINAGE:      Vic Robbins has surveyed the surface run-off ditch from the street to the end, about 420 feet.  He also met with Mack Dibble, a neighbor, and was told that this ditch was put there when the property was first developed.   After discussion, the council asked Robbins to write a proposal regarding what he thinks should be done to alleviate the problem.  Mayor Young said that some kind of authorization will have to be obtained to access private property belonging to Stangis, in addition to that of the neighbors. 

            Robbins said that the problem with the water tower sensor is in the process of being fixed.  Someone from the Pedrotti company has discovered that the pressure sensor wasn’t water-proof and was submerged under water for some reason.  It will have to be replaced, but Robbins doesn’t know if there will be an additional cost to the city.  Robbins has explained all this to KDHE as part of his report.

            Robbins explained that a couple of test results from the lagoons were out of compliance due to the de-sluding process.  The latest test is in compliance, but all the results will show on the next quarterly report. 

            The pre-construction conference for the sewer rehab project was held this past Monday and all the contracts have been signed and delivered or mailed.  The starting time for the project is officially July 17, 2006, and the contractor, Joshua Excavating should start moving equipment in the week of the 24th.   The contractor has said they will start on the lines by the school.  Robbins told the council that the properties for which the temporary construction easements have not been obtained may require the city to take legal action to petition the court to condemn the property.  Hopefully, this will not be necessary as it will be costly, both in money and time.

            There was a brief discussion about the FAR Properties situation.  Robbins and the council agreed that as much information about their future plans as possible be considered before making definite decisions about lift stations, etc.     David Alcorn asked if any decisions have been made about the water draining into the library have been made.  The mayor said that will wait until the sewer project is done.

 

 

LIMB DUMP SITE:            Bob Sisson said he’d talked to Gailand Kennedy about the matter, and things seem to be okay for now, but he will let us know if there are more problems.

 

 

FIRE DEPT BUILDING:       Ira Allen has talked to Morey Bennett, and Bennett said that while they had considered selling the building several years ago, nothing has been mentioned lately.

 

 

2007 BUDGET PREP:       Cheryl Brown said she had included copies of the past several budgets for the special meeting on July 20th.  

 

 

PETITION TO START LEGAL PROCEEDINGS:            Michael Coffman, City Attorney, has asked the council to grant the authority to file a petition in court, and to take any other necessary legal action, to condemn any easements required for the contracted sewer project.  Bruce Smith moved to give Coffman the authority as requested.  Larry Coursen seconded; motion carried 5-0.

 

 

LAW REPORT:       Chief Ed Harmison reviewed his written report for the council.   Harmison reported that something has come up on his patrolcar.  It has 37,700 miles registered, so it’s out of warranty by a couple of thousand miles and the catalytic converters are going out.  It will cost about $1500 to replace them.  He’s planning to drive it as is until closer to the end of the year. 

            Harmison also said that Judge Jones and Michael Coffman have requested that the Criminal Code, or Ordinance No 91.  The council agreed by concensus to have Michael Coffman review the ordinance and recommend any changes necessary.

 

 

TREASURER’S REPORT:    Patty Hylton reported on the city’s financial balances.  She reported that the current cash balance is up about $100,000 from the same time in 2005.  This includes the checking account, cd, and the loan and grant proceeds.  Hylton said that the General fund is under budget by 8%, Water/Sewer is under budget by 3%, and the Law fund is at approximately 55% budget level half way through the year.  She pointed out that these are small margins, and said we’d still have to watch the expenses.

 

 

CLERK’S REPORT:            Cheryl Brown said that Marcia Elliott, president of Rotary, would prefer that the city be responsible for the shelter reservations.  Brown will have to check into some kind of sign.

            The city has been granted a 6-month extension for the grant.   Brown also presented a proposal from the Osage County Herald for signature pages for SFT for the coming school year.  The city can be on 10 pages during the year for $100.  Bob Sisson moved to do this, and Bruce Smith seconded.  Motion carried 5-0.

            Westar Energy has contracted Wright’s Tree Service to do some tree-trimming in August.  They will be leaving packets on doors explaining all of this.

            Brown asked the council if the city could do something other than send flowers to Jim and Hope Koger as congratulations for their new baby girl, Quincy Ann.  She suggested either a gift certificate or savings bond as suggested by Ira Allen.  Larry Coursen made a motion, seconded by Bruce Smith, to purchase a $50 savings bond.  Motion carried 5-0.

 

           

MISCELLANEOUS:           Chief Harmison said that after checking tree limbs around town, he would like to postpone having them trimmed until later in the year.  Council agreed by concensus.

            Jason Hielscher told the council that they will be using Jones Park for soccer again this year.  Brown said that Hielscher needs to let Bob Call know when they’ll be done so he can get the bathrooms winterized.

            Jon Brady said that the right field lights are working, and wondered what the problem was.  Brady said they had some concern about the fuse box as the breakers seem to get hot.  The mayor said that we’d check that out with Bob Call. 

 

 

            There being no further business before the council, Larry Coursen moved to adjourn.  Bruce Smith seconded; meeting was adjourned at 8:20 PM.

 

 

 

 

                                                                                    Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

                                                                                    Cheryl Brown,

                                                                                    City Clerk

 

 

 

APPROVED:    July 26, 2006