AGENDA  January 6, 2014

REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF ELLIS     City Hall – Council Meeting Room

 

BILLS ORDINANCE REVIEW WORK SESSION BEGINS AT 7:00 P.M.

ROLL CALL AND MEETING CALL TO ORDER AT 7:30 P.M.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

AMENDMENTS TO AGENDA (if needed)

1)    CONSENT AGENDA

a)     Minutes from Regular Meeting on December 16, 2013

b)     Minutes from Special Meeting on December 17, 2013

c)      Bills Ordinance #1940

 (Council will review for approval under one motion under the consent agenda.  By majority vote of the governing body, any item may be removed from the consent agenda and considered separately)

PUBLIC COMMENTS 

(Each speaker will be limited to five minutes.  If several people from the group wish to speak on same subject, the group must appoint a spokesperson.  ALL comments from public on agenda items must be during Public Comment.  Once council begins their business meeting, no more comments from public will be allowed.)

2)    PRESENTATIONS OF AWARDS, PROCLAMATIONS, REQUESTS & PETITIONS (HEARINGS)

3)    SPECIAL ORDER

a)     Introduction of Officer Jon Geiger

b)     Presentation of Records Management System – Interpol

4)    UNFINISHED BUSINESS

a)     Consideration of Water Exploration Options

b)     Consider Lease Purchase Payoff of 2010 Freightliner Fire Truck

c)      Consideration of County Proposal for Big Creek Clean Up

d)     Consider Application for Ellis Thrift Shop Community Grant

e)     Consideration of Bids for Inspection and Cleaning of Water Tower

5)    NEW BUSINESS

a)     Consider Approval of Credit Card Resolution

b)     Consideration of Resolution Waiving GAAP Financial Reporting

6)    REPORTS FROM CITY OFFICIALS

a)     Administrative

1)     Public Works

(1)  Comparative Water Report

(2)  Request Approval to Advertise for Open Positions

(3)  Department Update

2)     Police

(1)  January officer calendar

(2)  Joint Training on Landing Zones

(3)  Department Update

3)     City Clerk

(1)  Announcement of Filing Deadline

(2)  Invitation to City Christmas Party

(3)  Announcement of Rabies Clinic

(4)  Publication Notice from Board of Zoning Appeals

(5)  Department Update

4)     Attorney

5)     Mayor/Council

EXECUTIVE SESSION

7)    ADJOURNMENT

By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

Katharyn Dacy knew it was more than flu symptoms she started experiencing at 4p.m. January 1.

Although she did actually have the flu, the 21-year-old Ellis woman recognized the early signs of labor.  She’d already been through it before.  Her first child, Zeke, is 18 months old.  He was delivered via C-section.

Dacy was scheduled for a second C-section, when Paislee AnnaMarie made her appearance into the world on her own at 9:43a.m. January 2.

Paislsee is the first baby born in 2014 at Hays Med.

Her mom, her dad Phoenix Jenkins, and big brother Zeke are all “very excited,” according to Dacy.  “I’m also a little sore,” Dacy laughs.

Dacy will be more busy than usual for a new mother.

“Later this month, I’ll be starting in the dental hygiene program at Colby Community College,” she says.  “It’s a career I’ve always wanted to have.”

Dacy will be able to stay at home in Ellis with her family while she begins taking CCC classes online.

(Photos courtesy Gayla Wichman, Hays Med)

The first meeting of 2014 for Ellis County Commissioners is Monday, January 6.   The meetings will now begin at 5p.m. rather than 6:45p.m.

The earlier start time allows Ellis County Counselor Bill Jeter to attend the county sessions.  Jeter is also counsel for the Hays USD 489 school board that also meets Monday evenings at 6:30p.m.

On the agenda, a report of the first full month’s revenue from the county’s new half-cent sales tax.

According to County Administrator Greg Sund, the money is received in two disbursements.   First, the state gives the county its 42% share.  Second, the county also receives the city of Hays’ share from the city.

“We plan to account for these two revenue sources separately,” Sund writes in his administrator’s report, ” so we can assess how much comes from the County share and how much comes from the Hays share.”

” I don’t plan to make this a monthly report other than possible mention in the financial report, but for this first month, I wanted to be clear how we get the revenue in case there are any questions,” says Sund.

Following rejection of the bids for the Administrative Center and EMS/Rural Fire Building projects, county commissioners will also discuss meeting with the architects to discuss changes to the specs and designs that will help the project come under budget.

“In the case of each project,” estimates Sund, “we are looking to cut about $450,000.”

Monday’s agenda is available on the county website.

By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
Re-defining the boundaries of Kansas towns and cities each year is required by state statute, even if there’ve been no changes from the prior year.

Hays has experienced steady growth for a number of years, according to city manager Toby Dougherty.

“Because of growth in residential areas and new business developments, the 2013 boundary resolution adopted Thursday by the city commission now legitimately defines the city limits of Hays,” explains Dougherty:

Dougherty calls it a “routine legal action” which protects both the property owner and the city.

By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

State 110th District Rep. Travis Couture-Lovelady, R-Palco, returns to Topeka Jan. 13 when the state Legislature opens its 2014 session.

Couture-Lovelady is the new vice chairman of the Federal and State Affairs Committee. He recently attended the Fiscal Policy Task Force conference in Washingtonwith other state legislators from across the country.

An issue affecting every state’s fiscal policy is the Affordable Care Act, commonly called “Obamacare.”  Rural access to healthcare remains a “big concern,” said Couture-Lovelady:

Couture-Lovelady is this week’s guest on the Eagle Community TV Channel 14 FORUM with host Gary Shorman.

By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

When your Christmas tree is no longer green, you can still do the “green thing” and drop it off at the city of Hays’ free disposal site.

The location, enclosed by bright orange plastic fencing, is in between the city water plant on south Vine Street and the Public Works building to the east.

Solid Waste Superintendent Marvin Honas said all decorations should be removed from the trees.

“We encourage everybody to bring their trees to the disposal site because with the help of Midwest Energy all the Christmas trees are chipped. The chips are taken down to the (Hays) Parks Department and any customer who wants to take the chips can do so free of charge,” Honas said.

The Christmas tree disposal site is open until Jan. 12.

GREAT BEND — Barton County Sheriff’s deputies executed a search warrant Monday and recovered stolen property from several other Kansas counties.

According to a Facebook news release from Barton County Sheriff Brian Bellendir, the search took place in the 3100 block of 18th Street in Great Bend.

Detectives were looking for stolen property from Barton County and from several surrounding counties. Detectives from the Saline County Sheriff’s office were also at the scene.

Officers located stolen property from several jurisdictions and are currently processing the results.

Motor vehicle parts and equipment were recovered and taken into custody.  No arrests were made at the scene.

Bellendir said the investigation is continuing and involves several Kansas counties including Ellis, Saline, Russell, Rush, Reno and Lincoln.

Bellendir expects further property will be located and the case will be referred to the Barton County Attorney’s Office for prosecution.

By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

Ky Scheibler would rather watch from the bleachers than be on the football field.  And, he doesn’t eat spicy food.

Still, he was able to combine those activities with a couple others and came up the winner of the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl Halftime Challenge.

Scheibler and his family drove 17 hours round-trip from Hays to Tempe, Arizona, to cheer on the K-State Wildcats in Saturday’s bowl game against the Michigan Wolverines.

While sitting in the Buffalo Wild Wings tailgaters area, Scheibler, a 21-year-old Fort Hays State University student, answered a trivia question correctly and was chosen to represent K-State in the half-time challenge.

“They gave me a K-State football jersey to wear and then explained the challenge,” Scheibler told Hays Post.

It was an obstacle course race against a Michigan fan picked from the tailgating crowd.

“First, I had to eat four very, very hot wings–that was the main challenge for me, ’cause I don’t really like spicy food, then I went through the rope ladder course, and then stopped to throw a football through a hole.  We had six balls each; somehow I made the first one,” he laughed.

“My dad (Hays Police Chief Don Scheibler) was really surprised too.  I kept asking him ‘Where’s the love, Dad?'”

The last leg of the obstacle course was to run into the end zone and perform a touchdown dance.

“I don’t really have a TD dance, so I just kinda went limp and let my body relax–a weird show that should never be seen by anybody,” Scheibler laughed again.

Scheibler remained on the field while Buffalo Wild Wings donated a $10,000 check on his behalf to the Manhattan, Kansas, Boys and Girls Clubs to support youth sports.

Scheibler’s prize package also included a K-State Wildcats trophy helmet plus the purple No. 68 KSU  football jersey he was given, and a Buffalo Wild Wings gift bag filled with “sauces and more spicy stuff.”

“I really would have preferred milk to cool off my mouth,” joked Scheibler.

K-State won the bowl game 31-14 against Michigan.

(Photos courtesy Cristi Scheibler)

By BECKY KISER

Hays Post

Turning off the light switch is the most energy-saving technique you can use.

“It’s a small change in behavior that can save up to 30 percent of your energy bill,” says Mike Volker, Midwest Energy director of regulatory and energy services.

Thomas More Prep-Marian High School wants to reduce its energy costs. The lighting load in the main building, where classrooms  and offices are located, is 40 percent of the private Catholic school’s electrical bill.

As part of the MoKan Take Charge Challenge, volunteers recently conducted a lighting control audit of the building.

The project was sponsored by Lutron, the world’s largest lighting electronics company, which is a headquartered in Coopersburg, Pa.  The company founder invented the light dimmer switch.

Lutron donated use of its new Energy Advisor computer application, and Milwaukee Tool donated use of Laser Distance Meter Kits.

Tim Speno, whose children attend TMP and Holy Family Elementary School, arranged for the tool and software donations, valued at $8,000.

“We’re figuring how big each room is in the building,” Speno said.  “We need to make changes for energy efficiency.  That will include replacing light fixture bulbs to more efficient LED bulbs and installing occupancy sensors in each room.  We’ll also be ‘daylight harvesting,’ by using sensors which dim the ballasts in LED light fixtures when natural sunlight is bright enough to light a room.”

“We should be able to save up to 90 percent of our lighting costs,” Speno said:

Speno is founder of E2E Summit, and formerly worked for Milwaukee Too.  He hopes to get more donations for implementing the energy-efficient lighting plan at TMP.  That cost is estimated at $250,000 to $300,000.

Local shutterbugs are encouraged to enter their Kansas-theme pictures in the second annual Kansas Day Photo Contest at the Hays Public Library.

All ages are welcome to participate in four different photo categories, according to Kansas Room librarian Lucia Flaim.  The categories are Nature, People, Limestone and Kansicana.

“The Kansicana category covers events, objects or activities that connect Kansans to their history or cultural heritage, ” said Flaim in a news release.

There are three age categories: 12 and under, 13-18, and 18 and older.  A panel of four judges will review and rank the entries. Photographs will be anonymous until after judging is complete. First-, second- and third-place winners will be selected for each submission category in each age group.

Entry rules and forms are available on the HPL website or at the library front desk.

All photos are due Jan. 18.

Winners will be notified by Jan. 24.  Participants will be invited to attend the closing show and Kansas Day award ceremony at 6 p.m. Jan. 29 in the Kansas Room of Hays Public Library

Many people are making New Year’s resolutions to quit using tobacco in 2014 and Everyday Prevention Impacting Community (EPIC) and the Regional Prevention Center in Hays is encouraging tobacco users to seek free help and support from the Kansas Tobacco Quitline.

EPIC is a coalition based in Hays working to reduce tobacco use and its deadly effects.

The Kansas Tobacco Quitline is ready to help online www.KSquit.org or by phone 1-800-QUIT-NOW (784-8669).

The Quitline is a service provided at no cost to Kansas residents. Enrollment is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week (except major holidays) online or by phone. A Quit Coach™ works with participants during emails, live chats or one-on-one phone calls to prepare for a quit date and create a plan to fight cravings and face other challenges.

According to a news release from Jodi Sproul, Director of the Hays Regional Prevention Center, studies have found that using a tobacco Quitline can more than double a person’s chances of successfully quitting tobacco.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s Tobacco Use Prevention Program manages the Kansas Tobacco Quitline.