January 18th 2010 City Council Minutes

January 18, 2010 LECOMPTON CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES

7:00 P.M. Mayor Paslay brought the Lecompton City Council Meeting to order at 327 Elmore, Lecompton, KS. Council Members Mark Tunstall, Jimmy Wilkins, Tim McNish, Christie Mallonee and Jennifer Smith were present. The following were also present: City Clerk Sandy Nichols, City Superintendent Justin Van Winkle, and City Attorney Lee Hendricks; resident Elsie Middleton.

Jimmy Wilkins made a motion to approve the January 4, 2010 minutes. Jennifer Smith seconded the motion and the vote passed 5 yeas, 0 nays.

Jennifer Smith made a motion to approve the bills before them. Tim McNish seconded the motion and the vote passed 5 yeas, 0 nays.

Do to the weather there was not a representative from SKW or Midland. Plant update: Justin reported the plant had been running since last Wednesday. There were a couple of problems that were being addressed. Tower update: Westar will be getting an estimate for the cost to run power to the tower. There was discussion regarding putting a light on the tower now or after painting. The council was concerned there would be additional cost to take the light down when painting. The contractor will be covering the tower insurance until the tower is painted. The council will wait for the light until after painting.
Mike Emming sent information stating he was starting the application process with BNSF. The council thought this was already in the process and should have been done some time ago.
Justin reported SKW had sent a list of 76 more pressure valves that need to be installed. Each meter will cost approximately $437. Justin stated the 76 meters did not include an additional 6 meters needed; three 2”, one 1 ½”, one 1” and one ¾”.
An email from Kenneth Shetlar recommending the council to contact the building inspector thanking the inspector for his thoughts and concerns, and ask that he re-inspect the insulation after the summer, possibly early September to see if the problem has been resolved or if it still exists. The council requested the City Attorney to notify Mr. Shetlar they would like to have the issue resolved while all agencies are still available. If the inspector is needed to be present he should be invited. If the problem has been present for several months the council does not see that waiting longer would help. Discussion is to be placed on the February 1, 2010 agenda.

Donna Crawford will attend the February 1, 2010 meeting.
Cammie Braden was not present. It was noted that she would like to discuss what the city might do if the Keystone Learning building is returned to the city.

Planning Commission: Elsie shared the Planning Commission would like to meet quarterly instead of monthly. Jennifer made a motion to amend the codes to allow the PC to meet quarterly unless there is need for a Special Meeting. Christy seconded the motion. The vote passed 5 yeas, 0 nays. The City Attorney recommended this be done by ordinance to inform the public of meeting changes. Lee will prepare an ordinance. After discussion for the need of a June meeting for new appointments, Mayor Paslay recommended meeting in March, June, September and December and for any Special Meetings needs. The council would like to review the new by-laws with changes stricken through to note what was changed.
The City Clerk will notify the PC members it will be necessary for them to meet in February in order for the new ordinance to be approved by the council and published. The PC will also need to adopt the new by-laws and the new by-laws will need to be approved by the city council.

Lee noted the city is not required to remove snow from alleys.

Justin: The Township would like to sell the two car ports at the lagoons for $3300. Tim made a motion for the City of Lecompton to purchase two car ports from the Lecompton Township. Mark seconded the motion. The vote passed 5 yeas, 0 nays. The council was asked if they had any interest in purchasing the old Township building. There was no interest.

Justin reported the clay valve at the RWD connection is leaking internally. He has contacted someone to repair the valve. They will not be able to work on the valve until February.
Justin reported he had put ¾” rock on Clark Street today but it is still in need of more rock.

Christie will not be able to attend the MPO meetings at 4 PM. Jimmy will try to attend. The council accepted Jimmy’s volunteering for this position.

Information was presented from the Lawrence-Douglas County Bicycle Advisory Committee. They have amended their bylaws to include representatives from Baldwin, Eudora and Lecompton. They will meet the third Tuesday of every month from 6 PM – 7:30 PM at Lawrence City Hall. The council requested the city clerk to put a notice up at the post office and also at city hall to see if anyone is interested in representing Lecompton.

A return to work policy from KMIT was presented to the council. The council was not interested in passing the return to work policy form. The council was concerned with “It is not the physician’s responsibility to determine whether or not an injured employee is able to work.

Building inspections: the council recommended waiting to send a statement to the Lecompton Township until all inspections are completed. The city clerk is to report how many total inspections have been done for the Township and also the water plant.

City clerk may continue working with Barbara Cawker with Department of Commerce and others regarding possible use of the Keystone building if it were to be returned to the city.

Jennifer noted that the Janes property has made addition progress in cleaning.

The city clerk is to check on progress of the new website.

8:25 P.M. Jimmy made a motion to adjourn. Jennifer seconded the motion and the vote passed 5 yeas, 0 nays. Sandy Nichols, City Clerk