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Fort Scott Commission Agenda for May 5
AGENDA
FORT SCOTT CITY COMMISSION
FORT SCOTT CITY HALL
COMMISSION ROOM
123 SOUTH MAIN
MAY 5, 2020
6:00 P.M.
I. ROLL CALL:
K. ALLEN P. ALLEN NICHOLS WATTS MITCHELL
II. FLAG SALUTE
III. INVOCATION: None
IV. PROCLAMATIONS/RECOGNITIONS:
V. CONSENT AGENDA:
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Approval of minutes of the regular meeting of April 21st, 2020.
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Approval of Appropriation Ordinance 1262-A totaling $615,308.86.
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Request to Pay #4 – Schneider Electric – $216,807.84 – Energy Service Project
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Approval to Pay #5 – Strukel Electric – Electric Vault Project – $5,130.00
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Approval to Pay – Olsson – Electric Vault Project Engineering – $5,193.01
VII. APPEARANCE/COMMENTS/PUBLIC HEARING:
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APPEARANCE: None
B. CITIZEN COMMENTS (Concerning Items Not on Agenda – 5 minute limit per citizen) Comments will not be taken during this meeting. If you have a topic to discuss not listed on the agenda, please contact a City Commissioner or send a written request to [email protected].
C. PUBLIC HEARINGS/COMMENTS: None
VIII. CONSIDERATION:
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Request to Pay – Skitch’s Hauling & Excavation, Inc. – February – $1,185.00 – Porta Pottie Services
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Approval to publish 2020 Budget Amendment and to hold a public hearing on May 19th, 2020 at 6:00 p.m.
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Consideration to repeal Ordinance No. 3556 and approve Ordinance No. 3562 establishing a Street Advisory Board
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Consideration of appointments to Street Advisory Board (Six (6) City residents – One (1) County resident within 3-mile limit)
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Consideration of appointments to Design Review Board
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Consideration of appointments to Planning Commission
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Approval of Hay Bid – Airport
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Discussion of Pool Opening
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Discussion of Fuel Bid
IX. COMMENTS:
- Director Updates:
Travis Shelton – Margrave Street School zone discussion
Robert Uhler – Shiney Studio roof update – Certificate of Appropriateness
- Commission:
- City Manager:
EXECUTIVE SESSION:
I MOVE THAT THE CITY COMMISSION RECESS INTO EXECUTIVE
SESSION FOR ________________________________ IN ORDER TO
(see below justification)
DISCUSS ______________________________________. THE
EXECUTIVE SESSION WILL BE ___________ MINUTES AND THE OPEN
MEETING TO RESUME AT ________________.
Justifications for Executive Sessions:
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Personnel matters of non-elected personnel
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Consultation with an attorney for the body or agency which would be deemed privileged in the attorney-client relationship
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Matters relating to employer-employee negotiations whether or not in consultation with the representative or representatives of the body or agency
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Confidential data relating to financial affairs or trade secrets of corporations, partnerships, trusts and individual proprietorships
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Preliminary discussions relating to the acquisition of real property
X. MOTION FOR ADJOURNMENT: ROLL CALL
New WBE Kindergarten Teacher: Haley Troutman
Haley Troutman, 27, is the new kindergarten teacher at West Bourbon Elementary school in Uniontown for 2020-2021.
She has two years of experience teaching at Precious Lambs Preschool and two years teaching at Eugene Ware Elementary School in Fort Scott in Grades 3 and 4.
Troutman completed a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from KSU in 2014, then took a position with Precious Lambs Preschool as their director/lead teacher.
“To gain more experience in childhood behaviors, I worked for a year at SEK Mental Health as a children’s case manager,” she said.
“In 2018, I began Kansas State University’s Master of Arts in Teaching Program (MAT program). I have spent the last two years as a 3rd and 4th-grade teacher at Eugene Ware Elementary. It has been a wonderful journey, but I am beyond excited to settle in my hometown.”
Troutman’s hometown is Uniontown, Kansas.
“I am so excited to be an Eagle again,” she said. “The staff has been so welcoming and wonderful to me already.”
She is married to Stuart and has three children, Molly (age 8), Sadie (age 5), Jett (age 2).
What is the best part of teaching for you?
“I love building relationships with students and their families. It is also rewarding to see the gains that children make throughout the course of a school year, both socially and academically.”
What are the greatest challenges?
“I would say, ensuring that every student is challenged at his/her academic level while meeting the needs of the whole group. I love the challenge of differentiation. Additionally, being a responsive teacher can be challenging; being able to notice what is working and change what isn’t.”
Make It Easy In A Kind And Gentle Way By Patty LaRoche
When I read that 10,000 New York Covid-19 victims had died, I could not stop thinking about who logs the names of the deceased and tries to find their relatives. About how long the bodies could be stored in semi-truck freezer vaults. About what kind of burial they would receive. To think that this was playing out 1200 miles from where we live in the Midwest seemed unfathomable. A little research led me to Hart Island, the largest municipal cemetery in the United States and burial ground for over one-million deceased.
Since New York law does not allow for the cremation of unclaimed human remains, the mass-grave site near the Bronx is where “indigent,” Coronavirus New Yorkers (who were not claimed from a morgue within 15 days of their death) are now being buried. City officials hope that when this virus ends, families will retrieve their bodies.
Fresh trenches for the deceased are dug with backhoes in a large pit holding 150 pine boxes that are stacked three-high in two long rows. Hazmat-suited workers lift coffins, some with a name and others with “unknown” written in permanent marker and a carved grave number on the lid.
After April 3rd, paid landscaping contractors buried the bodies. For years before then, jail inmates had the unenviable job. What I found most inspiring was that these inmates, themselves knowing the stigma of being “indigents,” had found ways to honor the dead when they asked correction officers to switch the portable speaker from drum and bass to Mozart.
According to the “Washington Post,” Saxon Palmer, a former inmate who spent four months at the end of 2019 burying bodies on Hart Island, shared how he and his fellow grave diggers dignified the bodies they were burying. “As they moved the coffins out of the coroner’s truck, they’d say ‘rest in peace’ or draw a cross on the pine box, or say goodbye. We’d say, ‘Mr. Rothman, this is going to be your last trip here, we’re going to make it easy for you, nice and slow,’” Palmer said. “We just had a conversation with the coffins in a kind of gentle way.”
I admit, up to that point, I had been rankled that several articles used the word “indigent” to describe the dead, knowing that in God’s kingdom, there is no such thing. No one deserves that label. But then I thought, maybe that’s why the inmates showed such compassion. They knew, first-hand, what it was like to be rejected. They knew, first-hand, what it was like to be treated with no dignity. Perhaps some of them even knew what it was like to be innocent yet be victimized by things out of their control. For some of the deceased, it might have been the first time they had been shown that kind of respect.
So, what do we take from this? We need to see others as God does, He who has “crowned us with glory and honor” (Psalm 8:5), in spite of how we all are sinners and fall short of His glory. (Ro. 3:23) If He can dignify us (yes, you and me), the undignified, maybe it’s time we learn from the “indigent” inmates. Saxon Palmer gave us a great place to start. Maybe we just need to “make it easy” for others less fortunate than us by striking up a conversation “in a kind of gentle way.”
Before it’s too late.
Governor’s Phase One To Reopen Kansas April 30
PHASE ONE ✓
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AD ASTRA: A PLAN TO REOPEN KANSAS | APRIL 30, 2020
BEGINS MAY 4, 2020 AS DIRECTED BY EXECUTIVE ORDER 20-29
TRAVEL
Minimize or avoid nonessential travel.
Follow KDHE travel and quarantine guidelines for travel to high-risk areas.
GATHERINGS
Mass gatherings of no more than 10 individuals allowed.
ACTIVITIES
NOT ALLOWED TO OPEN
Community centers
Large entertainment venues
with capacity of 2,000 +
Fairs, festivals, parades, & graduations
Public swimming pools
Organized sports facilities
Summer camps
ESTABLISHMENTS
NOT ALLOWED TO OPEN
Bars and nightclubs excluding already operating curbside and carryout services
Casinos (non-tribal)
Indoor leisure spaces
Fitness centers and gyms
Personal service businesses where close contact cannot be avoided
EDUCATION, ACTIVITIES, & VENUES
ALLOWED TO OPERATE
Childcare facilities
Libraries
INDIVIDUALS
Masks are strongly encouraged in public settings.
Maintain 6 foot social distance.
EMPLOYERS
Telework is strongly encouraged when possible.
Any employee exhibiting symptom should be required to stay home.
PHASE ONE ✓
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AD ASTRA: A PLAN TO REOPEN KANSAS | APRIL 30, 2020
Kenny Felt Photography Has New Digs
FSHS New Technology Teacher: Matt Glades
Emergency Food Assistance : April 29 for Western Bourbon County and May 1 for the Fort Scott Area
During this time of the pandemic when many have lost their jobs due to stay-at-home orders to slow the spread of the illness, the federal government has food coming to those in need.
Distribution points will be in Fort Scott for the Fort Scott area on May 1 and Uniontown , for western Bourbon County, April 29.
Frozen meats and fresh produce are part of the distribution, according to Rebecca Shinn, West Bourbon Food Program coordinator which is organized by the First Missionary Baptist Church.
” Anyone qualifies for Disaster Household Distribution (DHD) boxes however we highly encourage help to go to those families that might not otherwise qualify for TEFAP and who are affected by the COVID-19.”
The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) is a federal program that helps supplement the diets of low-income Americans by providing them with emergency food assistance at no cost. USDA provides 100% American-grown USDA Foods and administrative funds to states to operate TEFAP, according to the TEFAP website.
In Fort Scott, the disaster food distribution will be May 1 at the Bourbon County Senior Citizens Center, 26 N. Main.
“It will be a drive-through,” Jackie Sellers, program coordinator said. “From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. people drive by on the north side of the building, Old Fort Boulevard (for the boxes of food).”
Sellers can be reached at 620-223-0750 or 620-249-1440.
The Disaster Household Distribution will be on April 29, 2020, at the First Missionary Baptist Church from 4 p.m. – 6 p.m. This is for all people in the Uniontown, Redfield, Bronson area.
The church is located on Hwy. 3, on the west side of Uniontown.
“This program is to assist all that may not be working now due to COVID-19,” Shinn said. “Also for those who are high risk and can’t get to the store. At this time this program will be available April, May, and possibly June.”
The program is offered curbside, she said.
” Honk and we will bring you a box of food. If you can’t come that evening and still want food please call me for another time for pick up,” Shinn said. She can be reached at (620) 223-9532.
Local Students Take First and Second In Kansas History Day
Students are still working on school competitions, even in the pandemic.
For some local students, the work paid off with earning the right to go to nationals. However, the pandemic has stopped them from physically going to College Park, Maryland to the national competition.
“They were disappointed,” Fort Scott Junior High and High School Enrichment Teacher Angie Kemmerer said.
FSHS freshman Katelyn Leavell did a senior individual performance on unsung hero Anna Coleman Ladd titled: “Breaking the Barrier of Social Stigma: Anna Coleman Ladd and the First World War”.
“My project relates to this year’s theme because social stigma is one of the most prominent and hard to overcome barriers in society,” Leavell said. “My project focuses primarily on this barrier and the stigma of disabled WWI veterans. The barrier of social stigma based on physical disfigurements from combat was the hardest to break. Anna’s artistry and mask-making abilities covered the problem areas for a soldier so the world couldn’t see that part of them. With the newfound confidence, the men were able to find themselves and overcome that stigma. Though many were buried with their masks, they still had the confidence through their lives to go out into the world, unrestricted by physical barriers and social anxiety.”
The group knew they wanted to choose a topic that challenged the normal thought process and related to the theme in a creative way, according to information provided by Kemmerer. The group’s first ideas consisted of artists, scientists, and musicians- people who broke barriers on a smaller scale and within their career field. In the end, they decided on Motown because it included that artistic charm.
The most difficult aspect of the project was the script, and was rewritten four times before it was finalized.
Motown’s sound played an important role in demolishing the barrier of race that previously divided the country. Black and white audiences alike attended Motown concerts. Motown also had a significant influence on the music industry, bringing about modern forms of musical production, management, and style.
While doing research on disabled American veterans, the group found multiple articles pertaining to the topic of mental health within soldiers and veterans of WWI. After more research, they decided that they would choose the development and social acceptance of mental health, specifically Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, in soldiers and veterans of major wars.
The stigmatized barrier around the acceptance of PTSD in our society as a mental disorder was the topic chosen. People who had the disorder were shunned and undiagnosed and it was seen as a flaw.
The range of NHD topics encompasses all disciplines and all areas of the world, according to the information provided. These projects speak volumes on how this program promotes global awareness. But it also fosters self-awareness, and creative real-world problem solving that can lead students to understand how each one of us has the potential to positively impact our world.
“NHD allows students to experience the exhilaration that comes from being innovative thinkers and producers.” Kemmerer said.” As their teacher, I hope these experiences help them realize they have the potential to change the world for the better — and the skills to do it.
Fort Scott Middle School’s Continuous Learning Plan: A Teacher’s View
The pandemic has changed the way students are taught across the world and locally as well.
USD 234 in Fort Scott started its’ continuous learning plan on March 30.
Fort Scott Middle School Sixth-Grade Reading and Language Arts Teacher Kathi Hall said the teachers met for several days over Zoom during that week to select essential subjects to be taught.
There would be digital learners and paper packets offered to the students for at-home learning, it was decided.
“We contacted each parent and found out the best way for their continuous learning through our Tiger Dens,” she said. “We started sending lessons on April 6.”
Tiger Dens is a social and emotional learning class that all the students have in middle school, she said.
Students who needed paper packets were because of no internet service, no device nor wanting to borrow one from the school, or their parents wanting them to only have paper packets, she said.
” I think this was one of the most challenging aspects of continuous learning because we as teachers didn’t have the opportunity…. to contact that student through their school email,” Hall said. “We do contact them through their parent’s phone or email to check-in!”
Teachers at FSMS continue to collaborate weekly and plan.
“Our teachers meet several times in the week in Zoom to connect, discuss any concerns or celebrations, and just continue to collaborate,” she said.
Teachers are available for their students and parents through their email or cell phone.
“Most of our teachers are teaching from home through their digital platforms such as Google Classroom, Zoom, and other educational apps that our staff agreed would be the best for the students,” Hall said. “We have had one or two teachers who have spotty or glitchy internet services because of where they reside so they will use their classroom.”
“When I think about the good that comes from our Covid19 situation and continuous learning with students not being in classrooms, there isn’t a whole lot of specifics that I can list as good.” she said. ” However, in any situation, you can find the good. I will say that one of the things that comes to mind is the way our school and district has pulled together as a strong unit.”
“Our lunch and transportation staff made a plan, organized it, looked it over for improvements once it was implemented, and then made it a better plan for our community to receive lunches in a safe and functional way,” Hall said.
“Our teachers and staff have pulled together in a tight organized way to make a plan to reach out to students and connect in a way no one has had to do before.”
“Our tech team has been working seamlessly in providing support, devices etc…for our district,” she said.
“For us at the middle school, our two principals have been on top of things supporting us and the parents/students in a way that feels amazing,” Hall said. “This is so different, new, and uncharted waters for everyone. Yet in a matter of days we begin to see the right decisions made and executed for everyone involved.”
“We definitely have challenges and I am speaking on behalf of our staff that this isn’t an ideal way to educate our students in a long term setting,” she said.
“One of the main challenges is student participation,” Hall said. “Students at the age that we teach, rely on accountability. Their young minds need interaction, sociability, and academic practice (sometimes guided practice).”
“As teachers, it is challenging not to see the faces of our students as well,” she said. “We love our jobs, we are in the profession to change children’s lives through academics, social, and emotional connections.”
“Another challenge we can’t overlook is there are fears and problems (concerning Covid19) in a student’s home with parents out of work, reduced hours, family sick or ill, etc,” Hall said. “The social and emotional well being of our students is a concern. For some students, the school was a safe haven to escape their home lives of whatever is going on that is out of the norm and their control.”
The district is providing learning opportunities for students, not focusing on grades.
“The students who are connected digitally are having feedback on their assignments,” she said. “The teachers are ‘grading the assignment’ and giving feedback through our Google Classroom or email. The paper packets will be looked at once they are turned in.”
Books and Reduced/Free Food Application Added to USD 234 Food Distribution
USD 234 continues to distribute food in the district to its students during this time of the COVID 19 pandemic, and parents are encouraged to fill out applications for free and reduced meals for the next school year.
“We do have two items that will be in addition next week,” Gina Shelton, USD 234 Business Manager/Board Clerk, said.
“First, on Tuesday, weather permitting, we will be distributing to kids books donated by Hedgehog INK and the (Fort Scott) Kiwanis,” Shelton said. “We know the importance of kids continuing to read and this way they have a ‘new to them’ book to keep their interest. We will be encouraging parents to read with their kids. What a beautiful gift to our kids.”
(UPDATED 04/23/20)
Help us Help You. We need our families to register to pick up meals. This provides us better information to help us prepare for the numbers being served. You will need to fill out a form for each day.
Where to Register?
www.usd234.org
Deadlines
For Monday, April 27th Meals – Deadline is noon, Friday, April 24th
For Tuesday, April 28th Meals – Deadline is noon, Monday, April 27th
For Wednesday, April 29th Meals – Deadline is noon, Tuesday, April 28th
Questions we will be asking:
1. Will you be picking up meals?
2. Where will you be picking up meals?
3. How many children aged 1-18 will you be picking up meals for?
4. Adult contact name?
5. Adult contact phone number?
This form should take you no longer than 1 minute to fill out. We need you to complete the form for each day you will be picking up meals.
Distribution Schedule
USD 234 will be doing three (3) distributions the week of April 27th. Children will receive the same amount of meals for the week but will pick them up over 3 days. We will need you to register for each day.
Monday – Child will receive 2 meals per child
Tuesday – Child will receive 4 meals per child
Wednesday – Child will receive 4 meals per child
Questions??
Call or email Kerrie at 620-223-0800 or [email protected]
FOOD SERVICE ROUTES (UPDATED 04/23/20)
Monday – Child will receive 2 meals per child
Tuesday – Child will receive 4 meals per child
Wednesday – Child will receive 4 meals per child
ROUTE A
1. St. Mary’s– 10:00 am
2. 8th & Burke– 10:15 am
3. 4th & Couch– 10:30 am
4. 5th & Judson– 10:45 am
5. Wall & Judson– 11:00 am
ROUTE B
1. 8th & Wilson – 10:00 am
2. 5th & Wilson – 10:15 am
3. 2nd & Andrick – 10:30 am
4. 1st & Cameron – 10:45 am
5. Pine & Caldwell – 11:00 am
ROUTE C
1. Emmert & Beach– 10:00 am
2. 1900 Margrave (Church of Christ)– 10:15 am
3. 15th & Ransom– 10:30 am
4. 17th & Crawford– 10:45 am
5. 19th & Huntington (CCC)– 11:00 am
ROUTE D
1. Devon Fire Station – 10:05 am
2. Fulton Community Center – 10:30 am
3. Hammond Community Center – 10:45 am
ROUTE E
1. Indian & 187th Terr. (Airport)– 10:00 am
2. 69hwy & Deer (Faith Church)– 10:25 am
3. Jayhawk & 240th– 10:50 am
Register using Google Form: USD 234 COVID-19 Food Service.
Form can be found at www.usd234.org or call 620-223-0800. You must register for each day you want USD 234 to provide meals.
*There will be NO distributions on Thursday or Friday
*Please maintain social distancing recommendations of 6 feet between individuals.
SCHOOL DRIVE THRU PICK UP
10:00 am – 11:00 am
High school- 9th street*
Eugene Ware- 4th street*
*Please remain in your vehicle and maintain social distancing recommendations of 6 feet between individuals.
DROP OFF INCLUDES BREAKFAST AND LUNCH. CHILD MUST BE PRESENT TO RECEIVE MEALS. IF YOU HAVE DIETARY RESTICTIONS, PLEASE NOTIFY THE BUS ATTENDANT.
FSHS New Basketball Coach: Clint Heffern
“Being with the kids every day, oftentimes you do see the good along with the bad that they experience as high school kids. It is challenging to see them experience the bad times because some of those bad times can be very difficult for the kids to navigate as high school kids. But, ultimately, a lot of those bad times help shape them into quality young adults in the future.”