CITY OF FORT SCOTT
CITY COMMISSION MEETING
Minutes of June 5, 2018, Regular Meeting #11
The regular meeting of the Fort Scott City Commission was held June 5th, 2018 at 6:00 p.m. in the City Commission Room, 123 S. Main, Fort Scott, Kansas.
ROLL CALL:
Commissioners Adamson, Bartelsmeyer, Nichols, and Parker were present with Mayor Mitchell presiding.
INVOCATION: Pastor Norman Tillotson, First Baptist Church, said a prayer asking God for guidance for the City and all government and City officials.
AUDIENCE IN ATTENDANCE: Janet Braun, Denton Wescoat, Rachel Pruitt, Dicie Nicklaus, William W. Polk, Bill Peterson, CLP-Peterson, Dan Doherty, Janice Allen, Abby Humble, Sarah Steele, Michael Mix, Pat Lyons, Joel Riggs, Steve James, Mark Gilmore, Karina Kantilal, Rhonda Dunn, Travis Shelton, Norman Tillotson, Paul Ballou, Clayton Miller, and Jason Silvers, representing the Fort Scott Tribune.
PROCLAMATIONS/RECOGNITIONS: None
APPROVAL OF MINUTES AND APPROPRIATIONS/CONSENT AGENDA:
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Approval of minutes of the regular meeting of May 15th, 2018.
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Approval of Appropriation Ordinance 1216-A totaling $653,024.45.
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Resolution No. 28-2018 – Notice of Hearing With Reference to Alleged Unsafe and Dangerous Structure and Accessory Structure located at 608 S. Broadway – Public Hearing Date – 7/17/2018 at 6:15 p.m.
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Resolution No. 29-2018 – Notice of Hearing with Reference to Alleged Unsafe and Dangerous Structure located at 1914 E. Wall Street – Public Hearing Date – 7/17/2018 at 6:15 p.m.
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Certificate of Appropriateness – Sign at 23 S. Main
Bartelsmeyer moved to approve the Consent Agenda. Parker seconded. All voted aye.
APPROVED CONSENT AGENDA.
APPEARANCE/COMMENTS/PUBLIC HEARING:
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APPEARANCE:
Pickleball Court – Michael Mix, Public Utilities Director, shared photos of the pickleball court located at 9th and Burke with the City Commission. New lighting has recently been installed and the courts are being used a lot. He introduced Janice Allen and Mark Gilmore, both of who are active pickleball court players.
Mark Gilmore thanked the City of Fort Scott for their commitment in developing this pickleball court. They had a tournament a couple of weeks ago which brought out a lot of people. He has played over 50 people already.
Janice Allen said that she loves the courts and loves to play. She knows of people from Nevada and Joplin that come to Fort Scott to play. She plays every morning and evening. She also thanked the City for the nice courts to play on.
Dave Bruner – Red Cross Smoke Detector Update and Presentation of Check to Dicie Nicklaus, Disaster Program Manager for American Red Cross – Dave Bruner, Deputy Fire Marshal, informed the Commission that the Fire Department partnered up with American Red Cross about a month ago to install fire alarms in people’s homes for the Sound the Alarm Campaign. On May 6th, 2018, there were 314 alarms installed in 130 homes on that day. He thanked Dicie Nicklaus with the American Red Cross for their assistance with this program. He presented a check for $500.00 to Dicie for the Sound the Alarm Campaign. He thanked all the team of volunteers from the City, Buck Run and various businesses and organizations who assisted where needed.
Dicie Nicklaus, American Red Cross, thanked the Fort Scott Fire Department and the City of Fort Scott for the fantastic numbers from Fort Scott. She thanked the City for the donation to American Red Cross also. She announced that this campaign will continue in Fort Scott and expand to businesses and groups.
Fort Scott High School – Amber Toth’s class – Ms. Toth’s class consisting of Abby Humble and Karina Kantilal presented their Fort Scott project to the City Commission. It consisted of a project to make canoe and kayak rentals available on the Marmaton River. It would be completed in three phases: Gunn Park to Bridal Veil Park, Bridal Veil to Riverfront, and Riverfront to Mill Creek. Their estimated costs were $38,260.
City Commissioners thanked the students for their hard work on this project.
B. CITIZEN COMMENTS (Concerning Items Not on Agenda – 3 minute
limit per citizen) – None
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PUBLIC HEARINGS:
Mitchell moved to open the Public Hearing at 6:27 p.m. Adamson seconded. Motion carried.
OPENED PUBLIC HEARING AT 6:27 P.M.
6:15 p.m. Resolution 23-2018 directing the repair or removal of an unsafe and dangerous structure located at 504 S. Judson Street – Rhonda Dunn, Codes Director, informed the Commission that this structure is owned by a brother and sister. The sister lives in Springfield and the brother is currently incarcerated in Larned. She stated that the sister’s daughter came to town to go through the house and remove any personal belongings but this is a hoarder house and in terrible condition. The roof is in bad shape also. She asked for approval to remove this structure in 30 days if repairs are not made.
Nichols moved to approve Resolution No. 23-2018 authorizing this structure to be repaired or removed in 30 days. Adamson seconded. All voted aye.
APPROVED RESOLUTION NO. 23-2018 DIRECTING THE REPAIR OR REMOVAL OF AN UNSAFE AND DANGEROUS STRUCTURE LOCATED AT 504 S. JUDSON STREET. STRUCTURE MUST BE BROUGHT UP TO 2012 INTERNATIONAL BUILDING CODE BY JULY 13TH, 2018 OR DEMOLITION PROCEEDINGS WILL BEGIN.
Discussion of 523 S. Main demolition – Rhonda Dunn gave an update on 523 S. Main and asked that this structure is removed from the dangerous and unsafe status and from the demolition list. The owners, Lloyd McKenney Trust, have boarded up the windows and cleaned up around the structure and it looks much better already.
Commission discussed setting a time frame to insure the structure repairs are kept up.
Parker moved to revisit this structure at 523 S. Main in 120 days to insure that repairs are being made. Mitchell seconded. All voted aye.
APPROVED TO REVISIT THE STRUCTURE AT 523 S. MAIN IN 120 DAYS TO INSURE THE REPAIRS ARE KEPT UP.
Discussion of 1523 E. Wall demolition – Rhonda Dunn gave an update on 1523 E. Wall and informed the Commission that repairs have been made to this structure by the Brumback family. There is more work to do but she asked that it be removed from the dangerous and unsafe status at this time but set a time frame to revisit it.
Bartelsmeyer moved to revisit this structure at 1523 E. Wall in 60 days to insure that repairs are being made. Nichols seconded. All voted aye.
APPROVED TO REVISIT THE STRUCTURE AT 1523 E. WALL STREET IN 60 DAYS TO INSURE THE REPAIRS ARE KEPT UP.
Discussion of 309 S. Lowman demolition – Rhonda Dunn informed the Commission that the property owner of 309 S. Lowman had a contract with Kevin Allen – Skitch’s to demolish this property. She visited with Kevin Allen and he said he would have this demolished by the end of June. She asked the Commission to rescind the demolition bids for 309 S. Lowman.
Bartelsmeyer moved to rescind the bids for 309 S. Lowman. Adamson seconded. All voted aye.
APPROVED TO RESCIND BIDS FOR 309 S. LOWMAN STREET.
Discussion of 13 N. Holbrook demolition – Rhonda Dunn informed the Commission that the property owner has demolished this property but has not cleaned up the debris. She asked for 30-45 more days for him to clean up this property.
Discussion of 310 N. Cleveland demolition – Rhonda Dunn informed the Commission that the property owner has made no improvements to this structure. He has had no water since 2014 and no electricity since 2016. She has tried to meet with them but they will not answer the door. She spoke to the Fort Scott Housing Authority about possible openings they would have where this couple could move into and they do have openings. They were present earlier at the meeting and she spoke to them. She will meet with them on Friday to discuss other housing possibilities. If this is not successful, this structure may have to go through the court system to remove them from the structure.
Bartelsmeyer moved to close the Public Hearing at 6:40 p.m. Parker seconded. All voted aye.
CLOSED PUBLIC HEARING AT 6:40 P.M.
CONSIDERATION:
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Approval of Ordinance No. 3534 authorizing the City to issue Taxable Industrial Revenue Bonds, Series 2018 (Price Chopper Project) for the purpose of the acquisition, construction, renovation and equipping of a commercial facility; and authorizing certain other documents and actions in connection therewith – $5,900,000 – Sarah Steele, Gilmore & Bell, P.C., appeared before the Commission to request approval of the Ordinance approving the sales tax exemption. She said that Joel Riggs and Steve James were both present also.
Joe Riggs thanked that City Commission for all their support since the store opened four months ago.
Bartelsmeyer moved to approve Ordinance 3534 authorizing Taxable Industrial Revenue Bonds for the Price Chopper project. Parker seconded. All voted aye.
APPROVED ORDINANCE NO. 3534 AUTHORIZING THE CITY OF FORT SCOTT, KANSAS TO ISSUE ITS TAXABLE INDUSTRIAL REVENUE BONDS, SERIES 2018 (PRICE CHOPPER PROJECT) FOR THE PURPOSE OF THE ACQUISITION, CONSTRUCTION, RENOVATION AND EQUIPPING OF A COMMERCIAL FACILITY; AND AUTHORIZING CERTAIN OTHER DOCUMENTS AND ACTIONS IN CONNECTION THEREWITH. – $6,250,000
City Attorney also recommended authorizing the Mayor to sign any pertinent documentation in regards to this bond issue.
Mitchell moved to authorize the Mayor to sign any other pertinent documentation in regards to the bond issue. Nichols seconded. All voted aye.
APPROVED FOR THE MAYOR TO SIGN ANY OTHER PERTINENT DOCUMENTATION FOR THIS BOND ISSUE.
COMMISSION/STAFF:
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Director Updates: Rhonda Dunn – Rhonda updated the Commission on this last weekend’s Good Ol’ Days event. She felt like the event went smoothly. The committee takes the month of July off and then starts again in August to plan the following year’s event. She did feel the crowd was down this year. They will work to reboot this for 2019 to attract more people. She thanked all the City crews and Police and Fire Departments for the great job they do.
Stout Building – Rhonda informed the Commission that she will be moving forward with the demolition of this building. The adjacent property owner would like to see a parking lot for their residents. She is currently working with the property owner on this.
Ordinance Change – Rhonda said that she will be working with the Planning Commission in the near future to change the ordinance for the Central Business District and living on the first floor of a building.
Weeds – Rhonda said that her department has mailed out over 200 weeds letters since May 1st. They are also working on inoperable vehicles.
Land Bank – Rhonda said that she would like to see the Land Bank ordinance on the June 19th Commission meeting agenda.
B. City Commission:
Adamson – Nothing to report.
Bartelsmeyer – Nothing to report.
Nichols – Nothing to report.
Parker – Nothing to report.
Mitchell – Nothing to report.
C. City Attorney: Nothing to report.
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Director of Finance: Nothing to report.
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City Manager:
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Good Ol’ Days Committee – City Manager thanked this committee for their hard work in pulling off this event every year. They will work with Velocity next year also.
ADJOURNMENT:
Parker moved to adjourn the meeting at 6:54 p.m. Bartelsmeyer seconded. All voted aye.
ADJOURNED MEETING AT 6:54 P.M.
The next regularly scheduled meeting is to be held on June 19th, 2018 at 6:00 p.m.
RECORDED BY:
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DIANE K. CLAY
CITY CLERK
