REGULAR MEETING
Monday, September 10, 2007 – 7:00 p.m.
The governing body of the City of Coldwater met in regular session with the following present: Mayor Tony Smith, presiding, Council members Penny Bruckner, Klete Hackney, Tiffany Sowa and Richard Thompson, Public Works Director Danny Shaw, Water Operator, Joe Ceballos, City Attorney Skip Herd, City Clerk, Kristal Sherman, Lake Manager, Ron White, and City Marshal Doug Storie.
Guests included Ralph Hoofer, Sandy Hoffman, Joe Vance and Linda Hart.
Mayor Smith called the meeting to order and led the flag salute.
Minutes were approved as written, motion by Penny Bruckner, seconded by Richard Thompson. Motion carried.
Ralph Hoofer and Sandy Hoffman, representing the Gideons, asked the council for permission to use the Veteran’s Building the first Thursday of every month for a meeting place and asked them to waive the fee. Chuck Salisbury made a motion to allow the Gideons to use the Veteran’s Building and waive the fee, seconded by Tiffany Sowa and the motion carried.
Joe Vance explained to the council his plans for removing the step and a portion of the sidewalk in front of the building he owns at 119 S. Central and asked the council for permission to have the city maintenance crew remove the old concrete so he can go back with new. After discussing the matter, Klete Hackney made a motion to approve the city maintenance crew removing the old sidewalk and step for Joe, seconded by Richard Thompson and the motion carried.
Linda Hart reported on the progress of Comanche Estates, she told the council hey have had an offer made for one of the lots. A lengthy discussion was held on modifications of the covenants and the way the sale of the lots should be handled. Also discussed was whether they should give a Warranty Deed or a Quit Claim Deed when they sell the lots. City Attorney Skip Herd said the county is required to give a Quit Claim Deed any time they sell property and didn’t know if the city would have to abide by those same rules, but he will check on that and let the council know. The council asked Skip to draft a contract in the next few days so the first sale of the lots could be completed by the end of the week. Linda also told the council she would like to put an advertisement in the paper for Comanche Estates, to give the local citizens knowledge that the lots are for sale.
Marshal Doug Storie gave a report of his activities for the past month. He reminded the council he is hosting a training class in the Veteran’s Building on September 19th.
Lake Manager, Ron White reported it was a good Labor Day weekend at the lake and it surpassed last years’ figures, but was told last year was a rainy weekend and it really couldn’t compare. Ron reported to date he has 15 winter reservations, which brought up the question of what happens if water freezes the lines while we have campers at the lake in the winter. After a discussion about the matter, Richard Thompson made a motion to have a contract drawn up and signed by the winter campers that if the water freezes the lines, the campers will pay to have it fixed, the motion was seconded by Chuck Salisbury and the motion carried. Ron told the council that he liked the camp host idea and would like to stay with that procedure in the future. He also reported he has had requests for a season tent permit and would like to see that put into place. After discussing the idea, no decisions were made. Ron also reported that gang graffiti has appeared in the west restroom recently and he has reported it to the city marshal.
Penny Bruckner made a motion to go into executive session for 15 minutes to discuss personnel, seconded by Klete Hackney, the motion carried. After returning to open session, no decisions were made.
Water Operator Joe Ceballos reported he will have a State inspector from the KDHE here on September 24th. Joe said he expects the inspector will want to do something with the old water tower, because it was brought up at the last inspection three years ago. After discussing the old water tower, the council told Joe to see what can be done and report back after the inspection.
Public Works Director, Danny Shaw reported an individual contacted him about the problem with the city sewer line running underneath the west wing of the hospital, and since they are about to break ground on the renovations to the hospital, thought it should be taken care of before the renovations started. After discussing the problem, they came to an agreement that Chuck Salisbury, Richard Thompson and Danny Shaw will go to the County Commissioners meeting next week to discuss the problem with them before the renovations get started. Danny advised the council that a Comanche Estates income and expense account should be set up so the money from the lots that are sold could go to the income account and expenses paid could be kept separate from other lake business. After discussing the matter, Penny Bruckner made the motion to set up a Comanche Estates account, seconded by Klete Hackney and the motion carried. The council had questions as to how detailed the expense account needed to be and instructed Danny and City Clerk, Kristal Sherman to call the auditor, Jim Vonfeldt to get advice on how to set up the fund.
An application for a trailer parking permit was presented on behalf of Kelsey Thompson, asking that he be able to park his trailer that he uses for work, at 206 S. Chicago and wherever he may be working on any particular day. Klete Hackney made a motion to approve the trailer parking permit, seconded by Tiffany Sowa and the motion carried, with Richard Thompson abstaining from the vote.
Bills in the amount of $89,028.38 were presented for payment. Penny Bruckner made a motion to approve the bills as presented, seconded by Chuck Salisbury. Motion carried.
Tiffany Sowa made a motion to go into executive session for an hour for personnel reasons, seconded by Penny Bruckner and the motion carried. After returning to open session, no decisions were made.
No further business was presented. Tiffany Sowa moved the meeting adjourned , seconded by Penny Bruckner. Motion carried.
SPECIAL MEETING
Thursday, September 20, 2007 – 7:00 P.M.
The governing body of the City of Coldwater met in special session for the purpose of discussing personnel with the following present: Mayor Tony Smith, presiding, Council members Penny Bruckner, Klete Hackney, Tiffany Sowa, and Richard Thompson and City Clerk Kristal Sherman.
Guest present was Joe Spence.
Mayor Tony Smith called the meeting to order, Chuck Salisbury made a motion the council go into executive session to discuss personnel matters, seconded by Tiffany Sowa and the motion carried. After returning to open session, Richard Thompson made a motion to terminate City Marshal Doug Storie, seconded by Klete Hackney and the motion was denied by 2 yes votes and 3 no votes. Tiffany Sowa made a motion to place City Marshal Doug Storie on uncompensated administrative leave for a period of seven (7) days and the motion died for lack of a second. Klete Hackney made a motion to place City Marshal Doug Storie on uncompensated administrative leave for a period of twenty-one (21) days as of September 21, 2007, seconded by Richard Thompson and the motion carried with 3 yes votes and 2 no votes. Mayor Tony Smith called Doug Storie to the meeting to review the disciplinary action with him. Klete Hackney made a motion for the council to go into executive session for personnel reasons with City Marshal Doug Storie, seconded by Tiffany Sowa and the motion carried. After returning to open session a “Notice Of Disiplinary Action” was signed by the council and Doug Storie to be place in his employee file. No further business was conducted.
Richard Thompson made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 1:15 a.m., seconded by Tiffany Sowa and the motion carried.