MINNEOLA CITY COUNCIL MEETS                                                February 24, 2025

The Minneola City Council met in regular session on February 24, 2025, in the Civic Connection. The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m., with the following Council members present: Marvin Jensen, Dustin Laudick, Chad Kirk, Debbie Buckley, and Wesley Orr. Mayor Carol Sibley presided. Also present were Tyler Knox, City Manager and Brenda Stewart, City Clerk.

A zoom meeting with Attorney Morgan Koon was connected. Marvin made a motion to go into executive session for 30 minutes for attorney-client privileges, Dustin seconded, motion passed 5/0. Mayor Sibley, Tyler, and Brenda were asked to stay. Executive session started at 7:05. The regular meeting resumed at 7:35 pm. Dustin made a motion to have the information for the infrastructure and the builder go out to bid separately for the Sunrise addition, Marvin seconded, motion passed 5/0. Attorney Koon will work with Volz Construction and then work on bid paperwork as needed. The zoom meeting ended.

Marvin Jensen left the meeting at 7:45 pm.

Debbie made a motion to approve the minutes from January 21, 2025, Chad seconded, motion passed 4/0.

Financial Reports for January 2025 were reviewed. Brenda mentioned that this is the start of the new year and the 2025 budget. There were no questions.

Manager Update:

• EBH has been contacted again about revising Cedar Street on the Sunrise Addition. Joel is reaching out to their surveyor.
• Hiring an additional employee vs. summer help was reviewed. Tyler will follow up with an individual that expressed interest in the full-time position. If they are not interested, we will post for a summer helper.
• Brenda will be on vacation for a week in March and Carol Tedford will be coming in part time.

The Council meeting date of March 17, 2025, was reviewed to make sure there would be a quorum with the meeting being during spring break. A quorum should not be a problem.

Spring clean-up day is scheduled for April 26.

The annual dog vaccination-dog tag clinic is scheduled for Saturday, March 29, 10-2, at the old fire station on Main Street.

The annual garage sale date will be on June 7. Sign up sheets will be posted in May.

The final ARPA paperwork was submitted on 1/29/25 to Ranson Financial.

The Northend Disposal contract was reviewed. This contract will be for 10 years. Wesley made a motion to approve the contract with the noted changes, Chad seconded, motion passed 4/0. Debbie made a motion to pass Ordinance 2025-01 revising trash rates, Wesley seconded, motion passed 4/0.

The After Prom donation letter was looked at. Debbie made a motion to support After Prom with a $500.00 donation, Dustin seconded, motion passed 4/0.

Election paperwork was handed out to Carol, Chad, Debbie, and Wesley. The forms must be turned in by June 3, 12:00 pm, with the County Clerk.

Kansas Municipal Utilities (KMU) organization was discussed. They offer numerous classes through the year for employees and Council. We are interested in the CDL theory class and CDL Driver Instructor class. Both of these classes are offered at the end of April. Wesley made a motion to join KMU and sign up for the classes, Debbie seconded, motion passed 4/0.

Tyler reviewed the information he found out about property taxes. Jeremy, the County Appraiser, said Minneola is still behind on our valuations. He uses Dodge and Minneola sales to determine our valuations, and this is done on a yearly basis. It was noted that some property valuations went down, and some properties went up by over 35%. It was confirmed that the higher the price of the homes that sell, the higher the valuations will be. The overall breakdown of taxes for the County was also reviewed by the Council.

Tyler reviewed a few other items with the Council including staffing for 911 calls and transfers. The Council stated that Tyler responding to 911 calls during City time is acceptable, but not interfacility transfers.

The KRWA Conference is March 25-27. Tyler, Chad, and Brenda will be attending and leave Monday afternoon.

The Council would like to meet the new County Sheriff, and asked Tyler to invite him to our next meeting.

The church that meets at the Civic Connection on Wednesday evenings and Sundays, thanked the Council on their generosity for letting them use the Civic Connection and paid rent for January – March. The period for needing to use the Civic Connection is not known at this time.

The Civic Connection use to be closed if the school was closed and now it is sometimes open. The City had concerns for the elderly when it was open during the snow and when temperatures were below zero. The Council agreed that the City (Mayor/City Manager/Superintendent) has the authority to close the building.

The bills were reviewed. Wesley made a motion to approve the bills as presented, Chad seconded, motion passed 4/0.

Tyler and Brenda presented League of Kansas Municipalities information on salaries for third class cities and also comparatives for the southwest area. Dustin made a motion to go into executive session for 15 minutes to discuss non-elected personnel, Debbie seconded, motion passed 4/0. Mayor Sibley was asked to join the meeting. Executive session started at 9:05 pm. The Council came out of executive session at 9:20 pm. Wesley made a motion to give Tyler and Brenda raises as outlined, Debbie seconded, motion passed 4/0.

Dustin made a motion to adjourn the meeting, Chad seconded, motion passed 4/0. The meeting adjourned at 9:25 pm.

City Clerk