MINNEOLA CITY COUNCIL MEETS                                                April 15, 2024

The Minneola City Council met in regular session on April 15, 2024, in the Civic Connection. The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m., with the following Council members present: Marvin Jensen, Chad Kirk, Dustin Laudick, and Debbie Buckley. Mayor Carol Sibley presided. Also present were Tyler Knox, City Manager and Brenda Stewart, City Clerk.

Dan Love, City Attorney, discussed options for 115 Cypress. The owner has already been found guilty in court and fined. The Council could proceed with a resolution which gives the owner 10 days to have the property cleaned up. After 10 days, the City could hire someone to clean up the property and place the costs on the tax roll. The other option would be to do a condemnation order and the City would hire someone to remove all items but the occupied house. The City has our annual clean-up day on April 27 and the owner is to appear in court on May 6. The Council decided to see what the owner does on clean-up day and review the resolution again in May.

The Council reviewed the plat drawing for the Sunrise Addition. After review, Marvin made a motion to approve the plat, Chad seconded, motion passed 4/0. Tyler will check on the plat drawing for the Appleton Addition.

Brian Marshall - Building Solutions, Chris Mills – Building Solutions, Tim Voltz – Voltz Construction met with the Council about the Sunrise Addition. The Council confirmed that we would like a developer to take over the whole project. The Council confirmed that the houses should include a double car garage and some with unfinished basements. Tim recommended doing the project in two phases: phase one being east of Cottonwood and phase two being west of Cottonwood. Brian stated that he and Tim would work together and give an estimate for the costs for the infrastructure and houses for reference. Neither company are taking the project on, just giving us an idea of the costs. They said they would probably have the figures ready for the next Council meeting.

Brian Marshall, Building Solutions gave Tyler an estimate to finish Cottonwood Street. This will be reviewed at the next meeting.

Kirk Esplund, Clark County Superintendent of Roads & Bridges, spoke to the Council about an initial grant “Safe Streets for All” that was received by the County. Kirkham & Michael are the engineers and are putting cost estimates together for five different counties. The state and federal have already awarded the money to put the estimates together. The Council mentioned the Poplar Street extension and the end of Cottonwood Street being added to the estimates. Tyler and Kirk are to work together to get all the information needed.

Luis Miramontes discussed the Scout Hut property that was deeded to him in 2020. He would like to put a sprinkler system in, which he would pay for, but asked the Council if the City would cover the water bill. The deed was reviewed. The City does have “First Right of Refusal,” but the City would have to pay the new assessed value. The Council, later in the meeting, discussed the water and decided that the City will not give him free water for the property.

Ashley Tedford, Pool Manager, introduced herself to the Council. We are having a hard time finding guards. She has three more interviews for guards this week. The Council agreed that we may have to cut out swimming days if we cannot find enough guards. This will be reviewed at the May meeting. Ashley would like to hold “fun” days or nights. An example would be a Hawaiian night. Kasey Copeland is willing to come to Minneola to do teaching and testing for certifications. Hourly rates for the guards were reviewed. Marvin made a motion to start hourly lifeguard’s rates at $12.25 and adjusted for returning guards, Chad second, motion passed 4/0. Swimming pool rates were discussed. Marvin made a motion to raise Family rates to $80.00, Single rates to $40.00, and Daily rates to $2.50, Dustin seconded, motion passed 4/0. Pool manager salary was reviewed. Chad made a motion to increase the salary to $5500, Marvin seconded, motion passed 4/0.

Marvin made a motion to approve the minutes as corrected from March 18, 2024, by changing the initial date and the date in the first paragraph to March 18, 2024, Chad seconded, motion passed 4/0.

Financial Reports for March 2024 were reviewed. Brenda will transfer part of the demolition money received by the County to Capital Improvement to cover the demolition at 103 Maple.

Tyler updated the Council on several items:

• The KDOT CCLIP project started April 8, but due to safety concerns, the general contractor pulled off the job. There have been several discussions, and it has been decided to make the intersection a 4-way stop, reduce the speed to 20 mph, and redo the current construction markings. Other discussions included keeping business drive-ways open for business, contract extension, and traffic cones.
• The County will discount the landfill rate for any City demolition projects.
• Jerry Curry Jr. passed his water certification exam.
• The trees we purchased for Main Street have been planted by Arensman, but one tree appears to be dead.
• We must start on the Lead & Copper survey that is due in October.
• They plan to start on the chlorine room at the pool this week.
• Electrical at the Community Park was checked by Stegman Brothers Electric and he did not find any issues.

Tyler asked the Council about raising the seasonal worker’s hourly rate since guard rates increased. Marvin made a motion to pay $12.25 for a new worker and $13.25 for a returning worker, Dustin seconded, motion passed 4/0.

Spring clean-up day is still scheduled for April 27.

Community garage sale is scheduled for June 8.

Carol Sibley mentioned the weeds at the Sunrise Addition. It was agreed to have them mowed or sprayed.

The City’s water tower maintenance agreement is from 1989. They do a good job so there is no need to change.

Marvin made a motion to go into executive session for 20 minutes to discuss personnel matters of non-elected personnel, Debbie seconded, motion passed 4/0. Mayor Sibley, Tyler, and Brenda were asked to attend. The Executive session started at 9:35 pm and ended at 9:55 pm.

Dustin made a motion to stay with our current health insurance and pay out the penalties at the end of the year, Marvin seconded, motion passed 4/0.

Marvin made a motion to approve the bills as presented and to pay M & M Fabrication the additional costs invoiced that are over the quoted amount, Wesley seconded, motion passed 4/0.

Carol asked about adding/replacing flowers in the Main Street pots. The Council agreed to have Carol add and/or replace them as needed. We added some new plants last year so hopefully we will not need as many.

Marvin made a motion to pay Snell Nelson’s invoice when received, Chad seconded, motion passed 4/0.

Debbie made a motion to adjourn the meeting, Marvin seconded, motion passed 4/0. The meeting adjourned at 10:10 pm.

City Clerk