MINNEOLA CITY COUNCIL MEETS                                                April 20, 2026

The Minneola City Council met in regular session on April 20, 2026, in the Civic Connection. The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m., with the following Council members present: Dustin Laudick, Chad Kirk, Debbie Buckley, and Galen Rankin. Mayor Sibley presided. Also present were Tyler Knox, City Manager and Brenda Stewart, City Clerk.

Howard Wideman met with the Council about adding 18” military emblems on the fencing at the Veteran’s Park. The Civic Club is willing to pay for them. Council agreed to have the emblems.

Kirsten Heinz, Pool Manager, stated she currently has 5 lifeguards hired with a possibility of 1 more. The assistant manager will be Kasey Copeland who has been in that position for several years. Lifeguard training will be held May 17 & 20 and they will be open for Community Day May 23. They will open full time on Memorial Day.

Laurie Minor, Community Day Sponsor, discussed the new sound system installed on the first block of Main Street. She stated that the Community Day board needs to maintain ownership even though it is mounted on City light poles and the system is mounted in the Civic Connection. The portable system is also being stored at the Civic Connection. It was agreed that insurance needed to be provided for the system and there needs to be something in writing that both boards sign. All rentals will go through Laurie or Kara Dugan; it will not be the City’s responsibility. Laurie also asked if the Red, White, and Blue banners could be up for Community Days. The Council asked Tyler to have them up.

Luke Jaeger and Joey Dugan, EGE, met with the Council concerning County Road C. As EGE keeps growing, the road is not adequate for the amount of traffic. They are working with the County Commissioners on a way to get the road chip sealed. Part of the road that goes in front of the Alliance Ag elevator is in the City limits. The City area has too many trucks to allow for chip sealing, so they are looking into roller pack concrete. The Council agreed to let Tyler talk with Tanner from Kirkham Michael to get a quote. EGE is willing to pay the up-front costs and then figure out a way the City can help.

Heath Heston, Clark County Sheriff, met with the Council for a general update. The department is still short staffed so he is currently using 2 part time reserve officers. Discussion ensued about a possible agreement between the City and the Sheriff and what that would entail. Other items discussed included writing tickets, patrolling streets, speed indicator and the trailer in the impound lot.

Dan Love, Attorney, discussed with the Council two options for getting traffic to slow down through Minneola. We could hire part time deputies from Ford County but we would need to purchase a car and other necessary equipment. The officers would be treated as independent contractors. The second option is working with Heath Hesston and working up a contract with Clark County. This would be beneficial because it would all stay within Clark County. Tyler will work with Heath and Attorney Love to see if a solution can be met.

Larry Kleeman, Ranson Financial, held a zoom meeting with the Council concerning the temporary notes and then bonding of the infrastructure for Magnolia Street. He stated the City is reaching our debt limit as mandated by the state. The other 3 bonds (streetscape and 2 land purchases) go against the limit. There are ways to make this work if we can break out any water and/or sewer that do not count. We could also break out items from the current request to avoid going over the limit. We could also convert the 2 land purchases to lease purchase agreements. Larry stated he will talk with bond Council and Joel, EBH, for breakouts and come up with ideas. We may need to hold a special meeting to approve a resolution when the solution is agreed upon. Other items reviewed were what to include in the temporary notes, converting to bonds after 3 years, building of houses, and setting the bond years.

Galen made a motion to approve the minutes from March 16, 2026, Dustin seconded, motion passed 4/0.

Financial Reports for March 2026 were reviewed. There were no questions.

Manager Update:

• Tyler attended the County Commissioner meetings where the solar farm has been discussed. Discretionary funds from the solar farm will be directed to the Clark County Community Foundation. The board will be created with 2 citizens from Ashland, 2 from Minneola, and one from Englewood. The solar farm representative would like to meet with the City of Minneola Council.
• We received the replacement pressure washer and it is working fine. They have not picked up the bad one.
• There has been discussion about changing the helipad lights from being turned on by the ambulance crew to allowing the helicopters to turn them on. The township is willing to pay for them. Chad made a motion to allow the lighting to be upgraded but the City is not responsible for maintenance or replacement of the new system and this needs to be in contract form, Debbie seconded, motion passed 4/0.
• Sergio Granados and Ethan Taylor will be taking their CDL testing on May 8.
• T-Shirts and hats with the Minneola emblem have been purchased for the guys for the summer
  
  Spring Clean-up Day is this coming Saturday, April 25.

The Council reviewed the proposed Deed Restrictions for Magnolia Street. Galen made a motion to approve the restrictions as outlined, Debbie seconded, motion passed 4/0. The Mayor and Council signed the document.

Accessory structures were reviewed especially when it pertains to storage containers being used as accessory or storage structures. Chad made a motion to approve Ordinance 2026-02 for changes to the City Code Ordinance book and Ordinance 2026-03 for changes to the Zoning Ordinance book, Galen seconded, motion passed 4/0.

The City-wide garage sale will be held on June 6. Information will be posted by mid-May.

Carol Sibley asked permission to purchase additional greenery for the flower pots on Main Street as needed to add or replace what’s there. Dustin made a motion to approve the purchase, Debbie seconded, motion passed 4/0.

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

Debbie made a motion to adjourn the meeting, Dustin seconded, motion passed 4/0. The meeting adjourned at 9:52 pm.

City Clerk