The Rock Port Board of Aldermen met Wednesday, August 16, 2023, at 6:00 p.m. with Mayor Amy Thomas presiding. Board members present were Lisa Farmer, Kelley Herron, Kory Paris, and Raechel Schoonover. Also present was Utility Office Manager Terri McGuire, Chief of Police Derek Morriss, City Clerk Emily Schulte, and Superintendent Brentlee Thomas. Visitors present were Carmen Ellison, Orry Paris, Jeremy Davis, Dennis and Melanie Sherlock, Principal Donnie Parsons, Superintendent Rex Bollinger, and Park Board members Jennifer Geib, Sheena Roup, Andrea Cook, Tawni Ellis, Amber Graham, and Clint Dougherty.
Mayor Thomas called the meeting to order then led the meeting in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.
Approval of Meeting
Agenda & Minutes
The meeting agenda was approved.
The minutes of the July 19, 2023, meeting were approved.
Carmen Ellison
Ellison was present to discuss a high water bill at her residence. While Ellison relayed having issues previous years with hydrants, all their outside hydrants now run off timers. She then had a few questions she asked be answered by the utility office.
Thomas stated that he would go inspect the pit, however as long as a reading was being received, it was correct. If anything, meters tend to slow down towards the end of their lives, they don’t speed up. Alderwoman Farmer asked Thomas to go read it manually again for Ellison’s reassurance, which he agreed to do.
Ellison then asked if she could request consideration for her bill, given it is so high. Utility Office Manager McGuire relayed that there was a time when consideration could be requested for forgiveness on bills containing leaks, however once the city stopped producing its own water and joined the Atchison County Wholesale Water Commission, those considerations ceased. The office does have the ability to offer a short-term, 3-month payment plan on a case-by-case basis to customers with good payment histories.
McGuire did relay that meters were going to be read in a few days and inquired with Ellison if that would be an acceptable time to manually re-read her meter, to which she said would be fine.
Principal Donnie Parsons
Parsons wanted to update the board on the construction taking place at the school. With the work ongoing, parking and bus access to the west parking lot has to be redirected. The north entrance to the school is seldom utilized so the school is requesting a temporary allowance by the city for 10-minute parking there for student drop-off and pick-up, and occasional bus loading and unloading. Currently, no parking is allowed in that location.
Superintendent Thomas didn’t foresee an issue, given the allowance would be temporary.
The aldermen voted unanimously to approve a temporary allowance of 10-minute parking at the north entrance of the school, along West Calhoun.
The school also requested some police presence with school starting and potential confusion with the redirecting of traffic.
Park Board – Park/Pool Update
Cook gave a report on positive items happening this year at the park and pool. The pool closed for the season this past weekend with 90 season passes having been sold. City employees Hudson and Sherlock were thanked for their assistance with the baby pool repairs and upgrades.
The Rock Port Youth Athletic Association is in the second phase of ballfield updates and improvements. Grant applications are also being sent to both the Cardinals and Royals organizations for potential softball field upgrades.
The park has held several successful events this year, including youth soccer, the 4th of July activities, Summer Palooza, and swim lessons.
Roup gave a report on items that haven’t gone to plan this year. The city is still in the middle of getting the cancellation of the pool liner project ironed out. The change from chlorine to bromine for the baby pool per ACCO’s recommendation was determined to be a poor fit for our facilities and the decision was made to switch back. Additional issues with chemical orders were experienced with ACCO and refunds have been requested.
The lifeguard training given to guards through Red Cross was determined to not meet expectations, leading to StarGuard audit failures. StarGuard did, however, offer guards additional training which brought them to standard. Unfortunately, the failure of audits means there will be no MIRMA reimbursements for those funds. The pool will discontinue use of the Red Cross in the coming years and will be moving forward with StarGuard for training. An effort will also be made to team up with the other pools in Atchison and Holt counties to get pool staff trained in the coming years.
Additional items being discussed are the pros of moving towards the StarGuard portal for the pool. Grant application submissions are being planned for items needed at the pool. Ideas for additional pool renovations are in the works and will hopefully be ready by next year.
Geib stated the Park Board is working hard to make a difference, however they need clarification on a few items.
• Do the Park Board members have any type of liability coverage through the city? Schulte stated believing MIRMA does have some coverage for all city employees, which all board members are considered. She recommended reaching out to the MIRMA representative, Jeff Arp.
• There were issues with the park credit card this year causing several instances of reimbursement checks needing to be written. It was asked if Clerk Schulte was the one making those choices regarding credit card providers. Schulte responded that all city credit cards are through the same company.
• With the park maintenance agreement between the Park Board and the city, it was hard to keep on track with their finances as three months of reimbursement wages were written at one time. The park board believes the clerk should make those payments monthly.
• The estimated tax revenue amount was higher than what the park received, thus putting another strain on the park budget. Schulte explained that the tax revenue is a prediction, but one of its main variables is that citizens pay their real estate taxes.
• It was asked who will be doing payroll for Park Board staff moving forward. Mayor Thomas relayed that their board used to handle their own payroll. Alderwoman Farmer’s opinion was that they shouldn’t have to take on that responsibility. Thomas inquired if staffing is an issue concerning the board, both getting them to apply as well as putting in the work once they’re hired. The Park Board confirmed that it is an issue given they can’t even afford to pay their guards minimum wage.
• The Park Board has noticed tensions between boards and also city employees. This creates an obstacle with getting information.
• Funding is a concern among Park Board members. They don’t believe their revenue stream is high enough to support the park and pool operations and would like to know what the marijuana tax has been allocated to.
• The new security cameras at the park work great, but upon watching the feeds, the amount of traffic going through and vehicles being left in the lots for extended periods of time is alarming.
Geib wanted to reiterate that the Park Board is just looking for answers. All of the board members signed up to help, but they are volunteers and take time away from their jobs and families to be on the board.
Mayor Thomas noted that the work of many is taken on by a select few, but also acknowledged there being a lack of funding across all budgets.
Jeremy Davis – Rock Port Oil & Tire
Chief Morriss reported that Officer Seiter’s car broke down on August 9. Davis stated the car has a hole in the radiator. A new radiator and fan set have been ordered for the vehicle; however, there is potential for additional damage once the car has been taken apart. The car is a 2018 with 43,000 miles. Davis stated the car is in catastrophic failure with current repair costs amounting to $1,700.00, and the estimate growing to somewhere between $5,000.00-$10,000.00 once repair work begins.
Consent Agendas
The city financial statements, accounts payable, tax report, delinquent tax list, the City Clerk, Chief of Police, and all board reports were approved.
The utility financial statements, accounts payable, purchased power and water statements, take or pay water use report, water loss reports, Utility Office Manager report, and City Superintendent report were approved.
Bill #1237: 2023 Tax Rate
No visitors requested to speak at the tax rate hearing held at 6:00 p.m.
The first and second readings of Bill #1237 – 2023 Tax Rate were approved. Mayor Thomas declared Bill #1237, Ordinance # 1237.
The tax rate approved by the Board of Alderman is $1.1411 (per $100 valuation).
Mayor’s Board Appointments
Mayor Thomas presented the following board appointments: Jennifer Roup, Planning Commission, with a term expiring April 2026; and Sara Watkins, Health Board, with a term expiring April 2024. Both appointments were approved.
Land Lease – O.P. Contracting
The aldermen voted unanimously to approve the draft land lease agreement submitted for O.P. Contracting’s leasing of property at the compost site.
2024 Pet Tags
Clerk Schulte inquired if pet tags were being pursued for 2024, as tags will need to be ordered soon.
Mayor Thomas stated wanting the office staff to continue with their responsibilities then she will sit down with Chief Morriss and assist him in getting some of the known unlicensed pets registered.
Paris moved to approve continuing pet tags and working towards getting them enforced. Farmer seconded. Paris and Farmer voted aye. Schoonover and Herron voted nay. Mayor Thomas broke the tie by voting aye.
Park Maintenance Agreement
Superintendent Thomas expressed wanting to end his department’s participation in the park maintenance agreement for the 2024 calendar year. According to the agreement, modifications or cancellations need to be submitted 60 days prior to the renewal date, which is quickly approaching.
Thomas informed the board that his employees spent way more time at the pool than what was originally agreed upon and mowing takes a considerable about of time, both of which have put city and utility projects behind.
Mayor Thomas acknowledged that staffing is a serious issue, and when the agreement was signed the city had more employees.
Staff had a suggestion to utilize some remaining ARPA funds to purchase a mower which could assist the park in getting something arranged for their mowing needs next year.
Volunteers could be coordinated, as the Park Board used to do. Alderman Herron suggested pool staff assisting with mowing, since they would already be on payroll and there’s a major budgeting issue. Roup stated appreciating everything Thomas’ staff has done to assist the park this year, however if board members and pool staff are asked to undertake park mowing, she and others would resign.
Clerk Schulte also expressed an interest in modifications to the maintenance agreement. She explained that her department is only reimbursed one hour every two weeks for all services rendered, including multiple financial tasks. Several city hall projects, which should have taken priority, were placed on the back burner to assist with park and pool projects and issues this year.
Mayor Thomas is going to reach out to other towns and inquire how they distribute park and pool responsibilities. She then stated the topic would need to be tabled for the evening.
ARPA Funds
Schulte reported that since the pool slide had to be returned, that money would eventually need to be reallocated. She reminded the board that they approved the usage of those funds only to a slide, and if that, or any of the other projects, were to fall through the funds would return to the account for reconsideration. Alternate ideas previously discussed were a park mower or a portion of a police car. The discussion was tabled.
Special Event Permit Application
The special event permit application submitted from Pleasant View for a sand volleyball tournament was considered. The event will take place September 23 from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. at the park. The board stated the use of wristbands for alcohol consumption would need to be enforced. Alderwoman Schoonover has wristbands if they need any.
The aldermen unanimously approved the special event permit application for the Pleasant View sand volleyball tournament.
Olsson Engineering Services
Superintendent Thomas is still waiting to hear back from an alternate company.
RenoSys Pool Liner Contract
Clerk Schulte relayed receiving attorney charges for work being done on the RenoSys liner contract. She wasn’t sure if the board had decided which account those should be expensed from. The project was originally to be paid from the Pool Repair Fund, however given these charges were services rendered in an effort to cancel the agreement, she didn’t know if that qualified. They were expensed to the administration budget for the time being until she received further direction from the board.
Golf Cart & Electric Scooter Ordinances
Mayor Thomas addressed the sample ordinances from other municipalities received at the last meeting. There are a lot of scooters in town, but she isn’t sure they can be regulated.
Pole Attachment Agreement
Staff is still waiting for information from the attorney. Agreement was tabled.
Chief of Police Derek Morriss
Calls for service were at a normal volume, four reports were filed, seven agencies were assisted, no citations were written, and one nuisance complaint was received since the last meeting. The grant was received for the new radios and they will be applying for an additional grant to obtain the repeaters.
City Clerk Emily Schulte
Invoices for the 2019 and 2020 audits were finally received and paid. Granted all invoices are caught up in this calendar year, two more audits could potentially be paid out, so it should be noted that budget line will surpass what was estimated. It was then explained that though audits took place when they were supposed to each year, the auditor started getting behind when COVID began and they are just now getting caught back up with billing.
The CAT Plan meeting took place and they will be in touch regarding the next steps. Mayor Thomas added that it was nice to see all the individuals who agreed to participate and looked forward to what’s to come.
Superintendent Brentlee Thomas
A roller was rented to begin working on some asphalt projects. Eventually Thomas would like to look into getting an asphalt paver and an oil truck, which he believed to be a better fit for his crew than concrete. Yield signs have been added on Stanton Drive and Bluff Street, the 2” water main project is complete, hydrant extensions are expected to be delivered early October, and hydrant testing will be done with Chief Jones for the insurance rating in the coming week or so. Replacement parts for the substation finally came in and an outage will be planned in the near future for installation. The crew is finishing repairs on a pole near the park that was recently hit by a vehicle.
Alderman Kelley Herron
Herron wanted the Park Board to know he appreciates everything they’ve been doing, and he knows they have put in their time.
Thomas was thanked for the work his crew has been putting in on asphalt work on the streets.
Thomas relayed he would pass it along to Hudson and Sherlock. Herron then wanted to confirm the city is still operating without on-call, since its suspension almost two years ago. He wanted to thank the outside guys as well as office staff for monitoring voicemails, going on calls, and sending updates during after-hour events, such as during the recent power outage. None of the employees receive additional compensation for this work and it’s appreciated. He did want to relay though that these unplanned occurrences take time to remedy and that the city appreciates the citizens’ patience.
Herron then addressed when Mayor Thomas stated at the July meeting that he did not have the authority to reach out to the city attorney. He wanted it on record that he had Schoonover and Paris’ approval prior to the call being placed, which was a majority.
Alderwoman Lisa Farmer
Farmer mentioned a resident being upset regarding being charged for the replacement of their broken meter button. He believes someone else broke it and that he shouldn’t be responsible for the replacement.
Evergy was going door-to-door with posters containing information regarding new state laws pertaining to outside electric providers being allowed to enter the city, asking business owners to display them in exchange for $50.00. She stated her store front did agree to display the poster, but asked if Thomas was aware of these new laws. Superintendent Thomas stated he would reach out to MPUA for more information.
Mid-America Capital has invited the Board of Aldermen, their spouses, the Chief of Police, and superintendent to take a bus tour August 23 to visit a marijuana dispensary operation which is hopeful to expand their business to our area. The owner has met with Farmer and Mayor Thomas twice regarding their plans, is purchasing property in city limits, and wants those invited to come see how their operation runs.
Alderwoman Raechel Schoonover
Schoonover continues to receive complaints regarding the pigs right outside of city limits. Apparently DNR is being contacted by citizens, but there is nothing the city can do regarding these complaints.
Alderman Kory Paris
Paris apologized for his recent absences. It has been his employment’s busy season, but it’s starting to slow down and he will be more attentive to city business.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:36 p.m.
(The minutes have been edited due to space limitations. The complete minutes can be viewed at https://www.rpmo.com/boa/page/board-aldermen-meeting-36)
