City commission approves sales tax ballot question, decide not to schedule public hearing

Apr. 24—The Abilene City Commission met April 22 for their bi-weekly meeting. During the meeting, they voted to ask the public about adding a 0.35% sales tax in the next election and decided not to schedule a public hearing about the demolition of the house at 212 Cottage Avenue.

Consent agenda

The commission approved the consent agenda, which included reappointing Cindy Montgomery to the Abilene Public Library Board for a four-year term. Kollhoff voted against approving the agenda.

Public comments

Tim Geske, member of the Seelye Mansion Board, requested to borrow the city's vacuum machine to pump water out of the pond on the mansion property. Terry Tietjens no longer owns the mansion, and a nonprofit manages the mansion.

"It's a mess. It was overgrown, left to go too long. It really needs to be emptied every year to maintain it correctly," Geske said.

City Mayor Brandon Rein said Geske initially approached him, and after discussions with city staff, said a policy should be established for when organizations in the future ask to use city equipment, as the city had no such policy.

At the end of discussion, the commission directed staff to create a policy to allow nonprofit organizations to borrow city equipment. Staff will vote whether to accept the board's request in their next meeting.

Annie Hoekman approached the commission concerning the poor stormwater drainage around her home.

"The water drainage has actually caused two problems," Hoeckman said. "We have the drainage that comes into our yard, but it also rotted out a fence that is a barrier between us and a business here in town. We have been battling this, and I would really like for the commission to relook at this and give us a definite answer on what plans we can do, if we have any options, to get this fixed, or, if not, just a concrete answer. This has drug on long enough."

Hoekman said she first approached city staff four years ago. The business is a mini-storage lot.

Ron Marsh, city manager, said the drainage in that area, which is in northeast Abilene, has been a long-standing issue and is not cheap or easy to fix. He also said he is uncertain if the business is responsible for the fence, but he will talk with the business owner about building a new fence. The commission will discuss the item in a future meeting.

Proclamations

Rein signed three proclamations.

The first proclamation was declaring April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

"Whereas, sexual violence is any sexual act that is perpetrated against someone's will, which includes sexual assault, rape, unwanted touching, threatened sexual violence, and verbal sexual harassment; and all types of sexual violence involving victims who do not consent, or who are unable to consent, or who refuse to allow the act," said Angela White with Domestic Violence Association of Central Kansas, "and whereas, 1 in 2 women and nearly 1 in 3 men experience some form of contact sexual violence in their lifetimes."

Rein then read out a proclamation for Arbor Day April 26.

"Now therefore, the Abilene City Commission, does hereby proclaim April 26, 2024, as Arbor Day in the City of Abilene and urge all citizens to celebrate Arbor Day and to support efforts to protect our trees and woodlands," Rein said, "and further, I urge all citizens to plant trees to gladden the heart and promote the well-being of this and future generations."

Finally, Rein read a proclamation for H.O.P.E. Center 2024 Week of Emphasis, which is meant to recognize the nonprofit's community impact since its inception in 1991.

"Whereas, the H.O.P.E. Center has for thirty-three years brought together the resources of our community to serve our neighbors in times of need, seeking to fill the gaps between personal and family resources, assistance offered by government agencies, and aid available from other charitable organizations, while at the same time stretching available help by eliminating duplication of services," Rein said.

Regular meeting

To start their items, the commission unanimously approved placing a question on the ballot asking the public whether the city should establish a 0.35% sales tax to fund a sports complex. The question will be on the primary election ballot Aug. 6. John Kollhoff, city commissioner, said before voting that he was concerned with the lack of a concrete plan for the project. He is also under the impression that baseball/softball fields are high priority, but not a top priority based on previous meetings and the city's comprehensive plan. Ron Marsh and Trevor Witt, who both have been a part of the Sports Complex Task Force's meetings, said the city will develop and communicate a plan to the public before the primary election, which will be shown on the city's website under their community engagement dashboard. Witt also said the comprehensive plan lists the improvements the city is prioritizing for the Eisenhower Park area.

Kollhoff also expressed concerns about whether staff will be available to prepare the new fields over weekends. Kellee Timbrook, director of the Parks and Recreation Department, said her staff always prepares fields before games and tournaments with the current fields.

"If we have a two-day tournament on the weekend or we have games on Friday night and have a tournament the next day, we have at least two people coming in whenever that is over," Timbrook said. "So that could be nine, 10, 11 at night, and then they bare minimum are getting the fields ready for the next day, but they are there for hours doing that. That's because of no irrigation, no drainage, all of those things."

The commission decided to not hold a public hearing about the demolition of the house at 212 Cottage Avenue. Travis Steerman, city inspector, said the owner sold the property to someone else. The new owner is taking the steps to get the roof and back porch fixed. As such, Steerman said he did not see a need for the commission to hold a public hearing, as he believes the new owner will repair the house.

During the conversation about approving a new contract with internet provider Vyve, Kollhoff called Marsh an unqualified city manager.

"I'm just really disappointed, Mr. Marsh. You've had plenty of time to put this out for a bid, Kollhoff said. "This is not the first ball that has been dropped, and I'm sure it won't be the last. You've kind of just thrown this in the finance director's lap, rather than take responsibility for it, and now the citizens are the ones that are going to pick up the tab instead of a fair bid process."

Kollhoff continued later, "This is just one more surprise from the city manager, and I expect to see more of it because, I guess, that's what you get when you don't have a qualified city manager hired."

In the proposed contract, the city consolidated 13 separate Vyve contracts into one to manage internet and IT services better. The separate contracts ranged in terms from three to five years, and the consolidated contract is three years with an overall savings of almost $30,000. The city will also upgrade to fiber internet and a firewall.

Leann Johnson, city finance director, said the city could not go out for bid with every contract because many were still under the terms of the current contract. Some of the contracts had expired Feb. 1, and Vyve had given the city an extension in an effort to help with contract consolidation. Due to hardware and software upgrades involved in some contracts, however, Vyve wouldn't offer another extension.

By the end of the three year contract, the city will be able to go out for bid.

"I completely understand this is not an ideal situation to be in, but there is a little bit of good faith on Vyve's side that they are lowering the 60 month contract that are currently being held to 36 months, which does line up everything so we can do a comprehensive (request for proposal)," Rein said to Kollhoff.

The commission ended the item by approving the contract in a 4-1 vote with Kollhoff voting no.

The city approved the master agreement with Olsson Engineering for construction and closeout phase of the displacement of Abilene Municipal Airport's runway 17, installing new threshold lights and equipment and replacing visual aids on runaway 35. Construction is anticipated to start in the summer or fall of this year and end in October 2025. The total cost of the project is $370,036 with the city paying $37,003.60 and the Federal Aviation Administration providing the remaining $333,032.40.

The commission then approved a fireworks show for the Central Kansas Free Fair to celebrate their 100 year anniversary. The show is currently scheduled for July 27.

The city's quarterly report is in the agenda documents.

City manager report

Concerning the 14th Street project, the north side of Cedar Street and 14th Street intersection will open, and the south side of the intersection will close April 29 until school has ended.

The Union Pacific Railroad is postponing construction to replace the crossing at Elm Street to an undetermined date.

The Eisenhower Marathon is Saturday, April 27.

The Parks and Recreation Department is working to open a fund with the Community Foundation of Dickinson County to allow citizens to donate toward whatever quality of life issues they so choose.

The commission did not hold a study session during this meeting. Their next meeting is at 4 p.m. May 13 in the Abilene Public Library.