The Fairview City Council met at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 5, at the Fairview Community Building. Present for the meeting were mayor Art Vonderschmidt, council members Doug Bletscher, Bridget Harvey, Charlie Kramer, Steve Holthaus and Sierra Renner, secretary Christine Rosenberger, Community Building Manager Joann Keim, treasurer Kim Rettele, and city employee George Blanton. Six guests also were present.

Vonderschmidt asked if any of the guests present wanted to address the council. Fairview patron Paul Reynolds brought up four items to the council including a concern about Al Armstrong’s land; the park; sales tax, which wasn’t on the old business last month; and Wikle’s brick wall.

Reynolds said that during last month’s meeting, there was no discussion about city sales tax, which has been discussed at prior meetings following the approval of the Keim Travel Plaza.

“Nothing has been discussed at all in the city council,” Vonderschmidt said.

“Do you intend to do this [issuing a city sales tax],” Reynolds said.

“Well, it needs to be brought up,” Vonderschmidt said.

The city addressed the city sales tax topic later in the meeting.

Then, Reynolds asked about Don Wikle’s brick wall that has fallen down and is covering the city sidewalk.

“The city owns the sidewalk and anybody using the sidewalk can get hurt on that,” Reynolds said. “I think the city should go ahead and fence it off or something, to protect the city.”

Then, Reynolds mentioned the garage at 113 S. Main, which has a deteriorating roof, and the “pretty good sized ditch” at the City Park. Reynolds suggested the city acquire a bridge of some kind to go across the ditch. Vonderschmidt said he would talk to Al Armstrong about building a bridge.

Reynolds also asked about disposing of an old trailer house that has been abandoned on his property. The council recommended Reynolds fill out an application for a city grant to assist with the project.

Old Business

Animal Control/Code                Enforcement Officer

The council reviewed the Animal Control/Code Enforcement Officer job description, which Renner put together. Renner said she included a lot of items in the job description and could adjust anything if the council has feedback. Renner said her only questions were about salary and if the hours were listed appropriately on the job description.

Vonderschmidt said the job description looked very thorough.

The council discussed possibly opening the job up for people to apply for the job, or if they pursue the party who had already discussed interest in the position.

The council decided to go into a 10-minute executive session to discuss a wage for the position, as well as whether to offer the position to the interested party or to open the position up.

Following the executive session, the council decided to offer the position to a specific party at a predetermined wage, which was decided upon in the executive session.

The council approved the job description with provisions discussed in executive session.

Butch Rogers Property

Vonderschmidt said Butch Rogers property is still available after the party who had shown interested backed out due to the costs to improve the old Checkers building. Vonderschmidt asked the council if talking with a realtor is still the route they wanted to pursue.

After a lengthy discussion, the council decided to still talk to a realtor about all of Rogers’ property, as well as other city property.

Park Disconnect

Vonderschmidt said he had texted Adam Fleagle about the park disconnect, which was discussed at the April meeting. Vonderschmidt said Fleagle’s bid for the project was $1,971. This bid includes a new 200 amp disconnect. However, Fleagle is still awaiting Evergy’s approval of the proposal to change the service. Fleagle is waiting for Evergy to tell him the “peak amperage” drawn at the park. Vonderschmidt explained a 200 amp disconnect “may not be enough.”

“Considering the total consumption at the park, they may say that 200 [amp] wouldn’t be big enough,” Vonderschmidt said. “When you go to 400 – he told me on the walk through – that will jump it [the bid] considerably.”

The council decided to go ahead with the project if 200 amps is big enough. The council discussed using the Wolfe Grant to pay for the project, since those funds were already designated for the city park.

BG Consultants Bill

Vonderschmidt said he forwarded the bill from BG Consultants for the Highway 36 project to Rettele so it can be paid. This is the same bill the council discussed last month.

“This will happen every month,” Vonderschmidt said.

New Business

Additional Truck Parking

Vonderschmidt said Stan Keim with Keim TS had a survey done for the property the City of Fairview sold to Keim TS for additional truck parking.

“According to the surveyor, the property still belongs to the State,” Vonderschmidt said. “The city never got a deed for that state highway right-of-way. There was no real transfer of ownership.”

According to Vonderschmidt, the issue is being looked into.

Building Permits

Rosenberger said she had received two building permit applications from Fairview Mills. The council approved both building permits.

Park Bathrooms

J. Keim said she had the water at the park bathrooms turned back on, and the pressure tank in the water well is going bad and a pipe is leaking.

Vonderschmidt asked if the water to the bathrooms was run off of the well or if it was rural water.

“Apparently, the bathrooms are off of that well pit,” J. Keim said.

The council discussed finding out prices to replace the pressure tank.

Fire Extinguishers

Vonderschmidt said J. Keim had the fire extinguishers inspected, and asked Blanton if there was a fire extinguisher at the city shop. Blanton said he had never seen one.

The council decided to get a fire extinguisher for the city shop. J. Keim said she would get one for him.

City Sales Tax

Rettele said she had a couple of Sabetha City Commissioners contact her about implementing a city sales tax. Rettele said she would call Brown County Clerk Dawn Boyles to get more information on if it is too late to put a sales tax question on this year’s ballot. Rettele said she would let the council know what she learns.

Vonderschmidt reminded the council that if the city implements a city sales tax, it would have to be designated for a city use. The council made no decision at this time.

Sewer Report

Rosenberger presented the sewer report to the council. After a discussion, the council decided to put anyone on the tax roll who hadn’t paid in over a year.

Also at the meeting:

The council reviewed the correspondence they had received.

The council reviewed and approved the minutes from the April 7 meeting, as well as the treasurer’s report.

The council approved the bills to pay.

The council will meet for their next regular meeting on Thursday, June 16, instead of Thursday, June 2.