The Sabetha City Commission met at 6 p.m. Monday, Aug. 3, at Sabetha City Hall. Present for the meeting were Mayor Cody Bletscher and Commissioner Nick Aberle via Teams, Commissioners Jason Enneking, Austin Wasinger and Trevin Edelman, City Administrator Nick Rizzio, and Terri McKim. Also present was Director of Utilities Dennis Enneking. Guests present were Fire Chief Gary Elliott, Matt Bosworth, Stan Keim, Cindy Alderfer, Bobbi Dillon, Shane Dillon, Bud Keim, Josh Bechtelheimer, Miles Ploeger, Mike Althouse,  Robert Wahwasuck, Roger Edelman, Greg Fletchall and Trevor Kramer.

Commissioner Wasinger opened the State Budget Hearing. With no public comment, Wasinger closed the public hearing.

Commissioner Wasinger opened the hearing on the Ninth Street Closure. With no public comment, Wasinger closed the public hearing.

Gun Club

Matt Bosworth, representing the local gun club and high school trap team, asked the commissioners for permission to add a second trap house at the gun range.

Bosworth said the additional trap house would double the range’s capacity and allow the high school team to accommodate more students while reducing the amount of time needed to cycle participants through the range.

“That will essentially double our capacity,” Bosworth said. “We can get up to that 25-kid, maybe 30-kid range.”

The team had 15 students participate in its eight-week spring league, and Bosworth said the group hopes to regularly have more than 20 students involved. The gun club currently has 53 members, with about 140 people on its mailing list. Its fall league has 30 to 35 participants currently signed up.

The estimated cost of the additional trap house and shooting-line structure is about $8,500, with another $3,500 to $4,000 needed for a trap thrower. Bosworth said the gun club and high school team have enough funds to cover the project.

He said the goal is to have the second trap house operational for the spring league season. Bosworth also provided the commission with a safety analysis showing the proposed location would provide adequate distance from nearby roads and the water treatment pond.

The commission gave the gun club permission to move forward with the project.

Fire Station

Fire Chief Gary Elliott requested permission from the commissioners to begin fundraising and seeking grants for construction of a new fire station.

Elliott said the department has outgrown its existing station, which was built in 1971. He proposed an approximately 80-by-100-foot station on the vacant lot across the street from the current station, next to Scoby Brothers.

“The reason why we want to do this is because that building was built in 1971, and we have literally outgrown it,” Elliott said.

The department also is anticipating the purchase of a 4,000-gallon tanker through the rural fire board within the next two to three years, which Elliott said would require additional space.

He said the department plans to pursue grants and fundraising, including working with the Greater Sabetha Community Foundation, in an effort to avoid placing the cost of the new station on city taxpayers. He said the department also is exploring a potential grant of up to $1.5 million to help with costs.

Elliott proposed keeping the existing fire station in the city’s system and eventually turning the building over to the police department, which also could benefit from their own space.

“I think it’d be great for them,” Elliott said. “It’s still in good shape, and it’d work perfect for them.”

The commission gave Elliott permission to move forward with fundraising, grant applications and planning for the proposed new fire station.

Downtown Windows

Miles Ploeger, owner of Main Street Auto Supply, located on Main Street, addressed the commission regarding the city’s window ordinance. He asked if they would approve metal coverings on his downtown building for the side facing Main Street.

“I just wanted to talk to you about the window ordinance,” Ploeger said. “I wanted to clarify a couple things. I was told by your code enforcement officer that that ordinance is only applying to windows facing Main Street… So here’s where I’m at with it. I’ve got apartments upstairs in that building. I have no intentions of using that space. It’s just there. I don’t need, want or have any use for windows up there. My plan was to put metal over them. I’ve already done that with the ones on the north and west side, and I was in the process, I was going to do that on the ones on the south and east as well. So, in the ordinance, it talks about using a facade material similar to the building. So I guess I’m looking for approval of that metal. That’s what I’m wanting to do.”

“I mean, the ordinance I think is fairly clear there,” Wasinger said. “Windows or matching facade. Which I mean, your building is brick. Those are kind of the two options that are out there.”

“Yeah, I don’t know if metal would necessarily match,” Edelman said. “You know what I mean? Like, as far as those go. Yeah, I think that what Austin [Wasinger] said, those are the two options, brick or windows, and that’s probably not the answer you were looking for.”

Ploeger said he does not intend to spend money installing windows in a space he does not use.

“Well, I mean, here’s where I’m looking at. If you guys want windows, you need to source the funding for it because I’m not paying for it. So that’s up to you how you want to handle it. I have no desire to spend my hard-earned money to put in windows that serve no purpose other than curb appeal. It’s not going to happen,” Ploeger said.

Edelman said the commissioners had anticipated that property owners might have concerns about the cost of complying with the ordinance.

“Yeah, I understand where you’re coming from,” Edelman said. “We talked about that when we addressed the ordinance in the first place. You know, we knew that somebody was gonna have that thought too, and so I totally understand where you’re coming from, but I think if we expect everybody else on the block, you know, everybody else downtown to do it, hopefully we try to give you some time to get things in order to be able to do something that fits into the ordinance. So we were hoping by doing this when we did, that it gives you time by hopefully 2027 to be able to put something in.”

Ploeger said additional time would not change his position and explained the cost of installing the windows.

“Well, that’s past the point. Like I said, I’m not the one that wants the windows,” Ploeger said. “I’m not paying for them. It doesn’t matter how many years you give me to put them in. I’m not doing it. I’ve got pictures of the ones that I’ve done already. I think they look very nice. We got complements from people that say they look very nice. I don’t see any reason why they shouldn’t be acceptable.”

“Have you got quotes on what the windows would cost you?” Edelman said.

“I do,” Ploeger said. “They’re not your average household windows. They’re large windows. They’re not cheap. I can pass this around if you want to look at it. You’re basically looking at about $2,000 a window, plus the cost of the lift to put them in. So your minimum $10,000 for those five windows, and whatever your lift is going to be. Depending on how many days it takes to put them in, you could have $12,000 to $15,000 in it. I’ve got more important things to spend my money on than that. That’s to put it very simply.”

Mike Althouse questioned whether the ordinance also applied to residential properties along Main Street.

“Does this ordinance include some of the houses on Main Street that have had black plastic on the windows for the last three, four or five years? Because some of those houses are more of a eyesore than the windows on Miles’ building,” Althouse said.

City Administrator Rizzio clarified that the ordinance applies to the downtown business district.

“Just the business district, so just downtown businesses… And our code enforcement has been very active recently… With going after homeowners who are not following our codes and ordinances. So that is something we’re very focused on,” Rizzio said.

“Yeah, I hope they get more active because we see them in the paper, and nothing ever changes,” Althouse said.

Fletchall spoke in support of Ploeger’s proposal, saying the metal coverings could be removed if the upstairs space is used in the future.

“Can I give an opinion on this matter?” Fletchall said. “If you brick those windows in, and he wants to, or an owner wants to do something with those apartments, then you got to take the brick out to put windows in, and if you put the metal, which if you’ve been around the building, they look really good. It fits the building. I know, I did the work, and it’s beautiful. So I invite you to take a little walk around the building and take a look at it.”

“Yeah, and the metal can be easily removed later if I would ever decide to do anything with that, put windows in later on,” Ploeger said. “Very easy to take metal off and be back where we were. I just don’t have a desire to do that at this time.”

Fletchall also pointed to improvements Ploeger has made to the building since purchasing it.

“He’s actually improved his building since he bought it,” Fletchall said. “He hasn’t, you know, let it dilapidate. He’s one of the owners that’s really been proactive.”

“I put a new roof on it last year, spent a lot of money doing that. Put a complete new roof on it,” Ploeger said. “We did tuck point work on 50 percent of the brick. Did the metal on half the upstairs windows. Put new gutters on it. I completely redid the heating and air, the electrical service, the plumbing. All that’s been done in the past five years. It needs more, but I’m not finished yet.”

The commissioners thanked Ploeger for coming.

Vacating Ninth Street

Property owner Bud Keim spoke to the commission about the history of the roadway and why he was asking for the city to formally vacate a portion of Ninth Street.

“There’s a little history to that, and my understanding is, and this goes back into the ‘80s when Dad built the building, and I don’t know how many people remember the dump when it used to be there,” B. Keim said. “When Dad built that building at the time, I think it was Mr. [Ted] Hayden who was in Nick’s [Rizzio] position, and at the time, Keim’s asked him if the city would want Ninth Street, and the answer was, ‘No, we don’t want Ninth Street, so when you build your truck terminal out there, that Ninth Street’s yours,’ and so through the years, we’ve been in a cooperation mode with the city. The city has helped us. We keep it open, etc., etc.

“Now, I noticed a year or two years ago, I was looking online and I noticed the maps that come out now that have the boundaries, and I noticed that Keim didn’t own the road anymore, so I went through a series of questions here at the city and at the county, and it was county pointed the finger this way, and we pointed the finger that. Nobody knew how that got changed. So, in a sense, what I’m really doing is asking, and I’m doing this for the boy’s sake and just to get it right, to put it back the way it should be, and get it down to our boundaries. That’s the history.”

City Administrator Rizzio explained the discrepancy between the city’s geographic information system (GIS) records and the documentation available at City Hall.

“So currently on the GIS, it shows that it’s vacated,” Rizzio said. “However, there’s no documentation that we can find here at City Hall to show that it was vacated. So this would allow the GIS and the motion, if you were to approve it tonight, to be binding and unify both of those. So then we can fall back to say the GIS matches what the commissioners have approved.”

The commissioners approved Ordinance No. 1601 to vacate a portion of Ninth Street with a 5-0 vote.

City Projects Update

City Administrator Rizzio provided updates on several city projects:

• Sidewalk project: The city’s sidewalk improvement project is planned for the fall, when cooler temperatures will make concrete work easier for city crews.

• 11th Street water line: Work is expected to be completed by Aug. 16. Recent rain has caused some delays, but crews are continuing to work on the project.

• Street painting: Street-line painting will continue as weather and schedules allow, with additional areas still needing to be completed.

• Oregon Street micro-surfacing: The original plan was to complete the project before the start of the school year. However, the project has been delayed by a week and is now expected to begin in three weeks. The city will coordinate with the school and police department on traffic control. The micro-surfacing will address existing cracking and is expected to extend the life of the street by five to eight years.

• Field 4 press box: Demolition of the press box is planned for the fall, with preparations underway.

Director of Utilities D. Enneking addressed the Blue-Green Algae advisory at Pony Creek Lake.

He said that it has been downgraded from a warning to a watch. The city continues to work closely with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), which is expected to return for additional testing in about two weeks. D. Enneking said the city expects the advisory to be lifted following the testing and remains in compliance with KDHE requirements.

Also at the meeting:

The commissioners approved the meeting minutes from Monday, July 6.

The commissioners approved the Chamber of Commerce contract allowing for a full-time Chamber Director.

“This is something that we’ve had conversations with the chamber board about,” Rizzio said. “We are recognizing that there needs to be more of a partnership between the city and the chamber. This contract will be for four years, with a salary amount to the individual chamber director to be full time, and then there would be benchmarks that they could hit through each year that would allow them for more money. But these benchmarks would drive in more economic development, beautification.

“One of the biggest things that we want to achieve with the chamber board is getting on the Main Street program, which would then allow the buildings downtown to open doors to access funding, whether it’s facade, if it’s upstairs living, zero entry doorway, signage, it’s endless of what these businesses could have opportunities to improve their building, and so we really want to focus more on the chamber of commerce being even more successful than what it’s been, and it’s not just focusing on events, it’s also focusing on businesses, creating more partnerships with our surrounding towns and counties, and finding those partnerships that can make Sabetha that much more successful.”

The commissioners approved Ordinance No. 1599 Standard Traffic Ordinance.

The commissioners approved Ordinance No. 1600 Uniform Public Offense Code.

The commissioners approved Wage Resolution No. 2026-20 for Rod Haffener to the position of Journeyman Lineman.

The commissioners approved the 2027 state budget as presented and not to exceed the revenue neutral rate with a 5-0 vote.

“So this is something we do every single year, we set the budget. We determine the mill levy based upon the needs of the city,” Rizzio said. “I have been saying this from day one, commissioners, every time I met with you. The proposed 2027 budget has been prepared in a fiscally responsible manner that meets the city’s operational capital needs while remaining at or below what we call RNR which is the revenue neutral rate. By not exceeding the RNR — the revenue neutral rate — the city is able to maintain its mill levy without increasing property tax burden attributed to the city’s budget. So we want to continue being fiscally responsible. We want to make sure we continue to improve our infrastructure, but at the same time, we want to be very cautious at not just raising taxes for no reason. So for the proposed budget of 2027, we are not looking to raise the mill levy.”

The commissioners approved the purchase of a new AC unit for City Hall — 10-ton Trane rooftop, which includes unit, labor and installation — for a total cost of $21,051.25.

Due to Labor Day, the next regular city commission meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 8, at Sabetha City Hall. Prior to the meeting, a work session will be held at 5:15 p.m. The public is encouraged to attend.

Work Session

The work session was held prior to the regular meeting at 5:15 p.m. Monday, Aug. 3, with Bletscher and Aberle via phone, Enneking, Edelman, Wasinger, Rizzio and McKim. No guests were present.

The commissioners discussed Kansas Road complaints, the possibility of joining the Kansas Municipal Utilities (KMU) membership for the education of city employees, briefly went over all items on the agenda including Northeast Kansas Enterprise Facilitation, Gun Club activities, Fire Station and downtown window ordinance. No action was taken, as the meeting was held for discussion purposes only.