City Council - Special Meeting

So that would be no, I do not.

Oh, sorry.

We're going to go to the

I wasn't for sure.

I just worked.

Council call for a special meeting.

Thank you. Okay, I will go ahead and call to order the special council meeting for Wednesday, July 15th, 2026 to order. I will remind the council that we have listed 4 things for discussion of this. So our meeting needs to stay within those 4 things. On that, so number 1 is the city clerk position. On that we do have several applications that have come in for appointments for the City Clerk and I do have some information from Mr. Hancock who was here at the last meeting. I got this information about 30 minutes ago. Yeah, if I had received it any sooner, I would have simply sent that out ahead of time for you all to look at. Just so everybody's on par with this, it says, Mayor, I apologize for being late, so I'm getting something to you. Interim Solutions Company can provide an experienced city clerk to assist and prepare your budget. We have received all of the guidelines necessary to meet Kansas law from Jeff Dean and only friends and acquaintances. While I have other candidates, and I believe you and the city should interview before engagement, the following preliminary... meet both her and her requirements she is available july 21st and july 27th through july 29th she can also make herself available on weekends if needed july 22nd through june through noon on the 24th are committed elsewhere august 4th and 5th and 11th through 13th 18th through 19th and the 25th and 26 are free right now our company would charge 97 per hour mileage and overnight accommodations if she was staying more than one day as we have connections with the kansas accounting firm and other interim city managers we could also provide information to do a review and search for either a city clerk and city administrator I am leaving for another meeting in Ashland, Missouri, but should be available to discuss this further in the morning. Respectfully, J. Jeff Hancock. i know the city clerk position is an extremely important position for the city and needs to be handled with extreme care as to who we get and how we get within that concept i also know that in respects to the city clerk it kind of goes hand in hand with the budget inquiry that was done obviously he is concerned about helping us with the budget also for that Travert is supposed to be getting back with me tomorrow to discuss budget concepts, and our company that does our audits, Gilbert and Phillips, are supposed to be here Monday to give us their preliminary concept of budget calculations for us. since they have generally helped the city each year with the budget and know from doing the audits where we stand with that so those are other things that kind of play into that whole clerk budget side of clerk things So if you all would like to take a look at some of the applicants' concepts and things that have come in for city clerk, I would entertain a motion for an executive session to do so, since those things cannot be discussed out here.

It doesn't say where this lady is going to come from, does it?

Or am I missing something? This does not say where she's going to come from in a conversation that I had with him. Uh, it is my understanding that she actually lives in Missouri.

And she knows Kansas off.

She knows budget specifically Kansas law being a little different. I couldn't say one way or the other on her knowledge.

I'd like to make a motion for an executive session to review the applicants for city clerk.

Can I have a second?

Four. How long? I don't know how long we'll take. I think you said you got a couple of minutes.

We have a few. Do you have 10 or 15 minutes?

Let's do 10 at least.

Okay. To include the deputy city clerk? Yes.

Okay. Is there a second for that?

So it's a 10-minute executive session for non-elected personnel to discuss potential, well, it's, yeah, clerk position, appointed position. I'm sorry, my mind's a little red. It's scattered at the moment. All in favor? We'll be back at 6.29.

. . . . .

Have a big party.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

. . . . I can't help it. I can't help it. She's good for a laugh. Oh, she's good for a laugh. Thank you very much. Thank you. You know, you can't keep on doing it. I'll walk right after her and say, you know what? She's lost. Here's my paper and my phone. Oh, well, she's so proud of that. But the problem is, I don't know. Hey. Excuse me. Her husband is a good, noble man. He is. He is. yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah No. I'm on it. I used to know Jim a lot. I watched his song, QP, and I watched it a lot. I'm interested in how he helped. I don't know how he helped. One of the guys that I love, he thinks like this. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

You're like eight years ago. And then you had to slide out of the seat and sit with toes. And as soon as you got one of those up, I had to hit it with my foot. I couldn't go kick in the diesel.

The kid people, how many are they? Yeah, one. Okay, look here. . . . . . . . Yeah. Go do that again. I did that May 29th.

Executive session ended, resuming normal meeting. No action taken. I do have one clarification. I do believe I said when we left for a 10-minute executive session, we were back at 629. That was a missed speech, as it should have been 619. So... for the record of understanding the council wishes to keep the application process open at the moment and then hear mr hancock's formal presentation on monday then okay Okay, moving then into the Public Works open positions there, I do have several applications and I pulled together the applications of those who have recently applied. They can be looked over to see what we want to do there. I would say that I would request of counsel that we do bring in the head of departments for interviews on that so that they can be part of that choosing process, since the people that will come in to public works will be working with them and under their supervision. And if you would like to examine what we have there, I will entertain a motion for a 10-minute executive session for non-elected personnel to discuss potential hires.

I'll make a motion for a 10-minute executive session for non-elected personnel.

I'll second.

All in favor? We'll return at 6.32. No, sir. Was that the other one with the lawyer? It was the other one. I don't think there was anything they were discussing. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. At the moment, it sounds like we're going to have, I don't want to say it, but we're going to have to go to the computer for a quarter of a year or whatever. Well, then we're going to have to go to the computer for a quarter of a year or whatever. I would buy that one day, and he was trying to get a Constitution from me. Constitution of what? I don't remember. Of what? Of his creative expression. Hasn't he done a good job as a criminal lawyer? His creative self-expression? Is it that case?

That's what it goes on.

That's the Washington governor.

Is it?

Yeah.

He's the editor of the book.

I never did nothing in my new job. Yeah, he was a nice fellow. He was a good kid. He was a good kid. He was a good kid. He was a good kid.

He was a good kid.

Yeah. You do know what it's like when you're in the hospital. Yeah. Okay. I respect that. Of course. I wish I had one. You know what I mean? The thing is, you're like me. You know, I'm already getting up a lot quicker. You know what I mean? You're a child, you know. My dad died when I was... Yes, yes, yes, yes. 19, 20. Yeah. My mom, she would talk a lot with it. I said that to you. Sorry, dude. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

Well, I'm going Monday morning. Leave Colorado. Go see all my kids out there. Yeah, struggling. Yeah, I get all the drinks and all that stuff, but yeah.

No, no, no. Just show us. You don't want to show us. I think so. Unless you're going to praise me. Well, I'm going to get a couple of drinks.

Sweet tea, unsweetened tea, water. Oh, you're going to have to. I'm very good. I've never heard of it.

Really?

I'm scared. No.

Well, thank you. Did anyone want to pitch in for a picture of what happened there? Ah, no, I was just making shit. No, I heard people hollering at him. Oh, yeah, yeah. No, I thought it was good. No. They're okay, you know that? I don't have any problems with anybody. They're not happy with what I do.

They probably won't see me as a judge.

One of the best ones I've ever heard is June Fawcett, 7th grade.

Yeah. You remember June Fawcett? Yeah. And she had a picture of 7th grade. Well, they could possibly judge.

Mm-hmm.

The sound was crazy. Oh, yeah, yeah.

Well, Jim never hit her.

Huh? Jim never hit her.

Wow.

No, no, no. And not her.

I'm not thinking they could possibly judge her. Must have been. Yeah, Jim never hit her. Anyway, you know Ronnie Reed, didn't you? Mm-hmm. He was a great guy. Mm-hmm.

Well, they got on the tank. Ron was very big boss of the dog. Very good.

And had a good job.

Two houses.

He had more than five tables.

Or, Ronnie, or Harold gets out of the tank.

Ronnie was in the tank. He didn't get in front, around the train, and all that stuff. No, he's on the tank. Ha ha ha!

Yeah.

We had some great schools running around in the days. Yes, a crazy little one. I remember this poor American who breathed my bones. And the guy who used to sit in this tiny boat. I heard that. Remember old mine? Yeah, that's what I remember. Yeah, that's what I remember. I think it was $63,000. Yeah, apparently. Apparently, yeah. I felt like they had a damn bubble like mulberries. Uh-huh. And after the first retreat came out, some of the kids got, I can't remember the name of the camp.

I think it was Cape.

Yeah, it was the Romans. Yeah. Billy Norman and that bunch. The twins. Oh, yeah. So that was before the retreat. I can't remember. It was the Romans. But they did that. They put up all that cable all the way from the back behind it and tied it to it. They had that tractor view ship. Yeah.

And it's going to be cable on a blitz truck.

You know, that cable was up, let's just tie him up there. And I short cabled him. And they took, they had a 57-4 with a . And the mufflers were on the end. I said, great. Well, they just took them off. Yeah. Ricky Warner's.

Is it? Oh, yeah. He's been dead now about 15 years. Oh, yeah. That guy was funny. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

No

Executive session resuming normal meeting.

I'd like to make a motion to hire, uh, to, uh, uh, part time city, uh, works employees, uh, listed by the mayor and by the, uh, uh, I second it.

So the motion that came forward is to consent to the mayor and deputy city clerk to hire two part-time public works employees for the city. Any discussion? All in favor? So moved. um budget inquiry updates i kind of gave a lot of that while ago was there any other questions regarding mr henkos put forth for what he's coming up with and then of course that travert is helping us also and gilmore jared gilmore phillips is going to be presenting on monday also any other questions on that are we good okay Then the other thing is the R&R. So just in brief explanation so everybody knows where we are on the same page on all of that. It was voted by the council to let the county know that our intent would be to exceed R&R. for the 27 budget upon doing so I myself and our deputy city clerk went down and met with David Lamb on last Thursday and he was saying that we had to put in a number an estimated number we're not stuck at that number it could be higher or lower last year I know the number that we Initially submitted to them we managed to come down from that It's always good to be able to be lower than what we have without having a whole bunch of numbers and Most of the budget put together for that Mr. Lamb was kind enough to throw some numbers in the computer and kind of help us come up with some kind of conceptualized baseline of what Would be Adequate within that particularly taking on that the city budgets Generally rises due to cost of everything increasing and so forth. So the number that was came up with and submitted there was 9205 and I want to ask the council do are you okay with that and seeing if we can come down from that and For the public's understanding, our revenue neutral rate for this year is 84, which is up 5 from the revenue neutral rate that it was last year of 79. And we ended up going with an 88 mil levy last for this year's budget.

And that puts us, if we're at 84, and we went to 92, that puts us at 8 mils higher than... when we jump up to 92. And I do believe that we gave you to go over there and tell them, but I do not believe that we gave you a number to put down. So I feel like you should have come back with the number and called a meeting and said, is 92 okay? Instead of just putting the 92 down.

So last year, whenever it was at 79, and it was initially submitted for a 90 initial mill presentation. That number was agreed to and put together by the president of the council And that's what was submitted because I was in the hospital at the moment and wasn't able to be called to come in to finalize that paperwork for submission.

That was last year.

So I am telling you, and I'm just bringing up, you didn't have a problem with it last year. And it seems like you only have a problem with it this year because it's me. No, I have a problem.

I voted against it last year. You don't pay taxes in town.

That is not a true statement.

And you voted for the taxes. For the taxes. So, I mean, it was a split vote. I do have a problem with it. I voted against last year.

So, the idea is, right now is at 9205. That is not where we're stuck. That is not where we have to be in any way, shape, or form. It was a number... that Mr. Lamb helped us come up with to give. If the council would like to give a different number than that, feel free to do so and we can submit an adjustment to that to them. I do know that a 9205 mill levy rate would only raise the amount of our budget by $39,000. From last year? From this year's current budget, yes. It only raises at $39,000. At what cost is that going to be to each citizen of the city? That is always the question there. So the idea is 92 is where we have to stay. Where we end up mill levy-wise is how we manage to handle the budget and how much down we can get the budget when we're processing the budget. Because we would have to know what mill levy we're actually going to be presenting for the people to speak on behalf at the hearing, which is set for September 8th.

And I had the county over there do the difference between 84 and 92 for the houses. And this does not include the paper I showed you. It does not include the school nor the fire department. So if you look on an $80,000 home, the taxes are going to raise for $846.40 for a 92 mill levy.

For how big a home?

For, I didn't say, valued at $80,000.

It would raise them $73.60.

It's right here. She did the math for me.

Yes, I'm reading it. $73.60 is the difference between those mill leases.

Well, it's still pretty high.

Yes.

But that's where the auditors are going to come in and help us.

Yes.

It's set at 92, and we've just got to work really hard and try to get these milllettings down. And that's what the people with the budget do.

supposed to be helping us too. They'll suggest areas that we need to or can cut back based on what the real expenditures from last year are and the potential price difference.

And the county's number that they brought to us was what, 80? 84. 84. So, you know, it's just a rough number. You know, if we can get, you know, even in between the two, No, we were 9 mils over revenue neutral last year. And at 92, that would be 8 mils over what the revenue neutral rate is this year.

As was explained to me, it's the number to stay under, not the number that we're stuck with. And in talking to Mr. Lamb, I would rather go a little higher and be able to present a lot lower milk levy than provide something that was too low to begin with. Put the city in jeopardy of budget. It's always a rough thing when we start playing with money, especially whenever it's not all our money.

So we just need to wait to see what we can work out and what the very different groups to come up with.

Right.

Knowing that we were going to be discussing this, in case the potential exceeding what is going to be changed, I have withheld from placing that on the websites and everything because we will have to announce this to the public before Monday of what our current intention is. And, of course, our current intention is not the 92, but to be under that, that it could be as high as that.

And you have to make a motion, right?

Do what?

You have to make a motion on this, right?

On what?

Pivot or lower.

I would settle for a motion that there's agreement on it.

I just think 92 mils is high. And that's for anybody in the whole city. I think that's just crazy.

We just have to buckle down. I mean, things have got to be cut. Yes. We've got to find ways to cut it and get it down. People cannot...

We can't keep going up, up, up. I mean, as much as everything is costing more, I know people right now that are having difficulties just keeping up with the money set aside to pay their taxes each year. It's practically a house payment.

People are having problems paying water bills.

Yeah.

So, I can't vote on this. That 92 is just, that's ridiculous. Yeah. That's ridiculous. That's crazy. I'd be more apt to split the difference between, you know, even then that's pretty high.

But the good thing is, is that it sounds like we're not set at anything.

No, we're not set at this.

Right now at all.

No.

So.

That, the setting of it is done by.

Completed.

the hearing is on september 8th and that's whenever the budget is finalized and the levy for 2027 descent we just need to be below this amount if y'all would like us to lower it now saying we're not going to go over this then we could do that but like i said we're not set at this at this point in time not knowing where the budget stands i mean

it's a crapshoot either way so i say just we've already notified the county that we're going to be over breadwin neutral then we just wait until we find out what's going on with you know mr hancock and everybody else to get them in here so we can get a handle on everything and find out where we stand and where we sit before we can even make a decision on what we need to do on those to me that's the only thing that's common sense

Yeah. So like I said, this number was placed with the hope and intention of being a lot lower than that. Because I think we need to do everything we can to...

I think it's pretty high. I think somebody needs to clean the cobwebs out of this computer. Yeah.

So what would you all like to do? Do you want to leave this as is at the moment, and as we work through the budget, do everything in our power to make it as low as possible?

That would be my suggestion. But I can't vote on 92 miles. It's not going to happen.

I'm not voting on 92 either. Okay.

Is there anything else regarding the revenue neutral rent that we need to go over, discuss or anything else? Anything else to be said on the inquiry on budget or public works positions or city clerk positions? Nope. I'll take a motion for adjournment. I'll make a motion to adjourn. I second. It's been moved and seconded. All in favor? Did you take us offline, Morgan? Please.