City commission approves building codes, proposal for CCLIP project

Ed Boice, Abilene Reflector-Chronicle, Kan.
·5 min read

Oct. 25—The Abilene City Commission met Monday for their last October regular meeting. In their meeting, they approved the 2018 building and fire codes and the bid for the Buckeye Avenue project.

Proclamations

To start the meeting, the commission gave two proclamations. The first established Oct. 26 as Lights on Afterschool Day, which is a national celebration of the importance of after school programs

"I, Mayor Trevor Witt, do hereby proclaim Oct. 26, 2023, as 'Lights on Afterschool Day' and be it further resolved that this governor enthusiastically endorses Lights on Afterschool and commits our state to engage in innovative afterschool programs and activities that ensure the lights stay on and the doors stay open for all children after school," said Trevor Witt.

The second proclamation encouraged citizens to wear a poppy flower Veteran's Day Nov. 11.

"I urge all citizens to wear a poppy on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, 2023, as mute evidence of your gratitude for the women and men of this country who risk life and limb in defense of the freedom which all as American citizens are able to enjoy each and every day," Witt said.

Regular meeting

The commission approved 2018 building and fire codes from the International Residential Code. The codes passed in a 4-1 vote, with John Kollhoff, vice-mayor, voting no. The codes will start being effective Jan. 1 2024.

Aaron Martin, city attorney, said city staff added a section, as the commission asked for in their previous meeting, to "substantially watering-down" the threat of prosecution for violations from the city between Jan. 1, 2024, and Oct. 1, 2024 as an ease into the new codes.

"I'm not sure why staff has chosen to take that direction, but I feel that it doesn't achieve at all what we discussed here as a body at the last meeting," Kollhoff said in response to Martin's comments about the period. "It think there needs to be a process for people to be educated with the status quo for a period more than two months."

The commission approved the codes with the section staff wrote with no adjustment.

Travis Steerman, city inspector, and Kale Strunk, Abilene Fire Department fire chief, said contractors are already building in surrounding cities and at Golden Belt Heights in Abilene according to the 2018 codes. Also, they will be using the 10-month easement period to educate people.

Then the commission approved the proposal from Ebert Construction Co. for the City Connecting Link Improvement Program (CCLIP) project run by the Kansas Department of Transportation. The project will replace failing stormwater drainage inlets along Buckeye Avenue from SW 6th Street to the Union Pacific Railroad. Ebert Construction's bid is for $1,010,732.87. KDOT will pay $600,000 through the CCLIP program. The city will be responsible for the remaining $410,732.87, which will come from the special street fund. Brayson Benne, engineer with Olson Engineering, said the project would start around April 2024 and end sometime in the fall of 2024.

Kollhoff requested the solar panel discussion to be placed on the agenda. He questioned Ron Marsh, city manager, about the specifics as to why the solar panel committee recommended Hutton Corporation and expressed his belief the city will benefit from solar energy. Kollhoff does not think Hutton's proposal was suitable for the city.

"This commission sat here and made a motion to table this indefinitely until we had a good study, and I don't see why we are beating a dead horse," said Dee Marshall, city commissioner, during the conversation. "Commissioner Kollhoff has a problem with the city manager, he should do that privately and not at a city commission meeting."

"I'll be the first to admit that, and I don't think City Manager Marsh would disagree, that we do not see eye-to-eye on somewhere near 99% of things," Kollhoff said in response to Marshall.

Kollhoff also said during the conversation he reached out to people he knew at Hutton Corporation, but did not explain the extent of their relationships.

The commission made no new direction to staff. During their Oct. 13 meeting, the commission majority voted to extend the solar panel discussion indefinitely to pursue a comprehensive energy services audit for all city facilities. Kollhoff voted no on the item.

The commission then approved amending the city's purchasing policy in a 4-1 vote, with Dee Marshall, commissioner, voting no. The amendments pertained to cooperative agreements with a purchasing cooperative company. In the future, whenever the city works with a new company, the commission will have to approve an amendment to the policy to add their name to the policy.

The commission then approved the proposal from Survey And Mapping (SAM) to survey and map the stormwater network and incorporate it into the city's GIS program. SAM mapped the city's water distribution system in 2018 and sewer system in 2019.

The commission then approved the proposal from Tyler Technologies for municipal administrative data processing software. Leann Johnson, city finance director, said she estimated the city would fully adopt the software in around six months.

The commission then approved the sale of Kansas State Historical Tax Credits from the remodeling of the Abilene Police Department's offices in 2022. The credits were sold to AzimuthZero LLC on behalf of a client at 92.51 cents per credit for a total of $182,397.34.

City manager report

Third Street from Elm Street to Pine Street will be closed 5-8 p.m. Halloween, Oct. 31.

Study session

First, the commission discussed a proposed policy to prohibit the open carry of firearms in the Abilene Public Library. Proposed by the Abilene Public Library Board, the board wants the policy as a safety precaution. State legislature, K.S.A. 12-7c4(a), allows public and private organizations to prohibit the open carry of firearms by posting specified signage. People would still be able to conceal carry firearms.

Brandon Rein, city commissioner, and Kollhoff both said they do not think the library and city should be restricting that right.

The commission then considered offering a Kansas Public Employee Retirement System 457 plan to employees. Shayla Mohr, city clerk, said the plan would save the city about $918 per year.

The Abilene City Commission will next meet at 4 p.m. Nov. 13.