By SALINA POST
An update on the Salina Fire Department admin time issue, a water rate study, a playground sponsorship, and the city manager's annual performance evaluation are among the items on the Salina City Commission agenda for Monday.
About the meeting
Study sessions and city commission meetings will take place in–person in room 107 of the City-County Building, 300 West Ash Street, and via Zoom until further notice. Meetings also can be viewed at the City of Salina YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/cityofSalinaKansas.
To participate via Zoom, citizens will need to use the following link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89275984587.
The meeting also can be accessed by phone at 1-346-248-7799. Enter Meeting ID:892 7598 4587 when prompted.
If citizens wish to speak, either during the public forum or when the mayor requests public comment on an item, citizens attending via Zoom must raise their hands so that the meeting host can allow them to speak. Those who attend the in-person meeting will have the opportunity to speak at the podium.
Citizens also can send written comments or questions to city commissioners via email at [email protected].
In order for the commissioners to have an opportunity to review comments in advance of the meeting, please email your comments or questions by 5 p.m. the Sunday prior to the Monday meetings.
Study session
Commissioners are scheduled to meet in a study session beginning at 2:30 p.m. Monday. The topic of the study session is 2022-2026 Water Rates Study. To see the study session packet (28 pages), click here.
Regular meeting
The regular meeting is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. A time for public comment is scheduled near the beginning of the meeting.
Commissioners are scheduled to hear an update from City Manager Mike Schrage about the Salina Fire Department admin time issue. Immediately following the update, commissioners are scheduled to meet in the following two executive sessions, according to the commission meeting packet.
●To discuss the subject of matters relating to and/or arising from the Salina Fire Department admin time matter which affect the privacy interests of non-elected personnel based upon the need to discuss personnel matters of non-elected personnel.
●To discuss with special legal counsel the subject of legal considerations relating to and/or arising from the Salina Fire Department admin time matter based upon the need for consultation with an attorney for the public body which would be deemed privileged in the attorney-client relationship.
According to Schrage's update in the commission meeting packet, the review, recommendation, and hearing process for Salina Fire Department personnel was recently completed.
"The conclusions remain personnel matters not subject to public disclosure. Three of the eight individuals referenced in the BKD report are not currently employes by the City of Salina," the update states.
The update continued, "It should be noted, that the time period reviewed spans 7 years and that staff referenced in the report, may not have been employed when the investigation was conducted, may not have been employed at the time that the report was presented, or they may have resigned or retired while this process was conducted. It is not accurate or appropriate to assume that references to employees no longer being employed by the City are an indication that they were terminated for wrongdoing. Further, as indicated in the report, it is not appropriate to assume that any wrongdoing has occurred simply based upon an individual's rank or position."
READ: Royse resigns; Schrage to provide fire dept. matter update Dec. 6
According to the update, BKD's report has been amended because, "over the course of the review and hearings, additional information and details were noted necessitating numeric changes to some of BKD's estimates." A revised report from BKD, the company that conducted the forensics audit of Salina Fire Department leave time, is included in the commission meeting packet and can be accessed here.
Schrage noted in his update that BKD's "original estimate of the value of admin time taken was $197,848.24 and it has been revised to $145,271.14 and their estimate of the value of vacation time bought back of $75,373.73 has been revised to $70,223.22."
Commissioners also are scheduled to consider authorizing the city to enter into a sponsorship agreement with Great Plains Manufacturing, Inc., and to purchase and install a new playground at Lakewood Park.
The playground at Lakewood Park has been recommended for replacement due to its age and condition, according to information in the commission meeting packet. "Lakewood was installed in 1995 (26 years old) and has a sand surfacing, which is not ADA compliant. Additionally, the Lakewood Park playground is next to be replaced on the playground replacement schedule due to the above stated conditions," the commission meeting packet information noted.
Because of anticipated playground funding constraints, city staff reached out to Great Plains Manufacturing in May 2021 to see whether the company would be interested in sponsoring the playground replacement. Great Plains expressed an interest in a $100,000 sponsorship toward the playground, with Great Plains' founder and former owner, Roy Applequist, donating $50,000 toward the project. The city's cost would be $85,424.
The proposed playground, which would include a poured in place rubber safety surfacing that is 100 percent ADA accessible, "would provide an environment where children can develop skills through different challenging opportunities."
Other items on the city commission agenda for Monday include the following.
●Consider approving a resolution describing the corporate limits of the City of Salina.
●Consider approving on second reading an ordinance that would change the zoning district classification on a 34-acre tract of land located on the east side of S. Ohio Street between E. Magnolia Road and E. Schilling Road.
●Consider awarding the Fifth Street parking lot project to Vogts-Parga Construction in the amount of $445,421.56 with a five-percent construction contingency for a total project authorization not to exceed $467,692.64 and authorizing the city manager to execute a contract with Vogts-Parga Construction. The project would include removal and replacement of all pavement and installation of landscaping beds and lighting.
●Consider personnel manual updates.
●Consider approving an ordinance that would change the zoning classification of Artistic Nails and Spa from an R-1 (single-family residential) to a C-3 (shopping center) district.
●Consider approving a resolution authorizing the mayor to execute a license agreement with Wheat State One, LLC, to allow the installation of a private sanitary sewer line and a grease interceptor.
Additionally, commissioners are scheduled to meet in executive session for the city manager's annual performance evaluation.
To see the full Salina City Commission meeting packet for Monday (210 pages), click here. You also can open agenda items individually.