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MINUTES CITY COUNCIL MEETING MONDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2000 Mayor Dan Bishop called the Regular December 11, 2000 City Council Meeting to order in the City Council Chambers at 7:30 p.m. PRESENT: City Manager Kirk Davis Item 3. on the Agenda. Pledge of Allegiance. Mayor Bishop led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag in which all joined. Item 4. on the Agenda. Approval of Minutes. Councilman Bill Cross moved to approve the Regular Monday, November 27, 2000 City Council Meeting Minutes. Councilman Anita Newsom seconded and noted need for correction on Page 3, Paragraph 2 to correctly reflect Councilman George Nodler as seconding the motion for adoption of Resolution R-00-94 for purchase of police patrol vehicles. The vote on approval of the November 27, 2000 City Council Meeting Minutes as corrected; All “aye”: Smith, Nodler, Newsom, Cross, Bishop. (5-0) * * * Special Performance: The Oak Park High School Oak Street Singers, under the able direction of Mr. Eric Foley, delighted the audience with a medley of traditional favorite Christmas songs. Mayor Bishop thanked the group for their wonderful performance and expressed his appreciation that they were able to get here this evening given the bad weather conditions. The Mayor noted The Oak Street Singers have been invited to perform in Carnegie Hall in New York City in April, 2001. A silent auction followed by a performance will be held on Thursday, December 14th to raise funds for their trip and the Mayor encouraged everyone to attend and support their fundraising efforts. * * * Item 4a. on the Agenda. Mayor Dan Bishop read a PROCLAMATION recognizing MR. DICK DAVIS, retiring General Manager of the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority. Mr. Davis thanked the Mayor and Council and said it had been a great pleasure to work for KCATA for the past twenty-three years and one of the things that made his job rewarding was the fact that Gladstone was the second city to join Kansas City in the partnership that provided transit service in Kansas City. During his twenty three years, Gladstone was one of the five cities that remained a participant during that entire period. He said transit is not terribly important in Gladstone because there are only 200 people a day who ride the metro buses, but the City of Gladstone proudly steps forward every year and says we are going to be a part of that. What that says is that Gladstone, where he has lived for the past thirty-four years, is a city that is a regional leader and proud to do its part. Mr. Davis said he is proud to live here and again expressed appreciation for this honor. Item 4b. on the Agenda. Mayor Dan Bishop also read a PROCLAMATION: recognizing MS. JAN KAUK, retiring Executive Director of Synergy Services, Inc. Ms. Kauk thanked the Mayor and members of the City Council for their tribute and said it has always been her greatest pleasure to live in Gladstone and noted that she has enjoyed being a part of the Neighborhood Preservation Task Force this past year. She said she looks forward to working with Gladstone and continuing her passion to work with children and families. Ms. Kauk also congratulated fellow recipient Dick Davis and said it had been a pleasure to work with him and she wishes him well in his retirement. Item 5. on the Agenda. CONSENT AGENDA Following the Clerk’s reading, Councilman Anita Newsom moved to approve the Consent Agenda as listed. Councilman Bill Cross seconded. The vote: All “Aye” - Smith, Nodler, Newsom, Cross, Bishop. (5-0) CONSENT AGENDA DETAIL Councilman Anita Newsom moved to adopt RESOLUTION NO. R-00-96, authorizing execution of a contract with Linaweaver Construction for the 58th & Broadway Drainage Improvements for a total amount not to exceed $219,741.90 from the Capital Improvements Sales Tax Fund. Councilman Bill Cross seconded. The vote: All “Aye” - Smith, Nodler, Newsom, Cross, Bishop. (5-0) Councilman Anita Newsom moved to adopt RESOLUTION NO. R-00-97, authorizing acceptance of a contract with Weidenmann & Godfrey Construction for Claymont Drainage Improvements for a total amount not to exceed $110,175.00 from the Capital Improvements Sales Tax Fund. Councilman Bill Cross seconded. The vote: All “Aye” - Smith, Nodler, Newsom, Cross, Bishop. (5-0) REGULAR AGENDA Item 6. on the Agenda. Communications from the Audience. Don McLaughlin, 6313 N Bales, Gladstone, Missouri, said listening to the study session presentation earlier on economic development activity he was intrigued in looking at Mr. Wingerson’s report that five chambers of commerce on the list contribute to their City for economic development activity. He said if you are worried about the economic status of GEBC and the Gladstone Area Chamber of Commerce, it is a documented fact that we have been making payments on their mortgage and interest on the vacant lot on 72nd Street which was also purchased partially with a State Economic Development Tax Incentive Grant of $50,000. The State is now changing their rules to make sure that if an organization does not follow through, as in our case and build a Chamber/GEBC office building, that the money must be returned to the State of Missouri. This Chamber and this GEBC are one of the reasons the State is changing the rules in how they operate. We have paid that money, and if you read the GEBC quarterly reports over the last year they have been telling the City Manager frequently that that lot is about sold and we are talking about a real pocket full of money that the Chamber is going to have which basically was paid for by the State of Missouri and the City of Gladstone. Mr. McLaughlin said he does not think we need to worry about their economic health. Item 7. on the Agenda. Communications from the City Council. Councilman Shirley Smith said she attended the National League of Cities Conference in Boston last week and displayed her badge, conference bag, and the commemorative hat she received. These are just the superficial things from the conference, and stressed that she attended some wonderful sessions and exhibits and hopes she learned some things that will make her a better Councilman. This is the last Council Meeting before Christmas and she wishes all a Merry Christmas and a happy holiday. Councilman George Nodler had no communications at this time, and said he too wishes all a happy holiday. Councilman Anita Newsom noted that the Gladstone Public Safety Department has received notice of their accreditation and she congratulated Director Adamo and his department. Ms. Newsom also commented on the National League of Cities Conference and told Director Adamo she had brought back a model cat ordinance for his review. She noted there was a lot of focus on technology at this year’s conference and said it was interesting to see the changes just since she has been on the City Council because the first year she attended, the focus was recycling. Our focus and the things we deal with in our community are shared by other communities across the United States, and it is great experience to share problems and ideas, and obtain solutions. Ms. Newsom also wished everyone a happy holiday. Councilman Bill Cross said he also gained a great deal from attendance at NLC sessions. Through discussions with attendees he did learn that our City Council receives the least salary at $100.00/year, which speaks of our dedication. It was enjoyable to compare notes with attendees from cities of a comparable size. Our administrators are probably the finest people of any city of comparable size, our people are good to work with and congenial, and their compensation is just about average for like sized cities. Mr. Cross said as Ms. Newsom remarked, you learn that other cities have some of the same problems we do. Councilman Cross also thanked Mr. Don McLaughlin for providing valuable information under communications from the audience relating to GEBC and the Chamber of Commerce that he was not aware of. It does not feel quite so bad if there is that kind of moneys available and he does wish both groups great success in making a profit off of the property. Mr. Cross also wished all a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday. Mayor Dan Bishop also congratulated the Department of Public Safety on their national accreditation and indicated we will have an official recognition of that at a future council meeting. The Mayor also reported that the Mayor’s Holiday Lighting Ceremony two weeks ago was a great success. There were 200-300 persons in attendance, the Antioch Middle School Choir performed and did a great job, and fifteen former Gladstone Mayor’s served as co-chairs for this year’s effort, and the holiday tree looked great at Bank Midwest at the entrance to the Gladstone Plaza Shopping Center. He said contributions will still be accepted here at city hall and proceeds will be split between Gladstone Neighbors Helping Neighbors and the Northland Christmas Tree Store. Mayor Bishop also extended his wishes for a very happy holiday and said he looks forward to the new year. Item 8. on the Agenda. Communications from the City Manager. City Manager Kirk Davis had the following announcements: Christmas Trees will be accepted at the Public Works facility, 76th & Antioch Road from December 30th through January 7th, from 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM during that period. City Hall will be closed on Christmas Day, December 25th and News Year’s Day, January 1st . The Gladstone Area Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner is Friday evening; the Gladstone Employees Annual Recognition Dinner is Saturday evening, and he too wishes all a Happy Holiday Season. With no Council Meeting on December 25th, the next meeting date is Monday, January 11, 2001. City Manager Davis said he also congratulates the Department of Public Safety and Director Bill Adamo on all of their efforts to receive the accreditation which speaks well for the City as well as the department. He appreciates the tremendous effort on the part of the Director’s staff. Mayor Bishop advised that this Thursday, December 14, 2000, at 5:30 PM is the organizational meeting for the Public Safety Sales Tax Committee. Anyone who desires to become involved or find out more about this effort is encouraged to attend that evening. Item 9 on the Agenda. PRESENTATION OF COMPREHENSIVE ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORT FOR THE CITY OF GLADSTONE FOR THE YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 2000 by Independent Certified Public Accountants Cochran, Head & Co. Director of Finance Cash Sweiven advised that representatives of Cochran, Head & Company who performed the audit have been delayed due to the weather so he will provide an overview of the results of the audit. Director Sweiven noted the audit contains a Management Letter which is a required document that is produced from an annual audit, The audit was conducted in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards and Government Auditing Standards and basically those standards require them to perform procedures to obtain a reasonable assurance that the financial statements are free of material misstatement, so that was the objective of their audit to make sure the numbers are accurate and correct. In the firm’s Management Letter they state that there were no changes in significant accounting policies or applications, they found no accounting estimates that were incorrect, there were no disagreements with management during the performance of the audit, there were no difficulties encountered during the performance of the audit. There were certain accounting adjusting entries made as a result of their auditing testing , and that is very common. Director Sweiven said during the firm’s audit there were a few items recommended that they thought from an accounting perspective might be a good thing for us to implement, or at least consider. The first two items are year end cut-off procedures and computerization of our Municipal Court. Those items were in the prior year’s management letter so they are bringing these items back and asking what the city did about these items. On the first one, year end cut off procedures, basically they said that we need to review our close out procedures at the end of the year and make sure we have a proper cut off, and we have done that. Our new accounting system has helped us achieve a better cut off at the end of the year, so that recommendation has been implemented. Computerization of the municipal court is under contract and we will start training in approximately one month, so that suggestion from the prior year is being implemented. Mr. Sweiven said this year’s Management Letter comments dealt with Public Safety funds and he explained that Public Safety receives a minimal amount of money (under $2,000) from Clay County for Public Safety investigations and it has been suggested that we include that in the General Financial Statement . We have already done that. The next item on their Management Letter is the Bond collections. Obviously Public Safety receives jail bonds and those moneys are collected and deposited currently by the same person. We have changed those procedures to see that all moneys are deposited by our City Collector who does not receive them directly so there is a segregation of duties. It was also mentioned that we consider having two signatures on the check for the bond account. Mr. Sweiven said he agrees but unfortunately it is not practical because at court sessions there is typically one court clerk available, therefore we would not be able to write checks. On EMS (ambulance billing collections), during their audit they noted the checks and remittance advises were being received by the ambulance clerk and then given to our City Collector. We have modified our procedures and the checks are now going immediately to the City Collector and being deposited and the EMS billing clerk does not have to have handle those checks. Finally, because of the implementation of the financial system there are obviously some priorities. One item that fell to the end of the priority list was the review at year end of account balances, so we have modified our procedures to ensure that account balances are as accurate as possible. Mr. Sweiven introduced Lew Herman and Tim Fitzgerald from Cochran and Head who have arrived to give a summary of the audit and review their ten point audit test. Mr. Tim Herman, Cochran, Head & Co., P.C. introduced himself and said they have performed the City’s audit for the past three years. He explained with reference to items in last year’s Management Letter, all issues have been dealt with and the only two remaining are the cut-off procedures and the computerization of the Municipal Court which Mr. Sweiven discussed. Mr. Herman said when they do an audit they try to answer three basic questions. When they go through and do an audit hey try to make sure the financial statements are not materially misstated, that is one of their responsibilities to the city. The second part of the responsibility is to make sure that internal controls are in place and that they work properly and that all transactions are recorded correctly and finally, did the City of Gladstone comply in all material respects with finance related laws and regulations, both federal, state and local ordinances. He can tell us that their report issued indicates an unqualified opinion which means that the financial statements are free of material mis-statement. Secondly, it also means that the internal controls are in place and that yes they do work and that the City did substantially comply with all finance related laws and regulations both from a federal and local level. Those are the three issues that they try to make sure they cover when they come out and do an audit. In addition,. he wants to make sure that it is understood that in the management letter they went over certain issues dealing with significant accounting estimates. There were no differences of opinion with management or with anything associated with the financial statements, and they had full cooperation with all of the staff in the City which they greatly appreciate. Mr. Hermann referred to his handout which is a ten point test of audit condition The financial condition is really a glimpse of some characteristics that a professor out of Southwest State University developed that is intended to give some understanding of how our city compares with other cities. This year’s comparison is different from the past. In the past they were able to compare Gladstone of 27,000 plus population to other cities of an approximate size. This year, they have had to use statistics of all the reporting cities, regardless of size. Slides were shown depicting tables comparing Gladstone to the cities responding in the following areas:
Mr. Herman said the City has more than enough unreserved fund balance for the City Council to designate certain amounts to meet our expenditures for the future years. The slide displays where our city is in financial ranking as it relates to all 1,570 cities who responded. How does our city relate. Gladstone ranks in the 83%d percentile. Last year, we were at 93% percentile, that is a big drop but the difference is when you look at the cities involved. When you take the 1, 570 cities and compare it to the number of cities involved the year before of our size, there is a significant difference, the revenues all rise because of the number of people in the cities and the locales. Mr. Herman said so that is the financial condition, and it is just one measure of what we might look like in comparing our selves to other cities in the United States. Mayor Bishop thanked them for their report Item 9a. on the Agenda. CITY COUNCIL ACCEPTANCE OF 1999-2000 CITY OF GLADSTONE ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORT. Councilman Bill Cross moved to accept the 1999-2000 City of Gladstone Annual Financial Report as presented; Councilman Shirley Smith seconded. The vote: All “aye” - Smith, Nodler, Newsom, Cross, Bishop. (5-0) Item 10 on the Agenda. APPROVAL OF BUILDING PERMIT for interior tenant finish of 900 sq. ft. building space at 4770 N Belleview, Suite 207 in the Belleview Office Building. Applicant: Luke Draily Construction Co., Inc. Owner: Belleview Properties, LLC. (BP# 00-0916) Councilman Nodler moved to approve Building Permit #00-0916 for 4770 N Belleview, Suite 207 as presented; Councilman Bill Cross seconded. Discussion: Staff confirmed that everything is in order. The vote: All “aye” - Councilman Shirley Smith, Councilman George Nodler, Councilman Anita Newsom, Councilman Bill Cross, Mayor Dan Bishop. (5-0) Item 11 on the Agenda. APPROVAL OF BUILDING PERMIT for construction of new 2,500 sq. ft. building for KFC/A&W Combo Restaurant at 5813 N Antioch Road. Owner/Applicant: Kendallwood Investors. (BP# 00-0917) Councilman Bill Cross moved to approve Building Permit #00-0917 for 5813 N Antioch Road; Councilman George Nodler seconded. Discussion. Councilman Newsom asked if there was a colored rendering and said she had not recalled the A&W part of this application. Mayor Bishop asked if A&W was on the initial site plan. Community Development Director Scott Wingerson advised that A&W was an addition to the plan and they will comply with all conditions of the site plan. They hope to begin construction as soon as weather allows. Pete Hall, representing Kendallwood Investors, advised the Council that A&W Root Beer and KFC are two separate entities, and there is a trend afoot for companies to join in a project. This Gladstone location will be one of the first in the United States and they feel proud to have Mr. Phil Jackson who is the owner with us this evening. This trend has come about mainly because of the cost of property and equipment. Mr. Phil Jackson was present in the audience and told the Council this proposed facility will be one of the first in the KC area as a ground up building and he apologized that all the renderings were not available. The vote on approval of the building permit: All “aye” - Councilman Shirley Smith, Councilman George Nodler, Councilman Anita Newsom, Mayor Pro Tem Bill Cross, Mayor Dan Bishop. (5-0) * * * There were no communications from the News Media or further business to come before the December 11, 2000 Gladstone City Council Meeting, and Mayor Dan Bishop adjourned the Regular Meeting. Councilman Anita Newsom moved to adjourn to closed Executive Session as previously posted to the Missouri Open Meeting Act Exemption 610.021 (3) for Personnel Discussion; Councilman Bill Cross seconded. The vote: All “aye” - Councilman Shirley Smith, Councilman George Nodler, Councilman Anita Newsom, Mayor Pro Tem Bill Cross, Mayor Dan Bishop. (5-0) Respectfully submitted: Marilyn F. Ahnefeld, City Clerk |