Council Recap: City Employees Receive Boost in Pay and Benefits

Highlights from Monday’s City Council Meeting 02/07/22. You can watch the full meeting at the video linked above. We’ve also added chapter markers to the video allowing you to jump directly to agenda items that may be of specific interest to you.

Items 1 & 2 – Consideration of Amendment to Redevelopment Plan for 106 Saratoga Ave. – Jeff Watkins requested 353 Tax Abatement for improvements made to his property at 106 Saratoga St. According to documentation, the building is a three-story apartment building with one apartment on each floor. Improvements included the installation of new AC and furnace for each apartment, repair of the front porch roof, repairs to damaged interior elements including flooring, sinks, walls, and ceiling tiles. New paint, ceiling fans, bathroom fan, and bathroom vanity were also done. Council approved unanimously, 5-0.

Items 3 & 4 – 353 Project at 415 S. Thompson Avenue – Jason Van Till requested 353 Tax Abatement for improvements made to his property at 415 S. Thompson Ave. According to documentation, the building is a commercial storefront that will be used by the Van Till Winery. Improvements include installation of HVAC including ducting, complete remodeling of the interior to include general carpentry, electrical, and plumbing. Exterior work will include replacement of transom windows, restoration of the front door, repair and painting of the tiles, and painting the window trim. Council approved unanimously, 5-0.

Item 5 – Consideration of Special Use Permit for 1012 Sunset Strip – An application was filed by Kirk & Nicole Dutcher for a Special Use Permit to use their property located at 1012 Sunset Strip as a short-term rental commonly known as an Airbnb. Council approved unanimously, 5-0.

Item 6 – Consideration of Special Use Permit Renewal for 107 N. Industrial Drive – An application was made by Jesse Harris on behalf of ECO Real Estate Investments LLC for a renewal of a Special Use Permit for the operation of Blue Sparrow Garden Center at 107 N. Industrial Park Drive. Council approved 4 yes, 1 abstention (McElwee).

Items 7 & 8 Vacuum Truck Discussion and Purchase – Chard Birdsong, Public Works Director for Excelsior Springs, came prepared to rally for his department’s purchase of a new Vac-Con Combination Vacuum Truck. Although the equipment carries a lofty price tag of $413,065.00, Birdsong emphasized the fact that the department utilizes this equipment on a daily basis and it plays an important role in the maintenance of city-owned infrastructure. Birdsong said “as you all know there was much discussion on the new vac truck purchase at the January 18th council meeting and many questions were asked. Since then I’ve been working on gathering information to those questions and my hope is that the following information will answer those questions or concerns, and justifies the new purchase.” Birdsong then spoke for more than 20 minutes presenting the reasons and justifications for the purchase, detailing how the bid process works, and sharing a survey he’d conducted with other KC metro municipalities on their bid processes. After Birdsong’s presentation, Councilman Spear who had raised the majority of objections at the January 18th meeting thanked Birdsong for “the extra legwork” but followed up his compliment saying he too had called other area cities to check prices and validity of what Birdsong had presented. In the end, the council voted unanimously, 5-0 for the purchase.

Item 9 – Consideration of Change Order #1 with Lamp Rynearson on Streetscape Project – This was a resolution to approve additional costs for the overlay project on Miller, Dunbar, and Jesse James and to close out that project. Council approved unanimously, 5-0.

Item 10 – Consideration of Fishing River Watershed Masterplan – City and State officials including City Manager, Molly McGovern, and State Representative, Doug Richey have been working to secure funding to help alleviate flooding and watershed issues in Excelsior Springs. In written documents, McGovern stated

The timing for this endeavor is under discussion because of the availability of stimulus funds that exist until the end of 2026. The best solutions begin with good planning and community involvement. Our approach is to create a Masterplan of the Fishing River Watershed that can be implemented in phases… Following completion of the Masterplan, projects can be selected, designed, property acquired, and implemented as deemed appropriate. I have requested funding for the Masterplan from the Clay County Commission ARPA funds, but want to move forward to obtain council approval of the consultant agreement and use city ARPA funds if the county approval isn’t received.

Scott Schulte with VIREO, a landscape architecture, planning, and design firm from Kansas City spoke to the council about the creation of a master plan and some of the innovative ways VIREO can help the city can plan ahead. Schulte said it’s now possible to create a 2D watershed model which can help designers model possible solutions using the past data from floods and floodplain data. He said VIREO will be able to produce animations to show where the water is going and how it changes during floods of different magnitudes. Schulte also said that it will be important to get community feedback early on and plans to hold a series of public meetings to gather information. Schulte also praised the efforts of McGovern and Mayor Sharon Powell who had reached out to the Clay County Commission to get their cooperation on this project, as a large portion of the work to prevent flooding will have to occur upstream in Ray County. Schulte said that having this plan in place will allow the city to be “shovel ready” once federal dollars become available to implement the designs.

McGovern said the city is seeking ARPA funds from the County to cover the costs of the master plan but came to the council to request that in case the county denied the request that we could use city ARPA funds to fund the cost of the masterplan. Council approved the resolution unanimously, 5-0.

** Note: At Wednesday’s 02/09/22 Clay County Commission meeting the funds for the master plan were approved, meaning no money would need to be used from city ARPA funds.

Item 11 – Consideration of Mowing Services Agreement – The City put out a request for proposals for mowing city properties including Crown Hill and Hillcrest Cemeteries as well as “blighted properties”. Bids were opened on February 1st and two proposals were received. The low bidder was Pope’s Lawncare for all of the work except vegetation removal on blighted properties. Pope’s Lawncare bid $990/mow at Crownhill, $900/mow at Hillcrest, and $40/1/2 acre of blighted property compared to the proposal received from BW Mulching & Land Management of $1500/mow at Crownhill, $1200/mow at Hillcrest, $125/1/2 acre of blighted property and $100 for vegetation removal per 1,000 SF on blighted property. The estimated cost to mow the cemeteries is $37,000 based on mowing 20 times during the mowing season. It was stated during the meeting that Pope’s will utilize a sub-contractor to complete work on blighted properties/brush removal. Council approved the agreement to utilize Pope’s services unanimously, 5-0.

Item 12 – Consideration of Compensation & Classification Study- The Council considered approval of a compensation and classification study completed by McGrath Human Resources Group. According to documentation, city departments were beginning to experience difficulty in hiring qualified applicants for Police Officers, Dispatchers, Paramedics, and Maintenance Workers. City departments were seeing other area employers making wage adjustments to secure the personnel they needed, and noted they were consistently hiring employees at 10% above the minimum salary requirements to meet staffing needs.

With the recommendations provided by McGrath, all employees will receive 3% COLA and an additional increase as needed to reach the minimum salary in the range for their position. The recommendations represent a competitive Compensation System for recruitment and retention purposes. In August, the Missouri Legislature approved two revenue enhancement measures (Wayfair, Gas Tax) which enable the city to offer a competitive wage.

In addition to compensation, a comparison of major benefits was completed. Employees are offered a benefit allowance to select the benefits mix that best fits their family circumstances, and as such, it is possible to obtain health insurance that puts the city at the top of the comparable market for single and family plans in the region should be marketed during recruitment.

McGrath will be in town on February 3 – 4 to meet with the individual departments, council members and attend the work session to answer any questions. Their schedule does not enable them to be present at the council meeting on February 7th.

The Compensation and Classification Study, with salary adjustment will take effect March 1st. Council approved the implementation of the study unanimously, 5-0.

Item 13 – Appropriations – Vonda Floyd, Finance Director, requested appropriations be approved in the amount of $ 1,547,883.95. Council approved appropriations unanimously, 5-0.

Excelsior Springs City Council Meetings are held on the first and third Monday of each month at 6:00 PM. in the council chambers of city hall, Hall of Waters building, 201 E. Broadway. Meetings are streamed courtesy of the Excelsior Citizen on our Facebook Group, Facebook Page, YouTube Channel, and at ExcelsiorCitizen.com. Find City Council agendas and information here: City of Excelsior Springs.