CITY OF TIPTON – CITY COUNCIL MEETING – Monday, May 5, 2025
The regular meeting of the Tipton City Council was held at 7:30 p.m. Monday, May 5, 2025 at City Hall. Those present were Mayor Jarrod Shivers, City Clerk Brigit Gasper, City Superintendent, Rod Barker and City Council members Jessica Krier, Mark Towner and Ben Avery. Council members Michael Ohnsat and Sara Dilley were absent. Others present were Linda Streit, Stephanie Jones and Tracey Palen, representatives from Tipton Tag.
Mayor Jarrod Shivers called the meeting to order. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
Minutes from the April 7, 2025 meeting were reviewed and approved.
Tracey Palen from Tipton Tag presented for the Tipton Tag group. TAG is interested in purchasing flags to hang on poles on Main Street. They had a sample of a vinyl flag and thought that they could have 8 flags installed. They will come up with designs and meet back with the council. Brigit said that Prairie Land electric could have guidelines to follow. Brigit will call Prairie Land to check on their policy.
Tracey also reported that there will be a filming crew in Tipton on Wednesday, May 7 for the Dennis Quade show, Viewpoint. They will be filming different spots in Mitchell county and will be at the trail and in Tipton to film for this program which is shown on the Discovery channel and narrated by Dennis Quade.
There were 9 late fees charged for utility bills; 1 letter sent.
The sales tax receipt for April was $4465.79, which was substantially down from the past several months.
A quarterly receipt for highway tax was received from the State of Kansas and was deposited to the Street Fund. The amount received was $1166.35. Total receipts received in April was $99,958.58. Total expenses were $102,509.68. These amounts included the 5th invoice from TREB for the concession stand which is paid by the City and reimbursed from the Tipton Community Foundation. Brigit has also contacted Hometown Insurance Agency for a quote on the cost of insurance on the concession stand building. The city has also had additional expenses to pay for the grounds around the building. These additional expenses were reviewed and they are not reimbursed.
The general ledger report was reviewed and balances were discussed. Ben Avery made a motion to pay the bills; Jessica Krier seconded the motion. Motion carried.
The city lease for the Cordel ground is up for renewal. Brigit will mail out the 3 year lease.
ARPA required reporting for the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds received in 2021 was done and this is the last time this reporting has to be done.
The city also received a donation for the library, which is now closed. Brigit suggested adding this to the scholarship fund. Mark Towner made a motion and Jessica Krier seconded the motion. Motion carried. The scholarship fund receives money from the charge for digging graves. Rod does this with city equipment. It was decided that the charges for digging the graves needs to be increased since this takes quite a lot of time especially in parts of the cemetery that are not mapped out or graves are not known. Mark will bring this issue up to the parish as he is a representative on the St. Boniface parish council.
Brigit received a call from Danyelle Murray regarding a culvert on the south side of her house. Rod will go and check out the issue and report back.
The Dane Hansen Grants funds that are remaining need to be used by May 30. These will be used on the brick work on the Community Building which is maintained by the Knights of Columbus.
The two Father Norbert Dlabal/City of Tipton Scholarships will be presented at Tipton Catholic High School graduation on Sunday, May 11.
The contract for the lease of the city ground has been mailed out to Clinton and Dalton Schmitt. The bid was approved at the April meeting.
The concession stand project is moving along. Mayor Shivers brought up the condition of the basketball court in the park and some of the options he had heard. The cost of update and repair was discussed. There are other additional items that have arisen on the project and these were discussed. The city budget was discussed in relationship to some of the ideas that have arisen and the rising cost of the project. There will also be future utility and insurance costs which will be charged to the City. The City budget, being a municipal budget, has guidelines to follow. If these are not followed this could affect the Revenue Neutral Rate which could cause an increase in taxes.
A KMIT representative will be here May 21 to meet with Rod and Brigit regarding safety and workmen’s comp insurance requirements with Rod and Brigit.
The filing deadline for the Mayor position and two council positions held by Sara Dilley and Michael Ohnsat is June 2 at noon. If filing for the position is completed, the names will be on the ballot in August. If not, a write in vote will be held. Mayor Shivers has already done the filing process to appear on the ballot.
The Dream Big 2.0 meeting was held April 22 with several community members. Presenters were Julia Rabe from SVCF, Emily Benedick from Mitchell Co. Economic Development and Betty Johnson from Dane Hansen. Ideas were discussed for some future projects that people would like to have in Tipton. By holding this meeting, Tipton qualifies for a $10,000.00 grant for a project approved by the City. Mark Towner reported that he was in the group discussing exercise equipment and said that he has several contacts to talk to and exercise equipment is expensive. Jessica Krier also reported that she thought there was a metal sign that was going to be placed on the building ; addition discussion on this was held.
Rod reported that the water tower cleanout will be on Thursday, May 8. This should not affect availability of water. The condition of some lawns and lots in town regarding the need for mowing. Rod said the concession project sprinkler system and the spraying and mowing of city property is keeping him very busy. He said he would like to have some help this summer with city maintenance. The lack of availability of eligible workers was discussed.
Meeting was adjourned at 9:00 pm. Next meeting date is Monday June 2, 2025 at 7:30 pm but there is a home baseball game that night, so an alternate date will be announced and posted.
Brigit Gasper, City Clerk