Minutes

The following minutes are from the May 12, 2026 business meeting. As of this upload the minutes have not been approved by council. Upon approval the approved minutes will be posted below.

MINUTES

AMERICUS CITY COUNCIL

BUSINESS MEETING

TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2026- 7:00 PM 

CALL TO ORDER / ROLL CALL: The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor WRIGHT. Council members present were NUESSEN, HARMON, BURTON, and GERLEMAN. HINRICHS was absent. Also present, City Attorney Steve Atherton and City Clerk Dodie Doudna.

 VISITORS/PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD: Bill Lefler, Laverne Soetebier, Eugene Marple

 APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Moved by HARMON to approve April 14, 2026, Business Meeting minutes. Motion seconded by NUESSEN  4-0 Vote Moved by BURTON to approve April 6, 2026, Special meeting minutes. Motion seconded by GERLEMAN. 2-0 Vote.

BILLS TO PAY: Moved by BURTON to approve the May bills to pay in the amount of $33,266.23. Motion seconded by HARMON. 4-0 Vote

 REPORTS OF STANDING COMMITTEES:

 PROJECT PLAYSCAPE

 MAINTENANCE: North lift station pulled and sent for warranty work. Chip spreader is ready, will be getting rock and oil next week. 

CLERK: Back flow inspection needs to be completed on the water meter at the park. RWD 1 states that there is a class that maintenance could take and be able to do this inspection for us. For now, we need to have someone do this for us.

 CODE ENFORCEMENT

ADOPT THE AGENDA. Moved by NUESSEN to approve the agenda. Motion seconded by HARMON. 4-0 Vote

  1. PROPERTY ANNEXATION: Bill Leffler discussed wanting the city to annex some property into the city limits. Council advised that until the property lines are set and new legal description, there is nothing to vote on and he can come back to council once that is completed.
  2. BUDGET REQUESTS : Laverne Soetebier was present to discuss the 2027 budget requests. No longer police department general fund $55,000. $175,000 a year excess revenue from sewer after last payment is made in 2026, sewer money can be used for other purposes after loan is paid off. Capital improvement reserve for sewer is currently at $140,000. Council discussed the need for sewer upgrades, the park being the highest priority. Discussion on allotting money for the city hall building. Code enforcement activities will come out of general fund and be combined with court in the budget. $15,000 in reserve for a police car that can be reallocated. Street budget is good right now to resurface roads. Council would like to allocate some to parks and rec for new bathrooms and sidewalks to the splashpad. $50,000 in capital reserve for park improvements and $15,000 for tennis courts. Bid out to have sewer lines camera’d. Discussion on jet routing ½ the lines per year instead of 1/3 of them per year that we are currently doing. Community center sewer is also having issues and needs to be replaced as well. Community Center currently has $10,000 set aside. Move the police car allocation to community center for sewer line and bathroom improvement. Discussion on city hall improvements, allocate money towards. Designate the monies normally for sewer payment toward city hall. Maintenance equipment replacement: reserves - $18,000 mower, $13,000 skid steer, $7,000 utility truck, $50,000 shop. $111,000 bridges. Bill is going to discuss with county about Locust St bridge and culvert replacement. Maintenance equipment is wearing out and spending more time fixing than using it. We need a new shop and lean to. Backhoe will need to be replaced in 2 years or so. Laverne will take this discussion and bring draft budget back to June meeting. Laverne left at 7:35.
  3. TORNADO SIRENS: A complaint was submitted from a resident on the northeast side of town with concerns that the sirens could not be heard inside their home. Council discussed that sirens are an outside warning system. No action was taken.
  4. RESOLUTION 312 : Moved by NUESSEN to adopt Resolution 312 allowing firework discharge from 10:00 am to 12:00 am, July 2nd, 2026 through July 5th, 2026 and on December 31st 2026 at 9:00 pm to January 1st, 2027 to 12:30 am.
  5. YEARLY APPOINTMENTS : Council President: Nicolette Nuessen Department head of Parks and Recreation: Kayla Burton Department head of Maintenance: Bill Harmon Head of Special Projects and Grants: Britney Hinrichs Head of Human Resources: Kayla Burton Department head of Police: Nicky Nuessen City Clerk: Dodie Doudna City Treasurer: Dakota Hamlin Assistant City Clerk: (per city code) Dakota Hamlin Freedom of Information Officer: Dodie Doudna City Attorney: Steve Atherton Municipal Judge: Clark Allemang Code Enforcement Officer: Justin Arb Building Inspector / Deputy Public Official: Joe Carl Council Representative on Board of Zoning Appeals: Dustin Wright Board of Zoning Appeals: 3-year terms)Seat 1 – Open Seat 2 – Dustin Wright Seat 3 – Erick Dean Seat 4 – Open Seat 5 – Open Zoning Administrator: David Goldsmith Planning & Zoning Board: 3-year terms Seat 1 – Erick Dean (2027) Seat 2 –Kayla Burton (2029) Seat 3 – David Goldsmith (2027) Outside city limits Seat 4 - (        ) Outside city limits Seat 5 – Angela Hadden (2027) Seat 6 – Nicky Nuessen    (2028)Seat 7 -  Victor Hadden (2028) Official Bank: Equity Bank Official News Paper: Emporia Gazette. Mayor Wright appointed all positions as stated for 2026.
  6. CAMERA UPDATE: Moved by BURTON to accept the bid for cameras and installation at city hall and maintenance shop in an amount to not exceed $1,200. Motion seconded by NUESSEN. 4-0 VOTE
  7. POLICE DEPARTMENT: Inventory and evidence was documented. Steve will check into regulations on selling the firearms. Moved by NUESSEN to sell the car through Sunflower Auction in Topeka with a reserve of $8,000. Motion seconded by BURTON. 4-0 Vote. City clerk will reach out to auctioneer services to set up selling the police items and any other items the city wants to include that are no longer used.
  8. CONDEMNATION LIST: Code enforcement discussed ordinances that he is following up with, mostly mowing orders. He stated that he is starting fresh and is sending letters for clean up and mowing.
  9. EXECUTIVE SESSION: Moved by BURTON to go into executive session at 8:06 pm for 8:06 for 15 minutes with mayor, council, legal and clerk present. Motion seconded by NUESSEN for non-elected personnel matters. 4-0 Vote. Returned from executive session at 8:21 pm. No action taken. 

Motion to adjourn at 8:21 pm by BURTON. Seconded by NUESSEN. 4-0 Vote

 

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