The Chanute City Commission freed the Utility Task Vehicle, or UTVs and voted to purchase new electric generators to improve infrastructure for the city on Monday evening. Commissioner Tim Fairchild was absent.
Voting unanimously, the commission approved the new ordinance, which will allow UTVs to drive on any and all city streets at any time, provided they are registered with the city and equipped with proper lights and turn signals. Commissioner Larry Taylor acknowledged the safety concerns with the UTVs on busier streets but felt that it was best left up to citizens.
“We’re a rural area that allows some people to take risks in their lives,” he said.
Police Chief Chris Pefley told the commission that he had no problems with the ordinance change, but did want to emphasize that they were still not allowed on Highway 39 due to state highway statute, and he planned to ensure drivers were aware when they registered their UTV with the department.
Golf cart regulations remain unchanged, with commissioners making note that they wanted to revisit the issue next year. Mayor Jacbo LaRue said that he had been approached about adding golf carts to the new ordinances, but LaRue felt that it was best to move forward with the current changes and revisit the ordinance after a year to see what changes needed to be made.
In new business, City Manager Todd Newman brought a proposal before commissioners to purchase three used generators at a total estimated cost of $1,769,500 from High Plains Power Systems with a lease agreement spreading the cost over five years. The generators were providing power for a data center that has since been upgraded, and all are under 500 hours of operation according to the invoice.
Newman explained that he planned to use the capacity revenue to offset the cost of the units with a five-year lease purchase. Evergy has already inquired with the city about purchasing potential capacity from the city. Director of Electric and Gas Departments Brandon Westerman explained that the potential capacity guarantees that the amount could be generated if needed, rather than operating capacity, which is when the units would actually be online. Potential capacity is currently a very hot market, according to Westerman and Newman, so they are confident they will be able to cover the purchase.
“And then after the five years, when they’re paid for, that all becomes revenue for us,” Newman said.
The units will not be put into use immediately, but will serve as back-ups to the current aging backup generators. Westerman explained that two of the generators still in operation at Power Plant Two were from 1965, with three more from 1986. Parts for the generators are also becoming sparse with very long lead times.
The need for additional electrical capacity comes from the Southwest Power Pool, which is the nonprofit organization that manages the electrical grid across 14 states in the Midwest. SPP is raising reserve requirements from 15% of power to 36% in direct response to recent extreme weather events. Chanute’s electric municipality believes that it does have enough capacity to comply as is, but this is an opportunity to futureproof at a discount, as building new generators would be cost-prohibitive and it is a very slow process, according to Newman. He gave the example of a collective of 20 cities in Kansas that have been attempting to build a new electric utility plant for the last five years, with current costs expected to be over $3 million per megawatt versus the $300,000 per megawatt for these generators.
Commissioner Kevin Berthot asked if the Evergy solar panels being constructed would also count towards Chanute’s potential capacity, which it does to the tune of about 3 megawatts when it is operational. City Attorney David Brake emphasized that if there were a catastrophic failure with one of the 60-year-old units, the city would need all the capacity that it could muster or face very steep fines for not meeting requirements. Berthot asked how steep the fines would be. The SPP has a formula to calculate the fines, Brake said. His example of being short two megawatts at current rates would be a $32,000 monthly fine for 12 months.
“That’s incentive enough right there,” Berthot said.
The commission voted to approve the purchase of the generators unanimously.
Newman also gave an update on the new trash truck system. Four out of five routes have their new bins and are in operation. Newman reported that they are taking customers’ orders for bins and expects them to be delivered within the next couple of weeks. Once the final route is in operation, four employees in the department will become redundant and moved to other departments: one to the landfill crew, one to the tree trimming department and the final two will be moved to the street department. He anticipated they would all be moved before 2026.
“As promised, no one is losing their job,” he said. “We’re just modernizing technology.”
Newman said that the decision to modernize came from the budget process, with 92% of the sanitation budget going to labor versus the 8% for actual operation. It was also difficult to hire anyone in the department, causing them to have to pull employees from other departments to get trash trucks ran every day. The final factor was employee safety as there had been some instances with needle pricks and other issues. Newman claims that the trucks will save the city $2 million dollars over their lifetime, or about $200,000 per year.
Mayor Jacob LaRue and commissioner Tim Egner asked if the trucks were having any issues navigating the more narrow streets or having difficulty maneuvering around vehicles. Newman acknowledged that the change has caused some inconvenience for citizens, but there would not be a way to get the new trucks through the alleys due to their size and weight. Feedback from the sanitation department itself has been positive per Newman.
“It’s safer, we can operate in any kind of weather,” he said. “All in all, the guys are very happy.”
Newman plans to have the sanitation department down to two full-time employees to start the 2026 budget, and the trucks themselves were purchased with American Recovery Plan Act or ARPA stimulus funds from the pandemic recovery.
Carmen Diaz, founder of Rooted in Renew addressed the commission requesting assistance to find grant opportunities and potential space for the program.. Her goal is to create more opportunities for young people in the community with fiber arts and other projects based on hemp. Diaz emphasized that hemp was different from marijuana, but the choice was intentional.
“I want kids to be able to find the positive in what is normally a negative,” she said.
LaRue felt that the requests for assistance were better suited for local entities such as the Chanute Regional Development Authority or the chamber of commerce. Newman also suggested that the Southeast Kansas Regional Planning Commission may be able to assist. Newman explained to commissioners that Rooted in Renew was on the agenda tonight because he wasn’t sure where to send her with the CRDA in limbo until after the election, and he didn’t want to put her off for months. He was coming up empty on potential city-owned space that she could use. He also reached out to the Chanute Recreation Commission, which is also full at the moment.
LaRue commended Diaz for her dedication and requested quarterly or yearly updates on what Rooted in Renew was doing. He said he wants to see more progress before committing to anything, but offered a potential letter of support for grants as progress is made.
“I look forward to bringing you good news,” Diaz said.
The next Chanute City Commission meeting will be Monday, Nov. 10, at 6:30 p.m. at the Memorial Building. Meetings are also livestreamed from the city’s Facebook page. Agendas, documents, and videos of previous meetings can be viewed at chanute.org.
