Ark Valley News - Pace picks up to hire new full-time police officer for Kechi

Pace picks up to hire new full-time police officer for Kechi
By David Dinell
Last Updated: January 15, 2015

Due to a drop in the City of Kechi's employee health insurance costs, a new police officer will be added to the force sooner this year than anticipated.

The department now has three full-time sworn officers, including Police Chief John Blevins. It had been supplementing that force with five part-time officers, personnel who are employed at other nearby departments and work for Kechi when needed and available.

The Kechi City Council had figured in one more permanent, full-time officer in its 2015 budget. However, due to fiscal restraint, the intent was to make the hire later in the year to keep the costs down as long as possible. As Mayor Ed Parker put it: "We don't want to hire someone and have to lay them off right away."

But health insurance expenses came in 4 percent lower for 2015, so it's possible to make that hire on a faster basis, and Blevins has been busy collecting applications.

The speed at which the process was going caught some council members by surprise at the Jan. 8 meeting.

City Administrator Bob Conger said he approved the move.

"I told the chief to go ahead," he said.

By the end of December, the city received 60 applications, and that number is now up to 100.

Many are candidates applying to different departments, so some will be hired away and not be in the final batch. In any case, combing through applicants and narrowing them down is a complicated process.

"We want to take our time and find the right person," Conger said. "At the same time, we don't want to miss out on an opportunity. We're competing with Valley Center, Bel Aire and Wichita, too."

When the final candidates are selected, there is an interviewing and testing process before the hire can be made.

More than likely, the winning candidate will be non-certified, in which case, he or she will have to attend a 14-week class at the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center in Hutchinson within a year of his or her hire.

It would be possible to find a certified officer, but in that case, the candidate would probably be coming from a bigger department and more than likely, there was some sort of personnel issue involved with his or her departure, Blevins said.

The city pays the candidate's salary during attendance at the KLETC. While the new officer's salary will be in the mid-$30,000 range, or about $17 an hour, the city's investment, given benefits and expenses, will be more like $60,000 to $70,000, Conger said.

Because of that, it's vital to get the right person in the job, one who likes the pace of a smaller town, he said.

Conger believes a new hire will be made sometime "well into the first quarter." Kechi formerly did have three officers and a chief, and the goal is to get back to that staffing level, Conger said.

Whoever the final candidates are, Blevins expressed confidence that the city would get a good selection and the best person possible for the slot. "I have faith in the process," he said.

In other business Jan. 8, the council:

•Heard from Conger about the League of Kansas Municipalities' information day Feb. 4 in Topeka. Conger said he would be able to drive one to two members to the gathering, in which attendees will be able to visit with legislators about community-related issues.

There also will be presentations and briefings by legislative leaders along with a late afternoon reception. "It's a chance for us to express our concerns," he said.

•Heard from Ken Kriz, Kansas Regents Distinguished Professor in Wichita State's Hugo Wall School of Public Affairs, who prepared a plan called "Analysis of the Acquisition of Water Servicing Rights for the City of Kechi."

The study found that the city should pay from $9,500 to $10,500 per customer for the right to serve water for the existing customers of Rural Water District 1 and that the city should pay $360 an acre to obtain service rights for undeveloped property. It also found that the city should pay $1 an inch diameter of pipe per foot to acquire in-place infrastructure.

The study began in March and was submitted Dec. 30. At issue, Kriz said, it what is a fair value for water rights and who owns those rights. Water, and access to it, is an increasingly important aspect of municipal management, he said, especially concerning new residential and commercial development.

•Approved the mayor's appointments to the Park and Tree Board. Those include the reappointments of Cathy Bonneson and Lief MacMartin. Each will serve a three-year term. It also approved the appointment of Tina Seemayer for a one-year term. She fills the seat open by the departure of Fred Dimick, who moved.

Jack McCormick, chairman of the board, was at the meeting to introduce Seemayer, who is currently employed full-time in public works at McConnell AFB. She grew up in Valley Center, moved to Oklahoma in the 1980s and moved back to the area in 2010. McCormick said the staggered nature of the board appointments ensures that there is always someone with experience on the board.

•Listened to a report from Nicole Bailey, finance director and treasurer. She informed the council that she and the city clerk closed out the 2014 fiscal year and loaded the 2015 budget into software. She also transferred $50,000 from the Municipal Investment Pool account to the city's Emprise Bank account so that the average daily balance remains at about $50,000. Furthermore, Bailey said that two certificates of deposit were bought; one a 180-day CD for $500,000 that pays .48 percent interest and the other a 30-day CD for $250,000 that pays .11 percent interest.

•Heard of a plan to update the city's website with new, professional photos of the council members.

•Held a 17-minute executive session for attorney-client privilege. No action was taken.

•Recessed the meeting to be continued at 6 p.m. Jan. 22 at which time the council will hold a workshop on health insurance. Bailey and Conger will head up that meeting.

All five members of the council were at the Jan. 8 meeting.