Caney council hires Andrea Sibley as city administrator after executive session, approves payables

The City of Caney City Council unanimously voted to hire Andrea Sibley as city administrator following an executive session at its meeting on Jan. 21, 2025. The motion to hire was made by Councilperson Lori Patterson and seconded by Councilperson Kenith Butts; the minutes record the vote 5–0.

The hiring followed a closed executive session the council said was held under K.S.A. 75-4319(1) to discuss confidential personnel matters. The minutes list the City Council, the mayor, Tim Wilson and City Administrator applicant Andrea Sibley as participants in the executive session. The council also voted to extend the executive session by 10 minutes and recorded coming out of executive session before taking the hiring vote.

Earlier in the meeting the council approved routine consent-agenda business. Consent Items 1–4 were approved on a motion by Councilperson Lori Patterson, seconded by Councilperson Lisa Gorby, with a recorded vote of 5–0. Those items included approval of the Jan. 6, 2025 meeting minutes; December payables totaling $81,099.18 (including Atmos Energy $4,874.42; Caney City Library $34,419.38; Evergy $12,385.57; Waste Connections $19,930.16; Miller Bros. $2,314.75); January payables totaling $108,320.79 (including AWG $11,692.34 and $20,996.91; Alliance Pump $71,569.74; Brenntag $3,609.00; Randy Hollar, LLC $3,886.70); and gross payroll for Jan. 17, 2025 of $55,632.65 (with KPERS, Blue Cross and FICA deductions noted).

The council separately approved $2,786.48 in vehicle and equipment expenses to Main Street Auto (Consent Item 5). That item included line-by-line charges for several vehicles and an ambulance: 2008 Chevrolet repairs $394.56; Mule oil change $128.20; 2016 Chevrolet Tahoe brake/AC work $641.48; Ambulance Vehicle #126 four tires $781.40; other small repairs and backup radio batteries $549.85. The motion to approve that vendor payment was made by Councilperson Jeff Culver, seconded by Councilperson Kenith Butts; vote 5–0.

Under old business the minutes record a brief water update noting momentum on a project, that an environmental review is underway and that funds are available though further steps are required to secure them. Under new business the agenda listed a "Caney Grocery Store" with a finance update noted in the minutes; the record does not include substantive details of that finance update.

The minutes restated the council’s public-comment procedure (three-minute limit, request form required) and listed general staff and board reports, including Mayor Joshua Elliott and Police Chief Ike Dye. The council scheduled a workshop for Feb. 1, 2025, and set the next regular meeting for Feb. 3, 2025. A motion to adjourn, made by Councilperson Patterson and seconded by Councilperson Burch, carried 5–0; the minutes record the adjournment time as 7:25 p.m. The minutes also record the executive session ending and the hiring action later in the record; there is an apparent inconsistency in the recorded times between the executive-session end time and the adjournment time (see audit).