Iola’s city commission will begin meeting at 6 p.m. starting Dec. 14, commissioners decided Tuesday.
Mayor Bill Maness and Commissioner Bill Shirley approved the new meeting time. Commissioner Craig Abbott was absent.
Maness has long proposed the evening meeting time, saying it would allow for more public participation.The change also should allow prospective candidates for the council — eight seats plus a mayor will be up for grabs in April’s election — time to attend at least a couple of meetings before the end of the filing deadline, Maness said.
Prospective candidates will have until noon Jan. 25 to file, whether by petition bearing an as-yet-determined number of voter signatures, or by paying a $10 filing fee.
City Attorney Chuck Apt said new council members will serve without pay.
Should the new council vote to pay themselves, such action would not take effect until after the next election, unless they passed a charter ordinance altering that, Apt said.
COMMISSIONERS discussed whether Iola should re-establish a dedicated animal control officer, and, if so, should that position be full or part-time and under the auspices of law enforcement or code enforcement departments.
Police Chief Jared Warner noted that, to date this year, the department responded to 702 calls for service regarding animal control issues. Those calls led to 50 actual cases being filed, mainly for animal cruelty and some for dog bites, he said. Warner said also that more dogs are being reclaimed by their owners than in years past.
Last year, a total of 873 calls were received, but only 45 cases were filed.
“We are generating more cases,” Warner said, although action on calls regarding nuisance wildlife is harder without a dedicated officer.
Such calls, mainly for skunks, are referred to Heinrich Pest Control.
Shirley expressed concern that that puts the onus of paying for removal of a nuisance animal on a homeowner.
Heinrich apparently doesn’t charge much for the service, Warner said.
When the former animal control officer left in May of 2009, the position was left vacant because the city was seeking to save money, said Judy Brigham, city administrator. It costs between $65,000 and $68,000 per year to maintain an animal control officer, she said, factoring in salary, fuel and other expenses.
