With their inaugural meeting longer on ceremony and shorter on substance, members of Iola’s city council members dipped their toes in a couple of routine matters, while tabling their first major decision until later.
The eight-member council, sworn in Monday to replace the former three-member city commission, tabled a decision on whether to spend $2,500 for materials and another $4,000 or so to install pieces of playground equipment at Riverside Park.
Thrive Allen County is willing to spend $7,500 for the equipment, plus the equipment’s manufacturer was willing to match the city’s $2,500 contribution, giving Iola a combined $12,500 to spend, City Administrator Judy Brigham.
The city’s Parks Department would be unable to put up the $2,500, Brigham said, so the funds would have to come from elsewhere in the city budget.
Still, “the city is getting a good value and the opportunity is there,” Brigham said.
Kerr indicated that he and city staff could install the new equipment, mitigating those costs to the city coffers.
But council members had questions about the cost of some of the equipment, how much the city would pay for installation and for such things as fill material.
“With these questions, I think we should table this to another meeting,” Mayor Bill Shirley said.
Council members agreed.
Pushing back the decision, however, may have nullified the deal.
David Toland, Thrive’s executive director, told the Register this morning that the city had until Friday to decide whether to accept the offer from the manufacturer, KOMPAN. Toland, who was unable to attend Monday’s meeting because of a conflicting meeting in La Harpe, said he would ask the manufacturer about extending its deadline.
THE COUNCIL members said they would endorse a grant request submitted to the Kansas Department of Commerce by the Allen County Health Care Foundation seeking tax credits for donors who give money for emergency room equipment at the new hospital.
Health Care Foundation member Karen Gilpin explained that if the grant request is approved, residents who donate to the purchase of emergency room equipment would be eligible for a 70 percent return on their tax dollars. The grant is good for up to $250,000.
This is the first time Allen County has applied for such a grant, Gilpin said.
COUNCIL MEMBERS also were requested, but took no action, on a request to back a local resident’s appeal to the state to reduce the speed limit along U.S. 54 west of Iola.
Shirley said he was asked to see about reducing the speed limit near the Neosho River bridge below its current 65 mph because of the number of accidents there in recent years.
Council members noted the road is not in Iola’s city limits, and is subject to state control.
SEVERAL RESIDENTS were at the meeting to watch the de-facto changing of the guard from commission to council. Sworn in were Shirley as mayor and council members Kendall Callahan, Scott Stewart, Beverly Franklin, Joel Wicoff, Donald Becker, Jim Kilby, Steve French and Ken Rowe, as well as City Treasurer Deb Troxel, whose position became elective with the changeover.
Council members unanimously voted Wicoff as council president. He would oversee any meetings in which Shirley was unable to attend.
The new council members must decide on permanent location and meeting times for their bimonthly meetings.
Shirley noted that the New Community Building at Riverside Park capably handled the crowd for Monday’s meeting.
Rowe, however, pointed out another possible venue: the Iola High School lecture hall. Having it there may increase the chances of having meetings videotaped, in conjunction with USD 257, Rowe said.
Council members promised to further research the matter.
Another item of note: Shirley said that in addition to reciting the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of each council meeting, he has invited local ministers to follow the flag salute with an invocation.
The Rev. Jim Rausch delivered a short prayer at the start of Monday’s meeting.
COUNCIL MEMBERS also renewed the city’s contract with the Iola Municipal Band. The city will pay the band $6,500 for nine Thursday evening concerts throughout the summer months, as well as during Memorial Day services May 30 and during the IHS reunion weekend May 28. The pay is the same as in 2010.
The council also approved a request from the Iola Sister OKSA Relay For Life team to hold a boot block at the intersection of Madison and Washington avenues from 9 to 11:30 a.m. May 28. Proceeds from the boot block will benefit the American Cancer Society.
Council members appointed Shirley to represent the city once again on the Kansas Municipal Energy’s Board of Directors. Shirley held a similar position with KMEA when he was a city commissioner last year.
