HUMBOLDT Camp Hunter Park at the southwest corner of Humboldt will come alive with music the middle of April.
Humboldt council members approved a contract Monday night to close the park for an admission-only concert, held the past two years at the Chanute Elks Club grounds under the direction of Jeff Barnett.
Barnett, who lives west of Humboldt, had wanted the concert in Humboldt previously but was thwarted by time constraints when he approached the city.
Not so this year.
The agreement is for $500 to lease the park April 16-19, a Thursday through midday Sunday. He also will pay a refundable $500 deposit. The contract also allows participants to consume beer.
The concert which consists primarily of blues, bluegrass and country music is scheduled to conclude by 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday so as not to be a nuisance to neighbors.
On April 18, several hours of free music will be offered on the downtown square to encourage attendance at the park as well as draw out-of-towners to the downtown district. When in Chanute, the concert drew upward of 450, Barnett said. He thinks the change of venue may suppress that number a tad this year, but expects the concert to grow as it becomes a Humboldt fixture.
He will announce particulars later, including admission costs.
IN OTHER news, council member:
Closed out the sewer project that consumed more than a year of working days. The contract was for expenditure of $7.65 million, and ended under budget by $337,300. Funding came from a $6.565 million U.S. Department of Agriculture loan and a $500,000 Community Development Grant. In addition to sewer mains being lined and improved, many manholes were upgraded.
Agreed to sponsor an application for a grant from the Health Forward Foundation of Kansas City, proposed by Damaris Kunkler, a Bolder Humboldt representative. Called a Happy Community Grant, Kunkler will work with two council volunteers, Sunny Shreeve and Paul Cloutier, and others to decide projects that would fit within the grants scope. She said such things as B&Ws Humboldt Fitness emporium and local golf course may be focal points.
Learned from Chief of Police Shannon Moore that Enbridge Pipeline would give the city a pickup truck for use by Sheri Modlin. Modlin, who had worked abbreviated hours, was approved for full time in animal control and code enforcement duties at the meeting.
BEFORE agenda items were discussed, incumbents Mayor Nobby Davis and council members Shreeve and Cloutier and newly elected Otis Crawford and Jeff Bowman were sworn in. Crawford and Bowman replaced Vada Aikins, a 17-year veteran of the council, and Sarah Lassman.
