In a meeting that took less time to finish than a Sudoku puzzle, the Iola City Council was in and out in 14 minutes Monday night.
The agenda featured only a single item of new business, approving the donation of pool passes to the National Guard for use at the 891sts annual picnic at Riverside Park, which occurred two days earlier.
Council members endorsed the idea at their May 29 meeting, allowing the city to dispense the pool passes then, but agreed a formal vote was necessary at a second meeting.
On Monday, they asked City Administrator Sid Fleming to find out how many Guardsmen and their families took advantage of the offer.
THE ONLY other items of note came from Council members Nancy Ford and Ron Ballard, who spoke about potential safety or nuisance hazards at a pair of properties in or near Iola.
Fords concern centers on the old Iola Nursing and Rehabilitation Center building in the 1300 block of North Walnut Street, and a parcel of land just north and west of Riverside Park.
The Iola Nursing Center has been vacant since closing its doors. Ford said the building no longer is secure, with intruders getting through boarded-up windows. A vagrant was found inside over the weekend, and was arrested.
Even scarier, several containers of unused medication were found as well, Ford said. The medication was disposed of.
The owners need to take the building down or secure it properly, Ford said.
Ballards point of concern centered on land just outside the city limits, off the west edge of Bruner Street, where a number of disabled vehicles have been deposited, as well as other pieces of refuse.
Theyre using it as a landfill, Ballard said.
Because the property lies outside city limits, the city is powerless to stop it, Ballard said.
He wondered if the city could annex the area, which would put the land under the citys zoning and ordinance restrictions.
Fleming promised to look into it.
As part of their routine votes to open the meeting, the Council appointed Dan Johnson to the citys Convention and Tourism Board.
The Council also heard from Iolan David Roos, who expressed appreciation for the Fire Departments work to quickly extinguish a fire in his garage Memorial Day weekend, before the fire spread to his house.
He lauded the firefighters professionalism, as well as their caring, respectful attitude during the incident.
