In what would normally have been a routine affair, a new mayor and Iola City Council were sworn into office Monday with an extra layer of emotion.
Along with the swearing in of Mayor Steve French, incoming Councilmen Josiah D’Albini, Nich Lohman and Joel Wicoff and incumbent Mark Peters, the Council also mourned the loss of Iola police officer David Ingle.
Ingle, 52, died last week due to complications of COVID-19.
Jon Wells, in his last act as mayor, read aloud a proclamation to denote Friday, Jan. 14, as David Ingle Day, noting Ingle’s 12 years in law enforcement and his service in the U.S. Army as part of Desert Shield and Desert Storm.
On hand for the event were Ingle’s children and several police officers.
“We’re thankful for this opportunity to pay respect to David and his family,” Councilman Carl Slaugh said as part of the ceremony. “We hope they do well in this time of suffering and sorrow.”
IN AN OTHERWISE light agenda, Council members discussed briefly the state of the Westco building on North State Street.
The building has been shuttered and left largely untouched since its roof collapsed during a torrential rainstorm in early September.
Code Enforcement Officer Gregg Hutton, in response to a question from Kim Peterson about the building, said contractors are in the midst of renovating the former Country Mart space at the south edge of the same shopping plaza as the Westco store.
He did not have a timeline, adding repairs were delayed as the building and store owners dealt with insurance issues.
Temporary walls will be built for reinforcement along the damaged portion of the building before the ceiling and building contents are removed.
Hutton said the owner’s plan is to rebuild the damaged portion of the building.
IN OTHER business, Council members accepted a bid from Storrer Implement to purchase a Kubota 1100 utility terrain vehicle for $20,492, the lower of two received.
The vehicle will be utilized by the Parks and Recreation Department.
Council members decided against buying a snow plow as part of the bid package, noting Storrer’s bid was significantly more expensive than a bid from Heartland Tractor, namely because Storrer’s bid was for a commercial unit; Heartland’s was for general purpose.
