Iola is tapping the brakes for its plans to reopen the Recreation Community Building this summer.
Recent flooding at Riverside Park once again sent stormwater runoff into the building, which has been closed because of flood damage since last October.
“We’d be remiss if we don’t take note of what’s happening on a regular basis,” Iola City Councilman Aaron Franklin said at Tuesday’s Council meeting. “I’m wondering what kind of consideration we’ve given now that we’ve flooded three times in a year.”
The city’s plans to replace the flood-damaged flooring in the gymnasium, Iola Recreation Department offices and Little Theater have been put on the back-burner because of the recent wet weather, City Administrator Sid Fleming said.
The repairs are being paid for through an insurance settlement, although recent events may prompt the Council to take a second look.
Councilman Gene Myrick recalled a recent conversation with a local resident, who asked if the city would consider eventually moving the rec building activities to Jefferson Elementary School, once it’s vacated for construction of a new elementary school within the next few years.
Myrick expanded on the idea, wondering if other city offices, such as the Iola Police Department, could be moved to Jefferson as well because those offices are cramped at City Hall.
“It’s something we can look at down the road,” Myrick said.
As for the rec building, Fleming said any work, even if it’s less extensive than what had been in the works, should include a closer look at the park’s storm drains.
“We’ve operated under the idea that we need some place for the community to do things,” Fleming said. “But if that idea is shifting within the Council and the community, that means our recommendation will be different as well.”
THE CITY projects to spend up to $88,580 to purchase emulsion oil for its 2019 chip-seal work of city streets in the southwest quadrant of town from Ergon Asphalt & Emulsions out of Kansas City, Kan.
The Ergon bid was the lower of two.
The vote for the Ergon bid was 5-0, with Councilman Daniel Mathew absent, and Councilman Ron Ballard declining to bid because he wanted further discussion on the benefits of regular chip-seal maintenance on city streets.
