Marion sprayed to control West Nile before festival

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN JERRY ENGLER
With the possibility of mosquito-borne West Nile disease, the City of Marion sprayed the entire city to kill the insects prior to Chingawassa Days last weekend, City Administrator David Mayfield reported to city commissioners Monday.

And, he added, the spraying effort will continue at the accelerated pace any time this year it is seen as needed.

Mayfield also had a new report on another health concern. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment notified the city that its latest testing for blue-green algae “chlorophyll A” cell counts at Marion Reservoir came in at 11.2 parts per billion. The agency said human health concerns begin at 60 parts, Mayfield said.

Mayfield said the actual collections for the test might have been done two weeks ago, and with conditions changing daily, he also is awaiting a report from the U.S. Corps of Engineers.

Mayfield said he has concluded an agreement with Hillsboro City Administrator Steve Garrett to use Professional Engineering Co. of Wichita to conduct a feasibility study for a KDHE wholesale water grant that might lead to a joint water plant for the cities.

City improvement projects are making progress.

“All of the construction at the airport is nearing completion,” Mayfield said. “The new runway lights and beacon have been installed. All blacktopping and runway striping is completed.

“Taxi way lights will be installed next week, and APAC, our construction company on the project, will install the tie downs in the near future. This should close out the grant on this project.

“We will be installing underground electrical service to the assisted living facility this week.”

Police Chief Michel Soyez reported he and other city personnel are trying to complete a hazard mitigation plan working with the county that is designed under federal homeland security to help the state identify local critical infrastructure and services available.

Sharon Kelsey, in a letter to commissioners, commended city workers for going to extra effort to help the food vendors she was in charge of during Chingawassa Days.

Fire Chief Thad Meierhoff told commissioners “we had a quiet last quarter” with only three calls in March, six in April and four in May. He added that he isn’t as optimistic about the next quarter if it doesn’t rain soon.

The calls included everything from vehicle fires to chemical spills to grass fires, he said.

Librarian Janet Marler, in reporting 3,125 items checked out last month, added that the library has had to secure DVDs behind the counter for checkout because some of them have disappeared.

Andy Hansen was appointed by the commissioners to serve on the Marion Economic Development Advisory Board.

The commissioners approved a budgeted transfer from the utility fund to the capital improvement fund of $30,000.

They approved paying warrants for $101,619.42 including $68,351.77 to Westar for electricity.

At the June 1 meeting, the commissioners approved an ordinance for sale and discharge of fireworks July 4 holiday.

They agreed to modification of a lease purchase agreement with Central National Bank to lower the interest component of the bank’s rental payment. They did the same thing on the lease-purchase agreement with Straub International.

They approved paying warrants for $45,384.06 and payroll for $26,483.01.

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