Eco-devo venture may require funding boost

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN DON RATZLAFF
As the Hillsboro Development Corp.’s newly formed business incubation program expands, so will its budget, the Hillsboro City Council was told during its June 20 meeting.

HDC was one of several civic boards invited to report as part of the council’s budget planning for 2007.

Mike Kleiber, HDC president, said the newly formed “Hillsboro Ventures” incubation program, created in partnership with the Innovation Center at Kansas State University, continues to take shape.

Currently, the organizational structure is being finalized, but once that process is complete, the program will require staff management.

“To make sure Hillsboro Ventures is a success, we’ll need someone to focus full-time on it,” Kleiber said. He added that the HDC board understands its responsibility to carry its share of the load.

“The HDC board is very active and gives a lot of energy to it,” Kleiber said.

HDC is one of five organizations coordinated by the Hillsboro Management Board, which oversees a cooperative office on Main Street.

The Convention and Visitors Bureau also is an HMB member that reported to council. Megan Kilgore, outgoing HMB executive director, handed out an “activity plan” for CVB that outlined its efforts to promote the city.

Because of the need for specialized attention for economic development through HDC and as well as for other event-oriented endeavors such as CVB, HMB is moving toward funding a staff position for each area.

Jonah Kliewer, chairman of the Tree Board, told the council the board will address its mandate to develop an annual tree plan for the city-a task he had recently discovered was part of its mandate.

Kliewer asked the council to continue the $3,000 budget time for the board’s work. A portion of the money goes toward discount coupons for residents who want to buy and plant new trees for their yards.

Executives Mike Ryan and Marion Regier, plus board president Eileen Unruh, represented Hillsboro Community Medical Center at the meeting. They updated the council on plans to use funds through the city’s Public Building Commission, which owns the facilities used by the hospital and long-term care unit.

Ryan reported HCMC is should have an operating surplus of $80,000 for 2006 and $56,000 for 2007.

The Hillsboro Recreation Commission issued a written report that cited the need for scoreboards and batting cages at the Sports Complex and new lights at Memorial Field. It also asked to research grants for a skate park and to develop a well-defined bike path or sidewalk to the aquatic facility.

In other matters, the council approved four scholarships to train new emergency medical technicians, but stipulated that the money will not be disbursed until the recipients are certified as EMTs.

Scholarship funding was not included in the 2006 budget.

The four recipients would be Rusty Moss, John Walker, Nicole Brittany and Jason Rooker.

Councilor Matt Hiebert recommended that the scholarships be disbursed after certification rather than at the start of the training class to ensure that the city can benefit for the minimum one year of EMT service required by the scholarship program.

A trainee can be accepted into a class, but that does not guarantee the trainee will be certified upon its completion. For example, anyone convicted of a felony would automatically be denied certification even if the class was completed successfully.

Dalke expressed her disappointment that the four names were submitted to the council for scholarships within days of the class’s June 27 start, and did not give the council adequate time review the candidates.

Meanwhile, the council asked City Administrator Steve Garrett to do more research before purchasing new brackets for the light poles in the downtown business district.

Garrett presented a proposal from the Hillsboro Arts & Crafts Committee to go 50-50 on the purchase of new brackets that support the A&C Christmas wreaths during the holiday season. Forty-four brackets would be required at a cost of $32 each.

Even though the old brackets were projected to hold up to 50 pounds and the wreaths weigh only 30 pounds, some of the brackets are wearing out, Garrett said.

Mayor Delores Dalke said she was concerned that the poles and brackets were installed only two years ago, and asked Garrett to check with the company that sold the poles before replacing the old brackets.

In other business, the council:

heard Garrett say in his report that the damage to trees that occurred within the city during the June 16 windstorm was worse than the ice storm that occurred in January 2005.

declined to include an invoice for $5,537 from American Fence Co. to repair the outfield fence at Memorial Field after wind damaged it in a previous storm. The council felt the bill should be covered by insurance, not with city funds.

met in executive session for 25 minutes at the start of the meeting for attorney-client privilege with financial and legal consultants.

passed resolutions finalizing the issuance of $1.92 million in bonds to cover Rural Development loans used for recent water-plant improvements.

approved an exception in the city ordinance that would allow for the use of fireworks during the grand opening of the Hillsboro Aquatic Center on Saturday, June 24.

As part of the discussion, Council Byron McCarty stated his preference that the ordinance be changed to the extend the time fireworks can be used on July 4 to at least midnight.

approved Ordinance 1128 that transfers the lease for cable television service from Galaxy Cable Inc. to Eagle Communications Inc., which is in the process of acquiring Galaxy.

sent a job description for a “street foreman” back to Garrett for more work. According to council members, the initial description was too heavy on supervision and too light on manual work.

heard from City Engineer Bob Previtera that bids will be let Aug. 1 for improvements at the city airport. The project includes a new heliport for medical transfers and new taxiways.

A Kansas Department of Transportation grant of $222,000 will fund 90 percent of the project. The city will fund the remaining 10 percent.

decided to add an unbudgeted day off for city workers on Monday, July 3, even though Gov. Kathleen Sebelius declared the day a holiday for state workers.

The council noted that making July 3 a day off would mean too many consecutive days without trash service, and the effort needed to “catch up” would delay other city projects.

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