What once might have been a high bid left Marion County commissioners smiling in relief Tuesday, July 31, at a payday meeting, when the winning bid for surfacing 10 miles of Sunflower Road by Schilling Construction of Manhattan came in at $793,583 instead of an engineer?s estimate at $1.02 million.

In the past two years, when promised state aid for the project faltered at negotiations at a half-million dollars, the commissioners at times seemed to hope the total bill might fall close to that bracket of a project. But oil prices for the 2-inch overlay have spiraled upward since then.

MCFGoesselGoalGettersP7252448.jpg Click image to enlarge ? Members of the Goessel Goal-Getters 4-H Club greet onlookers as they ride their float through the Marion County Fair parade on Wednesday. The theme for the 77th annual fair was ?America?s Pastimes: Baseball and the Fair.? Several of the 4-H floats picked up on the baseball theme.

County cities want more for the contributions they make to the county?s road and bridge budget under an outdated 1973 agreement, mayors and representatives told the Marion County Commission Monday.

Commission Chairman Randy Dallke and Commissioner Dan Holub said they would start by looking at state designations for farm-to-city Fishing Access Site (FAS) routes into the cities.

Marion City Council member Bill Holdeman made a motion Monday night as the meeting seemed to be drawing to a close that City Attorney Dan Baldwin be asked to write a resolution for consideration that would require all appointed city employees to report directly to the mayor.

The council had closed a 30-minute executive session for personnel with Police Chief Josh Whitwell, and then followed with department head reports before Holdeman made the motion.

This year?s Florence Labor Day BBQ Cook-off will feature a new twist: a combined competi?tion with the ?Smokin Behind the Barn? contest in Winfield.

Combing for the first ?Route 77 Championship,? the top four teams will divide $1,400 in prize money.

RelayForLifeP7202413.jpg Click image to enlarge Luke Siebert, Sharon Andres, Dawn Luna and Marg Sandwell (from left) carried the banner the that led the parade of cancer survivors at the start of the Marion County Relay for Life. The annual event, which began at 7 p.m. Friday at the Tabor College track and ended at 7 a.m. Saturday, raised an estimated […]

The Goessel City Council held special meetings on June 25, June 27, and June 28 for the purpose of interviewing candidates for the director of public works position and making a decision.

As a result, Karen Dickerson was hired for the job and attended the regularly scheduled July 16 meeting.

Dale Wiens, president of the Goessel Recreation Commission, attended the regular meeting to discuss baseball field parking with the council. He said all K-12 baseball practices and games will be played at the city ball parks next summer.

Games for younger children were still held at the elementary school baseball diamond this summer.

Emergency Medical Services Director Larry Larsen resigned his position Monday at the Marion County Commission meeting , he said ?due to personal conflicts.?

Larsen became EMS director in February, succeeding Darryl Thiesen.

Larsen announced the resignation himself after a 10-minute executive session with Commissioners Bob Hein and Dan Holub, Commission Chairman Randy Dallke was absent.

Neither Larsen nor the commissioners had any further comment. The ambulance department was troubled for several years with uncollected ambulance billings, but with efforts made during the terms of Thiesen and Larsen, the commissioners had considered the department up-to-date in financial accountability.

MarionLibraryP1010006.jpg Photo by Elaine Ewert / Free Press. Click image to enlarge     Participants circle the Marion Public Library as part of the celebration marking five years of service in the former railroad depot. Creating the circle of supporters was intended to demonstrate how community friends have had helping hands and have embraced the library, according to librarian Janet […]

Setting fires may require more paperwork some day following Monday?s discussion at the Marion County Commission meeting.

Farmers, or other persons, who want to burn crop residue or pasture under Marion County?s burning regulations may find in the future they still are able to do so by notifying the county.

But if they want to set a brush fire, they may find an application is necessary, and that someone from the county may come by to look at the burn pile.

Bobbi Strait, planning, zoning and environmental health director, and Michele Abbott-Becker, communications and emergency management director, told commissioners that Marion County?s burn regulations aren?t specific enough to meet state and federal rules developed under continuing efforts to protect air quality.

?It will be OK to burn brush,? Strait said, ?but we?ll want to make sure they don?t have half of an old barn under it.?