The Goessel City Council went on record at its Feb. 17 meeting as being against a proposal in the Kansas Legislature to move city council elections to the fall.
According to that proposal, nonpartisan city and school elections would become partisan and would be held in even numbered years in conjunction with state and federal elections.
Council members said such legislation would unnecessarily interfere with local elections, and local issues could be overlooked if city elections were on the same ballot with state and federal elections.
Council said fall elections would not be in the best interests of the city. There?fore, they passed a resolution opposing fall elections. Currently, council elections are in April.
Other business
In other business, the council:
? heard Mayor Dave Schrag report that the Bike Across Kansas group plans to be in Goessel June 10.
?It?s going to be pretty big,? he said. Schrag said a program is planned that evening at the high school.
? discussed an unoccupied house that appears to be in a state of disrepair. The city has received numerous complaints about the property and sought advice from Marilyn Wilder, city attorney. She advised them to have a building or home inspector review the house and then send a letter to the owner detailing what needs to be done.
? passed Resolution 15-05, which states the city?s responsibilities in regard to generally accepted accounting procedures.
? was informed the police department issued one verbal warning for speed in the last month and made two contacts. Officers returned stolen items to two residents from October auto burglaries.
? discussed shelving units for police department use.
? reviewed bids for painting the city and police offices. The council accepted the bid of $400 from Living Colors of Hesston. Other bids were considerably higher.
? reviewed bids for new carpet for the city office, police office and library. The council accepted the low bid from Supreme Floor Co. of Hillsboro, for $9,995.
? heard that City Clerk Jennifer Whitehead plans to attend the City Clerks and Municipal Finance Officers Association spring conference March 11-13. The conference is arranged by the Hugo Wall School of Public Affairs through Wichita State University.
? heard that a water conference is scheduled for March 23-25.
? heard that Whitehead plans to attend the court conference in Topeka March 26-27. Her expenses will be paid by the Kansas Supreme Court.
? heard it is time to update code books. Council members were asked to bring their code books to the next council meeting so they can be updated.
? discussed cable, Inter?net and cell phone service in the city. The council voted to give Schrag permission to explore other options for cable service.
? discussed the need to replace some water lines. The council briefly discussed funding. Whitehead said it is hard to get grants right now.
? discussed the north section of State Street. Coun?cilor Rollin Schmidt said, ?That road is flat; there is no crown.? Noting that the city owns half of State Street, and the county owns half, Schrag suggested talking with the county about a crown for that street. The city does not have equipment for a crown.
The council also discussed the possibilities for surfacing, such as chip and seal or millings. The council noted that millings had worked well on other streets in town. However, the south part of State Street is overlay. No decisions were made.
? discussed the volleyball net at the city park.
? heard that a safety inspection had been conducted.
? heard that the city?s lagoon had been inspected. Whitehead said, ?Every?thing looks good.?
? approved the monthly expenditures of $51,211.86.
