Marion council tables agreement

The Marion City Council at its Feb, 2 meeting agreed to hold off on approving a new Kansas Electric Utilities Task Force Strategic Assistance Agreement until its next meeting.

Mayor Todd Heitschmidt directed City Administrator Roger Holter to see what other municipalities have decided.

?This just went out to cities,? Holter said, ?and we are still in the beginning stages.?

Should the council approve the agreement, Holter said it would go beyond the mutual aid agreeement already in place.

?It would create a larger pool of responding agencies and those could be municipals and for profit electrical companies,? he said.

?It would be a network that if any part of our state incurs an outage that cannot be corrected quickly, we would have this agreement.?

Heitschmidt asked if the city would not be required to respond.

?No,? Holter said, adding that it would be an opportunity to add another layer of backup in case there would be a catastrophic event in the community.

?It?s one of those things we hope we never have to use,? Holter said.

But, under the mutual aid agreement, Hillsboro sent over its digger truck to help with five poles after an earlier need was requested.

The council also approved a resolution to allow Al Church, one of the owners of record, at 118 S. Freeborn, 90 days to repair the property.

Marty Fredrickson, code enforcement, explained the problems with the home to include sanitation and physical structure.

Holter added that where the foundation failed, it has disturbed the sewage and waste disposal system in the house.

?The fresh water supply to the home has been circumvented using a garden hose and the roof, while the owners believe is not leaking, shows evidence of mold down the walls,? he said.

All of these things would need to be remedied, Fredrickson added.

The other owners of record are also responsible for the repairs to include Paul Morse and Elaine Morse.

No one occupies the home at this point.

Heitschmidt said that although disappointed Church didn?t appear at the meeting to discuss the issues, he said there?s nothing wrong with making the house legally inhabitable.

In other business, the council heard from its new parks and recreation director, Margo Yates, asking for ideas regarding a dog park. The park would be for off-leash dogs featuring two acres of landscaping, an open-sided shelter, pathways, benches, waterfall, hydrants, drinking water, and vinyl-coated fence surrounding the park.

If the public has any comments, those should be directed to Yates.

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