Council OKs downtown intersection for Tabor student event

The Hillsboro City Coun?cil agreed at its Oct. 15 meeting to block off the inter?section at Main Street and Grand Avenue during the evening hours of Oct. 22 for a Four Square tournament involving Tabor College students.

The request came from three upper-level graphic arts students as part of a class assignment to develop ways to increase interaction between students and downtown businesses.

Kaitlyn Brown, Molly Clark and Taylor Loewen attended the meeting to explain the project and present their request to have the intersection blocked off from 7-10 p.m.

Brown said teams of eight Tabor students would be formed on campus, then assigned to a sponsoring business on each of the four quadrants of the business district at Main and Grand.

Students will create four Four Square courts within the intersection, with seating for student and community spectators in the center of the intersection.

Downtown businesses are invited to set up tables near the courts to promote the merchandise and services they offer students.

Physician?s request

During the public comment time, Hillsboro physician Michael Reeh asked the council to reconsider the June 2008 contract transferring ownership of local hospital assets from the city of Hillsboro to HMC/CAH Consolidated Inc., a Kansas City-based, for-profit company.

Reeh said groundbreaking for a $10 million new hospital occurred nearly three years ago with no sign of pending construction since then. In the interim, he added, HMC/CAH went through a bankruptcy process to reorganize its finances.

Reeh also questioned the company?s management skills, stating that Hills?boro Community Hospital had received several deficiencies in the latest state survey. When asked by a council member, Reeh said he did not know what the deficiencies were.

Given HMC/CAH?s track record, Reeh asked the council to see whether the contract could be revoked so the hospital could regain non-profit status under the city?s ownership.

?I don?t know what kind of contract you have, but if they?re not fulfilling their obligation, it should be considered,? Reeh said.

Street vacation

The council agreed to a request by Tabor College that the city vacate the north 150 feet of Madison Street immediately south of B Street.

The decision, which transfers control of the property from the city to the college, enables Tabor to close what is now a through route in the middle of the campus, and create more green space.

The remaining length of that block of B Street was vacated several years earlier.

Water meter fees

The council approved a new fee schedule for connecting residential and commercial water meters.

Paine said a review of the existing ordinance had revealed that the cost of meters is ?much more expensive? than when the ordinance was passed.

Paine recommended a new fee that would include the cost of equipment and staff labor to complete each project.

If included, the new fee for a 1-inch meter, for example, would increase from $410 to $460 to a flat fee of $1,176.90.

A connection fee based only on the cost of materials would be $736.90.

Mayor Delores Dalke said adding labor and equipment to the fee would result in a ?huge increase? that would be ?anti-development.?

?We haven?t had much development recently, so why would we change to make development more difficult?? Dalke asked.

Paine said he recognized the city would be paying for staff time and equipment, regardless. But the higher fee would reimburse the city for not being able to use that staff and equipment for city-wide projects.

In the end, the council sided with the mayor and approved the new fee schedule based only on the cost of materials.

As a part of the review process, the council approved Ordinance 1236, which states that the actual water-connection fees will not be published within the ordinance itself. Instead, the fees will be itemized in a separate ?master resolution??in this case, Resolution 2013-07.

?Having a common fee resolution will give the council and the public an easy place to go when looking at all fees and charges,? Paine said.

Paine said the master resolution eventually will be posted on the city?s website for easier access.

Online municipal code

In a similar vein, the council approved Paine?s recommendation to authorize the mayor to sign a codification agreement with Citycode Financial to update the city?s municipal code.

Paine said the city code has not been updated since Feb. 23, 2000, and some 75 recently passed ordinances are not reflected in the city code book.

The agreement would have Citycode Financial, based in Wichita, convert the city?s paper code to electronic form, revise the new ordinances approved since the last codification, and make some edits in the current code.

Once the work is completed, the council will then review the project and ultimately adopt it.

The codification work has a one-time charge of $3,750. The annual update will be $1,250.

Paine said the League of Kansas Municipalities offers a similar service, but for a codification fee of around $5,000.

Written By
More from Don Ratzlaff
Trojan boys return 4 varsity vets
Even with only one starter returning from last season?s 9-12 team, Hillsboro...
Read More