Two residents challenge Hillsboro council about Wal-Mart response

Two Hillsboro residents who have been active locally in resisting the arrival of a Wal-Mart store in Hillsboro, challenged city council members and city officials during the Oct. 7 meeting regarding their handling of the situation.

Mark Pankratz, 218 N. Adams, had requested a spot on the agenda to make a presentation on the issue. Jon Hefley, a co-owner of The Lumberyard, contributed to the presentation as well.

Pankratz prefaced his presentation with the comment, ?I kind of feel a lot of this may be a waste of my time because a lot of these questions I asked at the other city council meeting (Aug. 19) and was told they were insignificant, irrelevant or a non-issue at this point. I?ll throw them out and see what you say.?

Referencing his 15 years as a computer mapper for planning, zoning and appraisal issues in the Kansas City area, Pankratz questioned the validity of the city?s zoning documents for the Hillsboro Heights development.

Identifying multiple typos, errors and conflicting guidelines, Pankratz said the document was ?not really worth the paper it?s printed on? and ?it?s probably not even legal, there?s so many typos and miswordings.?

Pankratz said the zoning document stipulates that a new business can fill one, and only one, of the possible acceptable uses. Wal-Mart had indicated it would be offering three: pharmacy, grocery and fueling services.

Pankratz also questioned elements of the sale contract made with land agent Ben Hawkins, particularly the direct transfer of the land to Wal-Mart without public notice, and the confidentiality agreement that prevented Mayor Delores Dalke from divulging the name of the ?mystery business.?

Pankratz asked if the city had checked to see if the sale arrangement was legal, given the secrecy regarding the ultimate buyer. He also challenged the city?s interpretation of the confidentiality agreement.

Referring to the city?s conclusion that it might face a lawsuit if it turned down the contract, Pankratz asked, ?Was the lawsuit a bluff? I?ve worked in this field, and there?s a whole lot of bluffing going on.?

Hefley said he was told by a city official that the city had not checked into similar situations involving Wal-Mart stores in other cities.

As for the confidentiality clause, Pankratz said the contract stipulates that the city ?use reasonable effort to keep this agreement confidential? while noting the ?buyer understands that the seller is bound by the Kansas Open Meetings and Open Records (acts) in relationship to said agreement.?

?So, why was that hidden from other buyers?? Pan?kratz asked.

Beyond legal and contractual issues, both Pankratz and Hefley said they had been treated rudely by the council and city leaders in previous appearances.

Hefley said he read in one published account of the Sept. 23 council meeting that his proposal to buy a lot located in the middle of the property Wal-Mart was pursuing had generated laughter during the meeting.

?You make fun of me when I?m not even there,? Hefley said. ?I have a real hard time with this.?

More than one council member said they did not recall anyone laughing at Hefley or his proposal.

City Administrator Paine did offer an apology to Hefley for using the word ?nonsense? during the discussion to describe Hefley?s counter offer.

?I was looking for a different word to say what my concerns were, and I couldn?t think of that word,? Paine said. ?Someone said the word ?premature,? and I thought that was better.

Hefley?s larger concern was that he had submitted the counter offer on a good-faith understanding that the Wal-Mart deal had fallen through after the city had not received a cash payment by the September deadline Paine had identified during the Aug. 19 meeting.

?Mr. Paine said that ground would come up for sale after 20 days,? Hefley said. ?We questioned, ?At 12:01, I can call you?? and he said, ?You better not.? I waited 21 days and called up here three times and never got an answer. After 22 days, I took him for what he said.?

Pankratz and Hefley intimated they may ask a real estate attorney to review the city?s contract.

Council conduct

The two men also criticized some of the ways the council has been functioning, particularly:

? meeting at 4 p.m. rather than the evening ?when working people can come;

? that some council members sit around the table with their backs to citizens who may be attending the meeting.

? not publishing the meeting agenda in the Free Press ahead of time ?as the state requires.?

Those issues were not responded to immediately, but prior to adjournment, Councilor Byron McCarty, a retired police chief who had attended many council meetings during his law enforcement career, asked the mayor to explain to the rest of the council why those practices had developed.

Dalke said when the council met during the evenings, it was difficult to arrange visits with out-of-town consultants and advisers who worked typical working hours. Also, city staff who were required to attend the meetings would be paid overtime.

Asked by McCarty about the attendance of other residents at those evening meetings, Dalke responded that it was about the same as it is currently during afternoon meetings.

Regarding council members having their backs to the audience, Dalke said councilors did face the audience years ago, but the seating was adjusted so a council member with hearing issues could hear better. The arrangement became normal without intention.

Dalke said publishing council agenda in the newspaper prior to the meeting would be difficult and unreliable since local newspapers hit the streets on Wednesday and Thursday, meaning agendas would have to be created a week in advance.

Paine did say council meeting agendas are published regularly in advance on the city?s website as well as posted in the breezeway outside the office.

Paine said he was not aware that it was a state requirement to publish the agenda in a local newspaper.

Writing in ?A Citizen?s Guide to KOMA/KORA,? Attorney General Derek Schmidt states there is no requirement in KOMA even to create an agenda. How?ever, ?notice of meetings must be provided to anyone who requested it.?

Final challenge

Hefley ended his presentation with a reminder that a city council must be responsive to the citizens who elect them and pay them to be there.

?We?re glad you?re here, but you have to also listen to the business people,? he said. ?Did any of you do any checking on any of these other towns, call any of these people about what?s going on and what?s happening in their town?

?To me, when something is this major, you do your homework. You don?t just jump.?

Hefley asked council members and city officials to view, ?The High Cost of Low Prices,? a DVD documentary about Wal-Mart?s business practices, and then talk to him about what they viewed.

?We?re losing resi?dents,we?re losing businesses,? Hefley said. ?Where are they going? They?re not staying here. Businesses are trying to sell. I know two of them. Soon as they heard (Wal-Mart) was coming, people pulled out.

?This is what you have to start thinking about, and you have to do it quick. Hillsboro is dying, Marion County is dying. That?s why we all need to band together as Marion County and make this county grow again.

?It?s bad when a citizen like me has to do homework and check on this thing, and our own city council doesn?t do their homework.?

Other business

In other business, the council:

? approved the mayor?s reappointment of Jared Jost to the Salem Home board for a third term.

? approved a ?global harmonizing policy,? which presents keeps city workers abreast of the chemical products used by business, including precautions to take when dealing with them. The policy was recommended by the city?s safety committee.

? heard Paine say the city is looking into the feasibility of using the roof off an old water tower schedule for demolition in Haven to use on Hillsboro?s old water tower, which lost its roof several weeks ago during a windstorm.

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