By Lucky Kidd
LYONS, Kan. — The Lyons City Council has approved a contract with Troy Houtman to be the new City Administrator. Houtman, who assumed the position Tuesday brings 30 years of experience to the position, most recently he has served nearly 10 years as the Director of Cultural Arts, Parks and Recreation for the city of Wichita where he oversaw a $42 million budget.
Before coming to Kansas, he has held executive municipal leadership roles in Austin and San Antonio, Texas and Santa Fe, New Mexico. In Wichita he steered the 2019 All American City winning campaign and has been honored as a gold medal finalist by the National Recreation and Parks Association, along with being involved in many local organizations.
Prior to his being sworn in Houtman said he’s looking forward to working not only with the Council and staff, but with the community as a whole. “My promise to them is to listen to their needs, come up with solutions that are viable and within out budget and our capabilities as well. It’s going to be a lot of fun putting in priorities, and that is something I will be definitely working on in the first few months,” Houtman said.
Mayor Dustin Schultz said there were 28 candidates who applied, and it was clear candidates viewed Lyons as a community with a lot to offer and a great place to live. Following an intensive interview process that included resume screening, reference interviews and an extensive background check, Houtman was selected as the top candidate
“He’s positive, visionary, and will work with people to make good things happen,” Schultz said, adding, “We found Troy’s leadership skills abundantly clear, and his ability to work with citizens and city employees will make Lyons a thriving community were qualities we saw in him as our next City Administrator. Houtman will succeed Eddy Truelove, who stepped down earlier this year. Truelove was on hand for the vote and Houtman’s swearing in.
The Lyons City Council Monday approved a correction to a bid it approved earlier this month for rehabilitation of a home at 113 West 2nd under a Community Development Block Grant, When the council voted to approve the bid submitted by New Windows for America, the motion included an incorrect bid amount due to a staff error.
The Council also heard an update on replacement of gas meters, which Public Works Director Jared Jones said is slated to start Dec. 3rd. They have 860 of the 1,000 gas meters they are replacing with the $100,000 the Council allocated for this. Jones said the contractor on this has indicated they could have upwards of 400 of those meters replaced by the end of December before they shut down due to cold weather.
Council members during the comment portion of the meeting discussed a topic that has received a lot of attention on social media of late, traffic issues in the area of Park Elementary School where one way traffic was put in place some time back.
The major complaint being voiced is that people are wanting to park in the street when picking up their children after school. Other parking issues have been raised in that area as well. The Council will be discussing this in more detail at their next meeting Dec. 2nd, and the city is going to reach out to USD 405 for their input on addressing this issue.
The council also discussed natural gas purchases and how the city is procuring gas supplies. Of note, when the Council approved payment of bills during the meeting, around half of the just over $227,000 in payments were for natural gas.
