McPHERSON, Kan. — The McPherson City Commission Tuesday authorized an up to $15,000 expenditure to repair a return line that serves the lazy river, water slide and splash pad at the McPherson Water Park. Director of Public Lands and Facilities Wayne Burns said a team from Omaha arrived June 26 and first ran a camera through the line in question twice, and after that conducted a pressure test which involved introducing water and air into the line.
It was during this test audible noises were heard, indicating the presence of a leak. Additional testing was then done to determine the approximate location of the leak. Dondlinger Construction has already started excavation work on the line. If they have to remove concrete to get at the line break, the cost will increase.
Commissioners approved installation of a new handrail at Lakeside Park, along a section of the retaining wall on the east side where it widens, creating a potential fall hazard. Commissioners approved a just over $3,600 quote from Koehn Body Shop to repair a park department vehicle that had been damaged by a mower a couple of weeks ago. In other Public Lands and Facilities matters, the Commission approved a transfer of an employee at the water park to a different position and hiring of a seasonal worker at the cemetery.
A payment was approved for installation of new handicap ramps at Gildersleeve and Washington. The $5,500 project through Refined Coating was contracted out due to Street Department crews being busy on other projects.
Commissioners also approved a payment of just under $4,800 to Prairieland Partners for repairing a hydraulic leak and new clutch assembly for a 1995 John Deere 5300 tractor at the Wastewater Treatment Plant. The Commission also approved the purchase of two in-basin solids analyzers for the Wastewater plant, which they keep a couple of in inventory due to the nature of their use, total cost not to exceed $15,500.
Work is also proceeding on the North Elm and Myers Street reconstruction projects, with plans to, weather permitting, begin placing curbs on both projects this week, and wrap-up hauling of dirt in the 900 block of Myers.
Commissioners accepted the resignation of a firefighter/EMT who is relocating to Oklahoma to be closer to family and taking a fire position there, and approved the hiring of a new firefighter and firefighter/EMT, one of which will be to fill newly created positions in the department. Fire Chief Chad Mayberry said with these hirings they will be at current authorized strength, and will be adding one more firefighter/EMT at the first of the year, which will enable them to have seven personnel on each of their three shifts.
Division Chief Seth Graham gave Commissioners a report on the Fire Department’s involvement with last week’s incident at Kanopolis Lake, where a dive team responded to assist in the search for two bodies, in which Great Bend Fire/EMS also worked with McPherson Fire Personnel. Graham mentioned a need for a different kind of boat than the inflatable variety the department is currently replacing. The Department plans to set aside funds allocated for water rescue and hazmat equipment in 2026 and 2027 to be able to purchase another boat more suited for dive team operations.
Commissioners Tuesday approved a just over $3,200 expenditure with Lumineo Signs of Hutchinson to install a sign that will make it easier to find Municipal Court, which is housed in the southeast corner of the Community Building. This approval includes a waiver of usual sign permit fees.
Board of Public Utilities General Manager Josh Bedel in his report said their overhead crews have primarily been working on new customer builds, and also replaced some poles in the area of 9th and Mohawk Road that were damaged in a wind storm last month. Underground crews have been working on transformer change outs in the area of Ranch Road and Walnut south of Penn.
Water crews have been providing support on street construction projects, during which they were able to replace a valve on a 16 inch line near Elm and Hulse. Other water crews have been working on a main replacement on Walnut between Elizabeth and Sutherland. When that project is complete they will begin work on a main replacement along South Main from Avenue A to Central Christian College.
Finance Director Richard Miller provided a quarterly financial report, in which he said sales tax receipts for the city through the first six months of 2025 are running nearly $156,000 ahead of where they were for the same period of 2024. Interest income through the first half of the year is off by a little over $163,000, reflecting lower interest rates in invested funds. With this, Miller said they will be looking at ways to adjust expenditures through the rest of this year to ensure a general fund cash carryover going into 2026.
In terms of expenditures, which as of June 30th were at 65 percent of general fund budget, seem high Miller noted a lot of this is related to annual distributions to outside agencies and other transfers which occurred at the end of June. Bond and Interest Fund expenditures year to date look low, but that will change as a lot of bond payments will be coming due in August. Miller also reviewed investment, which as of June 30th amounted to just over $20 million. A little over half of that is held by one bank, with most of the rest held by two others.
