LARNED, Kan. — The Larned City Council decided not to seek bids for a new sanitation truck during Monday night’s meeting.
The department has two trucks, the newest of which was purchased in 2019. This and a second truck used as a backup have experienced a number of breakdowns, some simultaneous, over the past three years causing disruption to customer service. Not counting the most recent repairs the city has over the past three years spent close to $15,000 on the two trucks, mostly on the newer unit.
City Manager Brad Elits in a memo to the Council recommended purchase of a truck, however it would require borrowing funds from electric reserves.
The Council approved a $150,000 contract with Circle C Paving of Goddard for the 2025 chip and seal projects. Last year the city chip sealed just over 14 and a half blocks of streets. The 2025 budget tripled available funding for this work, which will allow chip sealing of just over 43 ½ blocks of streets.
A quote from Circle C in March indicated the cost per square yard would be 6.25% less than last year’s work, a quote that could vary one way or the other depending on oil prices at the time of the work. A recommendation on streets to be worked on will be brought later.
The Council adopted a resolution presented by the Government Finance Officers Association supporting the preservation of tax-exempt financing, which is often used by local and state governments for such things as Industrial Revenue Bonds, a key feature of which is the interest bondholders receive on such bonds is exempt from federal income taxes, which in turn allows for lower interest rates on bond issuances, thus making them beneficial to the issued.
Congressman Ron Estes, whose district includes the south side of Larned, is on the House Ways and Means Committee and will be heavily involved in this issue.
The council tabled until a future meeting discussion on burn ban regulations for the city and heard a presentation from Girl Scout Troop #11330 members Hayleigh Ehrlich and Jordyn Cook on a project they are interested in working on at the Scout House.
