SALINA, Kan. — On a 4-1 vote Salina City Commissioners have set Feb. 24 for a mail ballot election on repeal of the city’s pit bull ban. The election comes about after a petition was validated calling for the election to repeal the ban that’s been in place for over 20 years.
At their meeting Monday, Commissioners discussed pros and cons of having a mail ballot or a conventional election such as took place earlier this month, and even though the Saline County Clerk’s office indicated a mail election would cost more, Commissioners felt a mail ballot would allow greater participation.
Some citizens objected to a mail ballot due to delivery issues with the US Postal Service and concerns about “ballot harvesting”. Commissioner Bill Longbine voted against the mail ballot election.
No decisions were made publicly at the meeting in the aftermath of a federal judge’s ruling last week that the city’s sign ordinances are unconstitutional in the wake of litigation filed by the Cozy Inn regarding a mural on the north side of the historic Salina slider restaurant.
Commissioners spent close to two hours in executive session with the special legal counsel it hired in the case where city officials stopped work on the mural claiming it was a business sign and subject to city code restrictions. The Commission adjourned the meeting at the conclusion of what began as a one hour closed door discussion that was extended twice.
Commissioners approved a resolution setting out a five-year capital improvement plan for the city, which covers typically large-dollar projects along with pre-approval of larger cash-supported items within six categories ranging from buildings and facilities to vehicle and equipment purchases.
It also awarded a $3.782 million contract to Prairie Landworks of McPherson for the first phase of a project to widen Magnolia Road into a three lane road from just west of I-135 to past Virginia Drive, including a roundabout at Virginia Drive. Prairie Landworks had the lowest of three bids submitted, but it was over $700,000 above the engineer’s estimate. This project is partly funded through a $1.5 million dollar grant from the Kansas Department of Transportation.
Following a public hearing, the Commission approved a resolution in support of issuance of up to $6.4 million in industrial revenue bonds for A&B Tool and Machine,which plans to construct a new facility in a recently developed industrial site off South Ohio that will also house a new office and work center for Evergy.
A&B currently operates out of a 9,000 square foot leased facility on Centennial Drive, and the new site would allow them to more than quadruple their space and expand their workforce by ten people over the next five years. The IRBs would cover land acquisition cost and construction but not any machinery, and provide a ten-year property tax exemption on those improvements.
