IOLA, Kan. — The Iola City Council adopted a resolution at Tuesday’s meeting ordering removal of trash and other debris from a property at 710 North Street. This is the first action of its kind since an ordinance was adopted in late August allowing the city to do cleanup if the property owner does not within ten days of an abatement resolution being adopted.
Code Service officer Gregg Hutton said they have been dealing with this property since 2017 and have had multiple complaints about this property from nearby residents and others Since 2017 Hutton said 42 code violations, 75 letters and 31 citations have been issued on the property. There has been a little cleanup done, but there is still a lot of debris present.
The Council adopted the holiday schedule for 2026 along with next year’s council meeting schedule. The holiday schedule is roughly the same as that adopted by Allen County; except New Years Eve will be a holiday for the county but not the city. The Council schedule changes dates for two meetings that fall on Memorial Day and Columbus Day/Indigenous People Day which will move to Tuesday those weeks, and cancels their Dec. 28 meeting, the Monday after Christmas.
Water Production Superintendent Tony Ross provided an update for the Council on the October 3rd notice regarding lead and copper levels in certain samples from the city’s water system being above action levels for lead. Ross explained these samples are taken from residential taps at those homes that earlier surveys indicated the presence of lead or copper pipes at.
Ross said city employees do not actually enter the homes but do provide the sample containers and instructions on how and where to collect the sample including allowing the water to run for a period before the sample is taken.
The samples tested were all collected during the first week of July. Some samples tested had lead levels 19 parts per billion, with the lead action level at 15 parts per billion. The city is required to collect one point of entry sample and six distribution samples by the end of the year, 40 lead and copper samples between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2026, and 40 more between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2026.
The notification of exceeding lead/copper limits was also touched on. When the order was received by the city the morning of Oct. 3, it had to issue a Lead Action Level Exceedance – Tier 1 Public Notification within 24 hours, by either broadcast media or hand delivery of the notification. This was done on local newscasts that day on KIKS and KIOL and the following morning on KIKS. Newspaper notification was not referenced in the order the city received.
In other actions the Council approved a temporary liquor permit for the Bull Bash Saturday night at Riverside Park that is part of Farm City Days and sponsored by the Allen County Fair Board, appointed Brenda Poffenbarger to the Planning Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals, and approved waiver of rental permit fees and allowing admission to be charged for a daddy-daughter dance the SEK Lady Cyclones softball teams are having Feb. 28 at the Riverside Park Community Building with the condition they assist in setup and teardown due to other events the day before and after.
Gates Corporation Update
The Job Fair tied to the impending layoff of 80 employees at Gates Rubber’s Iola facility has been set for Thursday, Nov. 13 at the Iola Recreation Gym in Riverside Park. In addition to the affected workers, Thrive Allen County Economic Development Director Camille Lavon says it will also be open to the public from 1:30 until 5 PM. From 1 until 1:30 there will be exclusive access for military veterans.
Lavon told the Iola City Council Tuesday priority will be given to Allen County businesses, but there has already been a lot of interest expressed from outside the area including Parsons and Chanute. If there is space available after all Allen County businesses have been given the opportunity, it will be opened to others.
Lavon told the Council there is no indication there could be other changes coming at Gates, where they are eliminating a production line but retaining distribution and shipping operations. She noted when they recruit businesses they focus on the manufacturing side on the basis they “put steel in the ground” and that makes it more difficult for them to leave.
On the economic development realm, The Kansas Department of Commerce is accelerating economic development work in Allen County. Lavon outlined some of this for the Iola City Council Tuesday
Commerce has asked for specs on existing industrial sites including the Iola Industrial Park, The new Airport Industrial Park, and other sites discussed previously.
