IOLA, Kan. — Two new members, one former member, and a re-elected Iola City Council member along with re-elected Mayor Steve French were sworn in at the start of Monday’s meeting. Doug Kerr, who was elected on a write-in, and Jeremiah are the new members with former member Mark Peters returning to the council and Nick Lohman re-elected in the November election. Outgoing Council members Josiah D’Albini, Benedikt Middleton and Joel Wicoff were recognized by Mayor French for their service to the city.
Kim Peterson was selected by her fellow Council members as Council President, who presides over council meetings in the absence of the mayor.
The Council approved the final plat for the city-owned West Industrial Park, 79.43-acre tract on Marshmallow Lane across from Russell Stover. The Industrial Park comprises 15 lots, one of which on the northeast corner is the site of Vine Energy’s Data Center.
It approved the setting of show cause hearings on four unsafe and dangerous structures for the March 9 Council meeting. The properties involved are at 302 South Kentucky, 415 North Elm, 506 East Lincoln, and 626 North Colburn. Code Services Officer Gregg Hutton said needed repairs on the structures exceed 50 percent of County property valuations, and the Lincoln Street property has been the subject of multiple complaints.
The waterline relocation part of the US 54 reconstruction project in Iola is expected to start next week. Assistant City Administrator Corey Schinstock said a formal notice to proceed with the waterline project was issued last week.
Schinstock said a directional boring process will be utilized in installation of the line, which will extend from the area of McDonald’s and Sonic at Madison and State, and extend east to about Ohio Street. Plans are to do one block at a time. Water service outages will be minimal, perhaps an hour or two at the time when water services are switched from the old to new line.
Related to this, a representative from Stifel and Company will be at the Jan. 26 meeting to present the funding piece of the project including the bond ordinance and resolution.
The road reconstruction part of the project is currently set for the Kansas Department of Transportation’s bid lettings in either February or March.
The Council discussed the transient vendor ordinance it adopted last year, with staff asking for a revision to the ordinance, changing the background check fee from $10 to $30, reflecting what the city is charged by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation to conduct those checks.
There was also a very lengthy discussion during the meeting about what constitutes an Iola business, which is a factor in the fees that are charged. Four of seven Council members… Joelle Shailah is not participating in any votes on this due to a conflict of interest… expressed a desire to clarify the ordinance to specify residency within the city limits of Iola.
A minority wanted to include anyone in the 66749 zip code area, which does include a small part of Gas that has Iola mailing addresses.
