City councilman asks for policy review
At the Peabody city council meeting Sept. 9, councilman Randy Dallke moved from his position as a councilman to the public seating area of the room during the public comment session.
As a private citizen of Peabody, he expressed concern about the amount of time for nuisance property compliance the council granted a property owner at the last meeting.
He asked the council to re-evaluate its leniency to owners of nuisance properties and come up with a more consistent evaluation process. No action was taken.
Joanna Brazil, Peabody Main Street director, presented information on the Community Capacity Building Grant. The council approved supporting the grant application. The city will contribute $3,000 to match an equal amount from the Streetscape committee.
Darren Pickens informed the council that there had been a water leak at 504 N. Walnut. He added that the cost of replacing the concrete driveway will be expensive. Dallke has been trying to contact the property owner to work out a shared cost.
Upgrades that Pickens will be working on soon will include replacing three fire hydrants, covering a drainage grate south of the south end zone at the football field, and securing quotes on mosquito sprayers.
Steve Smith, owner of the property at 310 N. Walnut, was present to update the council on the repairs he is making to the property. Foundation work is scheduled to be completed soon. Smith was given an additional extension and will report back to the city on Sept. 30.
Al Reiss of Reiss and Goodness Engineers and the city clerk were included in a 20 minute executive session concerning the acquisition of property. No action was taken when they returned to open meeting.
The city hired Audie Strotkamp as city attorney to replace Mark Wilkerson whose law firm affiliation changed recently. The motion to retain Strotkamp passed 3-1-1 with a vote against the motion by Tammie Yoder and an abstention by Tom Schmidt.
The city council also heard:
— that Mackey and Sons will be in town in September to replace the vandalized downtown Christmas lights.
— discussion about the city being in compliance with the contract between the City of Peabody and Jon and Carolyn Gard regarding their water usage. The agreement between the two parties calls for the Gards to begin paying for water when the well house on their property is removed and they receive water from Hillsboro. Since those objectives have been met, the Gards will begin paying for water on Oct. 1.
— that Joe Palic with the Kansas Department of Transportation will meet with representatives from the city, county, and school district at 10 a.m. Sept. 13 to discuss safety issues on the bypass and the U.S.-50/Nighthawk Road intersection.
— a report from the mayor concerning the use of contractors for city projects. The council is considering use of contractors on a rotating basis in emergency situations. When city equipment is adequate, the job will be handled by city workers unless a cost comparison shows that it is more financially feasible to hire the work done.
— from the city clerk that the industrial park has not been platted. The clerk was instructed to expedite this project.
