City of Florence looks at park consolidation
By SUSAN MARSHALL
News editor
During a discussion Monday night about land annexation, Florence Mayor Sue Klassen posed a question to city council members about the future of Moses Shane Park, situated along U.S.-50 on the western border of Florence.
"Would the council ever consider relinquishing Moses Shane Park?" she asked. "It takes resources from the city to keep it mowed and trimmed, keep the trash picked up and the Dumpster emptied.
"It really does nothing for the town. We have lots of parks to maintain that serve a better purpose than that one does."
Councilman Dan Ludwig said he thought it used to be a state-owned park area that the state deeded over to the city many years ago.
"It's possible there is something written down that says we need to leave it a park," he said. "We need to check."
Klassen said, "If a 'Moses Shane Park' is important to the community, maybe we could designate another area to be named after him."
No decision was made, but during a later discussion councilman Bryan Harper said he had made it a point to survey Grandview Park twice on each Saturday and Sunday for the past four weeks and noticed no children using the park.
"The kids are all at Unity Park on Marion Street," he said. "But the equipment is up at Grandview. Couldn't we move some of it to Unity since that is where the kids are playing?"
Following more discussion of parks, playground equipment, and the amount of maintenance required, the council and mayor agreed to look into the possibility of consolidating park areas, securing funding or volunteer help to acquire playground equipment, and seeking information from the state about any restrictions on the Moses Shane Park.
"I think we need to look at this whole picture," said Klassen. "If we really have too many and some aren't even being used, then we can't do justice to the ones that are important to the community."
In other business, the council:
— approved cereal malt beverage licenses for Johnson's General Store and Junction Saloon and an electrician/plumbing license for Jeff Inlow.
— denied a request from Johnny Bass to approve the use of a 1969 mobile home as an office. Bass obtained the trailer from the Florence Christian Church and thought he could move it to a piece of property on U.S.-50, formerly a gas station, recently purchased by Shirley Strotkamp. Bass was under the impression the property was outside the city limits and that the county would allow him to park the trailer there. But the property is inside city limits. Council members voted unanimously to follow the city ordinance disallowing pre-1977 mobile homes.
— heard from city clerk Darla Gore there are some issues related to the annexation of land from the state that need to be reviewed by city attorney Marilyn Wilder.
— was reminded by Gore that the deadline to file for city council or mayor is noon Jan. 23 at the city building. The mayoral position and council seats held by Dan Ludwig and Ed Robinson will be on the ballot this spring.
— approved a year-end transfer of funds by Gore and city accountant Dale Clark.
— heard from city superintendent Phil Baldwin that he and Larry Scriven attended a wastewater class at Lindsborg. They observed demonstrations repairing manholes and tracking internal damage to sewer lines. Baldwin called the council's attention to the need for better safety equipment for city employees working at the sewer lagoons.
He also noted that muskrats are encroaching on the sewer ponds and the banks are in need of erosion control. After discussion Baldwin was instructed to return to a future meeting with repair plans and cost estimates.
— also heard that with the advent of colder weather, more people are using wood burning stoves and fireplaces and some are dumping ashes in their Dumpsters. Baldwin said council members should be aware that he instructed Dan Kyle not to empty Dumpsters that contained ashes. "We don't need a trash truck fire," he said.
— approved moving the next meeting to Jan. 8 because of the New Year holiday.
— heard from police chief Erik King that Santa Claus will arrive Friday to help members of the police department pass out gifts and food to some Florence families.
— instructed Baldwin to review construction plans for the water plant to find out if the water line that runs to the DeForest property is the same as the one that serves the city.
— agreed to keep the light poles from the former football field rather than give them to Morning Star Ranch.
— gave Baldwin background information on the burn pit and a warning letter from Kansas Department of Health and Environment received by the city this past fall. Council asked Baldwin to have city employees clean out debris and foreign material more frequently so the burn pit is in compliance with the state in case KDHE returns for additional inspections.
— heard that all four "city limits" signs are not correctly placed. The state owns the signs and will move them to the proper location.
— approved Christmas bonuses of $100 to each full-time employee and $75 to each part-time employee.
