Florence city council tackles challenges
Discussion of long and short term goals, priorities, small town challenges, infrastructure, and community pride crept into several agenda items at Monday's meeting of the Florence City Council.
Although the council previously had approved advertising for a part-time police chief, the topic came up again with no clear majority in favor of a part-time department.
However, after discussion, council members decided since the money had been spent to advertise the position, they would proceed with the process. Mayor John Lehman told the group he had created a job description and was in the process of interviewing candidates.
Councilman Tim Parmley stated he would like to be part of the interview process for both the police chief and the new city clerk when applicants interview for the jobs. Lehman said that Parmley and any other interested councilmen would be welcome to participate.
The council unanimously agreed to change the time of the council meetings from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. The change will require an ordinance change and will go into effect after the new ordinance is printed.
New council member Randy Mills brought the group back to the topic of goals, priorities, and community pride with a review of the parks and cemetery. Mills is the councilman overseeing those areas in Florence. He thanked the city employees for their efforts to make the cemetery attractive for the Memorial Day service.
He also presented a list of items that need to be addressed. He requested that the city clerk provide him with the budget and expenses related to the parks and cemetery for the past three years.
Mills noted that some of the items on his list could be addressed at little cost or with volunteer help. Others would require some creative budgeting. He told the council that after reviewing the records, he would bring back a list of long- and short-term goals and suggestions for achieving them.
Mayor Lehman asked other council members for their suggestions for meeting the needs of the community. Ideas also were pulled from some of the 30 people in attendance at the meeting.
Mills said he felt the entire council needed to review the past five years of the city budget. He said he felt he had an inadequate knowledge of the city's employees, its real estate holdings, and its vehicles and equipment. He indicated he would work with the city clerk to gather that information and get it into a form for easy reference.
Mills said he felt having easy access to that kind of information would help with budget planning, infrastructure, and looking at what goals were attainable for the future of the community.
The council also:
— approved a .5% franchise fee for the next 10 years from Galaxy Cable.
— tabled approval of the job description for the city clerk position until the next meeting so council members could review it.
— approved a request by Jeff Nightengale to remove a badly damaged sidewalk at a rental property.
— approved a request by Paul Morrison to use a city-owned lot next to the ball diamond July 5 for a kite flying contest.
— heard from city superintendent Stuart Funk that the person interested in mowing the dikes may no longer be interested and it will be the city's responsibility to mow them.
— heard from Ann Brenzikofer that a pre-construction conference would take place at the city building June 3 for the water plant upgrades.
— approved a request by Lori Sprowls for her son to run the concession stand at the ball diamond. The council approved the request with the provision that he has adult supervision and that trash is picked up in the immediate area of the stand.
— denied a request by Ron Shipman to use the city's batting machine. The council felt there was too much liability involved with loaning it to an individual.
— agreed to send Stuart Funk to a KDHE water conference June 12.
— agreed to reimburse city employee Ken Hoffman for a respirator mask he purchased to alleviate allergic reactions when working for the city.
— approved an offer from Reliance Energy to install a "bug zapper" at the ball field. Reliance is testing the effectiveness of the equipment and will install and maintain it.
