Florence city employee Wagner resigns position
By SUSAN MARSHALL
News Editor
Florence City Council members Monday night accepted the resignation of City Superintendent Jeff Wagner.
No reason was given for the resignation.
A brief written statement indicating he was resigning effective at the end of the work day Monday was passed to Mayor Sue Klassen and council members by City Clerk Darla Gore.
The council took no action regarding a replacement for Wagner, who had been on the job about a year.
On a motion by Randy Mills with a second by Ed Robinson, a 3-0 vote (with Bryan Harper absent) was cast to accept the resignation.
No further discussion was held. Harper entered the meeting at a later time.
In a related matter, council later agreed to hold a special meeting at 5 p.m. Thursday with city employees to review schooling, certification, and departmental budget input.
Council also voted unanimously to send the state a negative response to its request for a water certification letter indicating whether the city thinks its water plant is operating as it was meant to.
Because of problems with the plant, the city has amended its loan with the state and is required to inform the state of its opinion regarding the work done on the water plant.
While the engineer who designed Florence water plant feels the facility is meeting necessary performance standards, the council is not convinced it got its money's worth from the engineering firm or the state of Kansas.
In other business the council:
— Approved warrants totaling $19,337.14.
— Agreed to return the council meeting time to 4:30 p.m. the first and third meeting of the month. An ordinance will be created establishing the new meeting time. A motion for change was approved 3-1 with Dan Ludwig opposed.
— Approved resolution 2006-05 allowing improvements at the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad crossing. The resolution had been held up awaiting an explanation of the railroad's demand for the city's acceptance of crossing sign maintenance. On advice of legal counsel it was noted the city already bears that responsibility approaching the tracks from the north and south.
— Tabled for more information a request from Dan Ludwig to have his water meter re-read and bill adjusted after receiving a bill for $321 for the month of June. Gore will review his previous bills and have the meter read again.
— Also tabled for more information a decision on who will install culverts on Ninth Street and Second Street.
— Entered into executive session with economic development head Sarah Cope for the purpose of discussing land acquisition. No action was taken on return to open meeting.
— Agreed to refuse to accept from the state a cul-de-sac north of U.S. 50 and west of U.S. 77, a former extension of Eighth Street. The street once went to a building that housed a club, but nothing is left of the structure. Accepting the street would mean the city would have to maintain it. Mills met with highway engineers in Topeka last week to review the city's position as the state gets ready to open the roundabout.
— Discussed at length budget issues for the coming fiscal year. The city will need to approve its budget at the next meeting in order to get the notice of the hearing published in a timely manner. Council also agreed to hold a special meeting to wrap up budget discussions at 6 p.m. Monday in the city building.
— Heard from Sarah Cope that Les Littlejohn of Mid-Kap will be in attendance at the August 7 meeting to review plans for a housing project in Florence. The project was scheduled to begin in early spring, but was canceled because of to internal issues at Mid-KAP.
Cope said Mid-KAP was ready to move forward with the project at this time.
— Agreed to split with Florence Labor Day Committee the cost of police protection and portable toilets for the three-day celebration. City employees also will be available to help set up barricades, move picnic tables and Dumpsters, and to do other jobs needed by LDC.
— Heard from Fire Chief Tim Parmley that more volunteer fire fighters were needed by the city.
— Was invited by LDC chairman Warner to attend a special Labor Day "promo-party" on Aug. 2 at Grandview Park. The Labor Day Committee will host a cookout to encourage advance sales of buttons and T-shirts.
