Florence mayor, council member take office
By SUSAN MARSHALL
News editor
Just as other communities in Marion County have done the past several weeks, Florence made a change in the its governing body Monday evening.
Mayor Sue Klassen and councilman Ed Robinson had chosen not to run for another term and they were replaced by Greg Winn and Trayce Warner, respectively. Winn and Warner were sworn in and took their places at the council table.
Janet Robinson was sworn in as interim city clerk and court clerk. Her appointment to those positions was accompanied by a pay raise to $10 an hour retroactive to April 9.
The new mayor and council heard from Jackie Sigwing and Americans with Disabilities Act compliance officer Del Leeds in regard to making the city web site ADA accessible. The city had received an anonymous complaint earlier in the year about handicap accessibility to the site. Sigwing is volunteer webmaster for the city.
In an effort to become compliant Sigwing had contacted a representative at the state SRS office who is program administrator for SRS and who sets up ADA compliant sites for the disability services departments at SRS.
"She was excited to hear from a community that wanted to learn how to do it," said Sigwing. "We are the first community to contact her about actually doing this, even though it is an ADA requirement for city web sites."
Sigwing will learn how to make the site compliant and how to keep it up.
"For a one-time fee of $500 she is willing to give us whatever we need to become compliant. We will be one of the first communities in the state with the certification," said Sigwing.
After discussion, council members unanimously approved the expenditure. Councilman Randy Mills also thanked Sigwing for her many hours of volunteer service developing and maintaining the web site for the city.
Rex Savage and Chris Sprowls, members of the Marion-Florence school board and USD 408 superintendent Lee Leiker also were in attendance to see if the City of Florence would be interested in taking ownership of two, possibly three of the buildings owned by the school and leased by the special education cooperative.
"We are interested in selling you the gymnasium, the Life Skills building, and possibly the garage," said Savage. "We would retain the office building/classroom and the bus barn.
"The gymnasium would make a great community center," he added.
After discussion that covered recent improvements to the buildings, maintenance responsibilities, and potential lease/use issues, both parties agreed to pursue an equitable agreement on the property. Additional facts and figures will be provided to the city and the process will be reviewed by the city attorney.
The topic will be on the agenda again in May.
In other business, the council:
— thanked out-going mayor Sue Klassen and councilman Ed Robinson for their service to the community during their terms.
— accepted the sale of a parcel of land to the Christian church for $1 with the understanding the paperwork would be drafted by city attorney Marilyn Wilder and paid for by the church. Also stated was a provision that any future land sales would not necessarily be made for $1.
— accepted the health insurance plan for city employees with the caveat that a discussion be held at a later date about placing a cap on premium cost to the city.
— accepted transfer from Kansas Department of Transportation of the land south of the water tower with the provision the city not erect any signs on the property.
— asked councilman Bryan Harper to contact Reilly Reed about a stone house Reed owns on Main Street. Council members felt they needed to know whether Reed intended to repair the building or demolish it.
— approved a request by city superintendent Phil Baldwin to have the well west of the city springs inspected by Kansas Department of Health and Environment for use in an emergency. Currently the well is not certified to provide drinking water.
— asked Baldwin to work with Gary Nesser to find battery backup systems for the city's emergency sirens.
— tabled until a permanent city clerk is hired any decision on utility billing and municipal court soft ware.
— entered an hour-long executive session for the purpose of discussing personnel. No action was taken on return to open meeting.
