Peabody budget passes unanimously
By SUSAN MARSHALL
News editor
Peabody City Council hosted a handful of interested residents Monday evening at both the annual public hearing on the budget and the regularly scheduled council meeting. No comments were offered by citizens and the 2008 budget passed unanimously on a motion by Tim Petersen and a second by Delbert Mellott.
Mayor Ed Slocombe and councilmen signed off on the approved budget.
Council spent some time hearing a proposal from Peabody Main Street director Kristen Hooper about a group of Kansas State University graduate students who provided Dickinson County with a comprehensive plan at a fraction of the price budgeted by the city of Peabody.
Hooper found out about the program at a recent Main Street quarterly training session. The students will spend a semester doing all the background work for the plan under the direction of a professor who is a certified comprehensive planner.
Hooper will submit the required paper work and application forms for the city. A decision will be made in September and if Peabody is selected, the work will take place from January to May.
A comprehensive plan is being used more and more as a tool for long range planning when cities apply for large grants and federal loans to fund infrastructure projects. "Peabody has already been told that we need one," noted Mayor Slocombe. "The last one was in done in 1973 and is really not applicable."
Slocombe told the council he thought the KSU project "is a great idea." Council members voted 5-0 to move ahead with the application process.
In other business the council:
— also heard that Kansas Main Street architect Doug McMillen will be in Peabody Tuesday to review the downtown historic district buildings. He will make a presentation in the Anne Potter room of the library about basic exterior maintenance and simple projects to revitalize building facades. The workshop is free, but reservations are requested.
— agreed that four councilmen will attend the Marion County Economic Development luncheon Wednesday in the Anne Potter room.
— heard from Richard Knauf that city maintenance on South Plum Street and the railroad right-of-way has not been done on a regular basis this summer. Knauf said the city last summer acknowledged its responsibility to maintain the street, but has not done so regularly this year. Slocombe told Knauf the council would look at the problem.
— approved two ordinances authorizing the city to use the Standard Traffic Offense and Uniform Public Offense Code regulations. The city annually approves the use of these two ordinances.
— agreed to have public works director Darren Pickens do more investigative testing of the water at 604 Poplar after Angela Menjivar showed photos of green water that appears in her home periodically. Council members thought perhaps her home could be on a dead-end line.
— met again with members of the Christmas light committee, as well as city treasurer Stephanie Ax, to establish protocol about transferring donations and memorial gifts from a city account to the committee's account. The light committee will now pay its own vendor invoices. The city will continue to pay Westar for the three metered poles it has paid in the past.
— reviewed nuisance properties with health and safety officer Tammy Whiteside. Six properties whose owners have made little or no progress were selected to move into the formal process for abatement.
— discussed once again the sewer project deficiencies and heard updates on the possible completion when Kansas Department of Health and Environment releases the city from the mercury remediation issue. City administrator Jeff Benbrook was instructed to contact project engineer Al Reiss once again and request that he attend the next council meeting.
— approved moving forward on the abatement of unoccupied nuisance mobile homes in the city limits. A list of targeted properties will be turned over to law enforcement, served notices to appear in municipal court, and the city judge will decide the fate of the mobile homes.
— went into executive session for the purpose of discussing the acquisition of property. Upon return to open session, council voted to make an offer to the owner of four lots on South Olive.
— agreed to begin a survey of alleys in the community to be sure there is adequate access for emergency vehicles. It has come to the council's attention that trees and shrubs are overgrown and some property owners have vehicles, trailers, and other property encroaching upon the alleyways. After surveying the community, council members will establish a method of bringing them into compliance.
