Peabody City Council bites the bullet on sales tax proposal
Money will be used only for street projects
By SUSAN MARSHALL
News editor
Peabody City Council members Monday night agreed that a one cent sales tax for Peabody is probably unavoidable.
"I think we might be the only town in Marion County that has not gone after this form of revenue," said Peabody Mayor Tom Schmidt.
During recent budget meetings council members were made painfully aware of how inadequate city funding is in many areas. One of the biggest budget chunks goes to repair and maintain city streets.
"We have been on track with a seven-year plan to resurface our streets," said Schmidt. "When we started five or so years ago, we were able to stay on track by spending $45,000 dollars a year, rotating the attention to streets in different parts of town.
"Because of increases in cost of raw materials, we must now spend $100,000 dollars or more to do what the $45,000 did when we first got started," he said.
"We will fall farther and farther behind. And there is nothing in there for curbs and gutters either. They are crumbling all over town — there just is no money to take care of them," he added.
The council will promote the sales tax initiative between now and the November general election.
Related also to street repair in Peabody was a discussion of work being done on the north side of city park where trees and lilac hedges are being removed because they are damaging a length of Division Street that runs parallel to the park.
According to city superintendent Darren Pickens and mayor Schmidt, employees of Inland Paving determined that root systems under the edge of the street prevent stability in the asphalt. Excessive overgrowth above prevents the area from drying out, trapping moisture and causing further asphalt deterioration.
Pam Lamborn was present to ask if the hedge could be left intact to maintain the buffer for homeowners on the north side of Division and retain some of the ambiance provided by the trees and old-fashioned shrubbery.
Pickens suggested continuing the project and then having Stone Creek Nursery landscapers look at installing new plants farther south of the current hedge.
Council was in favor of making the attempt to provide a good street surface for the residents and agreed to proceed with hedge and tree removal and look at plant replacement after the street is repaired.
In other business the council:
— heard from Rosemary Saunders of Reiss and Goodness that three minor infractions were found during the final monitoring visit for the sewer project. The infractions involved construction company employment records and all but one have been resolved.
— discussed with Saunders several deficiencies still not resolved for the sewer plant. The ground will be seeded when the weather cools and fence posts will be tamped into the ground by the construction company, but council and city engineer Al Reiss remain at odds over the access road. It was noted a culvert has been installed in the access road at Pawnee.
— heard from city administrator Jeff Benbrook the cleanup plan for mercury contamination in the former sewer plant is being reviewed by KDHE and that project should probably by complete by the end of August.
— agreed to reduce the amount of pool rent owed by Peabody swim team because the pool was closed so many days at the beginning of the season. The rental agreement was initially based on projected numbers of swimmers and practice days.
— reviewed ordinances regulating mobile homes, manufactured homes, and recreational vehicles. Some changes regarding a "grandfather clause" will be reviewed by legal council before a vote is taken on the ordinance for mobile and manufactured homes. However, council unanimously approved new regulations regarding recreational vehicles, where they may be parked, the establishment of a recreational vehicle camp, and permit process.
— briefly reviewed a list of statutes published by Kansas State Historical Society involving designated historic buildings and districts in Kansas. Little discussion was had, but councilmen agreed to examine the information in depth at a future meeting that may include a representative from Kansas State Historic Preservation Office.
— heard from Pickens the street sweeper is not effective on grass that has grown down over the curb and established itself in the cracks of a street or gutter. Councilmen briefly discussed requiring homeowners to control the growth, but took no action on the problem.
— approved a trip to Salina Aug. 8 for Benbrook to attend a free half-day training session on work place safety.
— approved an increase in the franchise fee agreement with Southwestern Bell Telephone. The fee will increase from $.50 to $1.00 per phone per month. The city retains the money from this fee and it becomes part of the general fund.
— heard from Benbrook that health and safety officer Deb Buser recommended releasing the property at 612 N. Sycamore from the list of nuisance properties. Buser noted the nuisance conditions had been abated by the owners.
— Benbrook noted also that Middlecreek Corp. had contacted him about postponing removal of the debris at 111 S. Vine. Because of the company's schedule, the job has been delayed but will be finished by Aug. 21. Council will review at the Aug. 28 meeting.
