Peabody City Council creates internal office security policy
Due to the Memorial Day holiday, Peabody City Council did not meet for the final May meeting until May 31.
Council agreed to create a new internal policy for staff in the city office which mirrors the employee's policy.
"The general public needs to know when they enter city work space there is a policy in place that will be enforced to assure employees are safe and secure in that work place," said city administrator Jeff Benbrook.
"Anyone using foul language, behaving in a threatening manner, or forcing access to the office area will be removed. If an employee or city worker behaved like this, he would be fired," said Benbrook. "Of course, we can't fire members of the community, but there should be some recourse if people behave badly.
"There haven't been many people behave this way," he added. "Now we have a policy in place to deal with that."
City council heard there has been no other information received on the drainage problem between Vine and Olive streets from Indian Guide to Division Street.
Benbrook has a list of affected property owners and has kept them informed with bulletins from the city.
"These are people who live adjacent to the ditch, who have come in or called with a complaint, or who have had questions," Benbrook said. "We are trying to keep them in the loop."
Kansas Department of Health and Environment told city officials they may not use the municipal sewer system to get rid of discharge from a well should one be reopened to alleviate the drainage problem.
"The other problem they (KDHE) foresee is whether opening a single well will even do what the city hopes," said Benbrook. "Until we can come up with an acceptable plan for dealing with the discharge, the whole issue is moot anyway."
In other business the council:
— visited again with Wayland Carson about the city's ordinance for untagged, uninsured, and inoperable vehicles. Carson has two vehicles that are untagged, one running, one not, but both have non-highway titles and the state allows them to be untagged with such a title. However, city ordinances can be more restrictive than state law and the Peabody ordinance falls into that category. Carson agreed to move the vehicles if council would give him two weekends to do so. He will have them moved by Tuesday's meeting.
— tabled until a future meeting a decision on property owned by Randy and Tina Redger. Further information was required of health and safety officer Deb Buser.
— approved a request by Sharon Pickens and Judy Claassen to plant a tree in city park in honor of Vic Strotkamp.
— heard a presentation by Linda Ogden for "Communities in Schools" and approved a donation to CIS for $1,000.
