The Wamego City Commission approved an engineering study at Tuesday’s meeting. City Manager Merl Page informed the Governing Body that he’d talked to an engineer about a study to eliminate a lift station in the northern part of the City. Page said the engineering study would cost about $23,000 and would include a field evaluation design and bid documents. He said by eliminating the lift station, it would also eliminate continued maintenance problems and could position the City for future development to the North.
Page asked the Commission to approve the review and design of the project contingent on the City Attorney’s review and approval of the agreement. Approval was given by a vote of 5 to 0.
In other business, Page brought up the request to upgrade the dispatch center at the Police Department at a cost of over $25,000, which was not included in the 2016 budget. Because of the cost not budgeted, Page recommended tabling the decision until the second meeting in November. A vote of 5 to 0 was given.
Also, Page wanted to remind the public of the Power Plant Open House on Saturday, October 9th from 1 to 3, which also coincides with the Fire Departments Open House.
Annual ordinances were approved with Page briefly reviewing the 2016 General Rezoning ordinance that was amended by the Planning Commission, which covers the general rezoning for the City of Wamego.
Other ordinances needing approval on an annual basis were the Standard Traffic Offense Code and the Uniform Public Offense Code, which are both modified during the State Legislative session. All three ordinances were approved by a vote of 5 to 0.
In other business, Page said he had a meeting with the Wamego Community Foundation for an overview of the funds, and outsourcing the funds through the Manhattan Community Foundation. He said the City has several funds that are inactive due to the projects being completed, but other funds that are still active. After a brief discussion, it was decided to leave the active funds and possibly close the inactive funds.
And the Wamego City Commission approved an online payment system. Page said the City has discussed the online payment system for a while, but wants to make the system all-inclusive with the Recreation Department. The City Clerk did the research and the City Attorney has reviewed all the documents, so feels the City is now positioned to move forward. Page said the biggest expense is on the Recreation side because of software needs, which will cost over $25,000. According to Page, there are ample funds in the software budget. He said they need a 2-month lead time to get ready and educate the customers. January 1st is the target date stated, and approval was given by a vote of 5 to 0.
In other business, the Commission approved the Recreation Departments maintenance request to properly fix all 6 of the ball fields. Page said this is something that should have been done several years ago, and on a regular basis. They plan to use a company out of Topeka to do laser leveling of the fields at a cost of $39,410, and also wants Staff to come up with a 3 to 5 year maintenance plan.
Page also reviewed the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) Z-2 Assessments. He said the SPP did an evaluation on the additional cost and credits of the transmission system. The total cost of $126,000, which is broken down by city and paid through tariffs. Page said the City of Wamego’s share of the $126,000 was $982. No complaints were heard.
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