City commission approves bid for airport project
May 17—The audience applauded and the gavel smacked during a lively Abilene City Commission meeting May 13. Other than the items about water fluoridation and the NW 14th Street and Van Buren Street intersection project, the commission held a land bank meeting about a Golden Belt Heights policy and listened to a funding request for OCCK's Go Abilene public transportation program.
Proclamation
Mayor Brandon Rein presented a proclamation declaring May as National Cities, Towns and Villages Month.
"Whereas today, the National League of Cities works in partnership with 49 state municipal leagues across the country to strengthen local leadership, drive innovation, and influence the federal policies that impact local programs and operations," Rein read. "Whereas, as the voice of cities, towns, and villages in Washington, DC, the National League of Cities has successfully championed federal legislative solutions that support municipalities and has worked closely with Congress and the Executive Branch to educate policymakers on the realities of local implementation."
Regular meeting
The commission approved allowing the Seelye Mansion to utilize the city's sewer vacuum truck to drain the mansion's pond. City staff will be operating the vehicle for safety and liability reasons. The city is not charging Seelye Mansion anything for the service. As per their discussion during the last meeting April 29, city staff created an agreement that will be used as a template for similar situations with nonprofits in the future.
The commission then approved the bid of $370,036 from Atlas Electric LLC for the Abilene Municipal Airport displaced threshold project. As per their agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration, the FAA will pay $333,032.40, and the city will pay $37,003.60.
In the last two items interspersed with audience applause and gavel smacks, the commission voted to reinstate water fluoridation and requested staff to create a design concept for the NW 14th Street/Van Buren Street intersection that keeps the intersection's general form while meeting the Kansas Department of Transportation's safety specifications.
City manager report
Ron Marsh, city manager, said NW 14th Street from the Abilene Middle School entrance to Cedar Street will be closed starting May 17.
The milling and resurfacing for the Buckeye Avenue project is underway.
When storms hit Abilene last week, the city discovered a couple of storm sirens were not working correctly, and the city has since fixed them.
The Kansas Forest Service will conduct a tree inventory in Abilene May 20 through May 23. Marsh said they will have their report completed sometime in June and may be incorporated into the city's GIS program. The inventory will not cost the city anything.
Land Bank
The commission entered into a land bank meeting to approve a policy concerning selling lots in the Golden Belt Heights west area. Marsh said the policy is a mirror of the policy for the east side of the housing development. The commission voted 4-1 in favor of the policy, with Commissioner John Kollhoff voting no.
Study session
The city received seven bids for an update to the audio and visual technology in the commission's meeting room and the Abilene Community Center. City staff recommended the bid from Hopp's Sound & Electric in the amount of $39,609.
Trell Grinter, director of transportation for OCCK, presented 2023 numbers on their public transportation program in Abilene, Go Abilene, and asked for the city to continue its financial support. The program's ridership numbers continue to rise in 2023 with an over 2,000 increase from 2022. 31% of riders use the service for employment, and 41% use the service for medical purposes.
Grinter asked the city to pay 30% of the program's main budget, $71,407. Last year she requested $73,890. She also asked for an additional $9,538 for service expansion. The expansion is for an additional driver and bus. If the city provides the funds, the expansion could start as early as July 1. Grinter said people have asked if buses could run earlier and later than the current service times. The goal with an additional full-time driver and bus is to expand the service hours to 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. The service's main hours are currently 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., but a bus begins trips for scheduled and free rides as early as 7 a.m. The city in their 2024 budget allotted Go Abilene $62,000.
The Abilene City Commission will next meet at 4 p.m. May 28, the day after Memorial Day, at the Abilene Public Library.
