Staff writer
Steve Unruh attended Marion City Council meeting Tuesday to introduce himself to the council and bring up some issues that concerned him.
“I can’t complain if I’m not active, so here I am being more active,” he said.
He spoke about his strange yard art located off Main and Billings Sts.
“I’ve had lots of comments, both positive and not, about the pink toilets,” he said during Tuesday’s public forum.
“I just want people to know that I think it will be a nice deal when it’s done and something that will be welcoming to those on that side of the town,” he said. “I have lights that change color and go into the toilets and plan to create a fountain after getting a pink bathtub.”
Mayor Mary Olson said she too has heard mixed comments about the plumbing pieces.
“If you make them into something nice, that would be good,” she said.
Unruh proposed the city implement a class, taught by Marion Police Department, to teach citizens with concealed carry permits what the department would expect of them if a situation ever arose.
Police Chief Tyler Mermis said he would look into Unruh’s request.
The city is implementing a policy for written reports for departments to be submitted at council meetings.
During the discussion of city clerk Angela Lange’s report, councilman Jerry Dieter noticed Lange answered a lot of billing questions.
“Maybe we could categorize calls during the next month or so and figure out what questions are being asked and if it’s something simple we can answer with maybe an automated system,” he said. “That might free up a lot of your time.”
The council also looked at ways to make the planning and zoning commission more efficient by passing ordinance 1361, which defined licensing requirements for contractors.
Newly appointed zoning administrator Roger Holter called a special meeting of all planning and zoning members Sept. 10 for training and position review.
In other business:
- At 3 p.m. Sept. 11 the city will begin accepting bids for the street improvement project. Bids will be considered Sept. 16.
- Olson and Lange were appointed as delegates to the annual League of Kansas Municipalities conference Oct. 14.