Public invited to city planning meeting
The City of Marion will have a planning session for the city commission, following its regular 4 p.m. meeting Aug. 25.
Mayor Eloise Mueller suggested the planning session during Monday's meeting of the commission. She said its objective would be to set some goals and objectives and to fine tune the ones the city and commission already have set.
"This will give us some guidelines," Mueller said. City department heads will be invited, and the meeting will be open to the public.
Susan Cooper, director of economic development for the city, said the revised figure for a Community Development Block Grant to be sought by the city is now $31,022.27.
It is an "80/20" grant, so the city's share of that total would be $6,222.42, she said. The grant sought is then truly $24,799.85. It is to compensate the City of Marion for expenses incurred during the June water situation involving potentially toxic algae on the surface at Marion Reservoir.
Cooper said she, Mayor Mueller, and Marion Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Margo Yates recently attended the annual Main Street program training at Russell.
Cooper said also she is working with Marion Die & Fixture on the company's application for approval of a tax abatement. It is now before the State Board of Tax Appeals.
City Administrator David Mayfield reported that through July the city had used (spent) just 36.4 percent of its budgeted allotment, instead of 58.3 percent as might be expected.
Director of Public Utilities Harvey Sanders said two water leaks, caused by the dry weather, had been repaired during the past week. A transformer went bad at Carlsons' Grocery and had to be changed, he reported.
Public hearings for the city's 2004 budget and for the CDBG grant were held, and both were approved with no objection.
Commissioners approved warrants for $164,764.25 and payroll in the amount of $29,196.82. Mayfield said the reason the warrants total was this high was a $103,989.49 payment to Westar for purchase of electricity and a $27,735 bond payment to the Kansas state treasurer.
