Personnel: the committee met tonight to discuss some changes and we will be following up at the next meeting.
Operations: the council renewed the cities contract with Larry Welston of Bates County Disposal. Otherwise known as Spud, he has served the city well since, I think he said 1979. One of the additions to the contract was Spuds willingness to make sure all customers dumpsters are dumped every 30 days. Hopefully this will help in alleviating over flowing dumpsters sitting in people's yards while they are finishing up their projects. Spud's dedication to service and dependability is very much appreciated.
Council meeting: started off great with the cub scout pack 237 leading us in the pledge of allegiance. Mayor Henry then presented them with a key to the city.
We had 5 scheduled guests appear before the council tonight.
Terry and Tammy Bledsoe of First Baptist Church discussed the 5k run/walk scheduled for August 18th. Council voted to approve.
Steve Craigmiles, Richard McLaine and Dennis Raybourn all spoke to the council about the problems they are experiencing with vandalism and break ins. There was a good discussion between them and the police Chief about stepping up patrols in these areas. There was also talk about encryption of the PD's radio equipment, so would be crooks can not hear the PD's location or dispatch.
We had a public hearing on the zoning of medical marijuana tonight with no input from the public.
Chief Beshore said that we are getting a "Labor Day" grant that will help with overtime costs over the holiday. A big thanks to the Chief for getting this grant for us.
We voted on Bill 2019-14 ordinance NO.1101 amending chapter 26 of the Butler City Code adding article VIII titled medical marijuana facilities.
Bill 2019-15 Ordinance NO. 1102 authorizing the Mayor to enter into a Aviation Project Consultant Agreement with Burns and McDonnell Engineering for planning services for the Butler Airport. This will enable the City to get a grant for a long range engineering plan for the Airport. The cities part of this will only be 10%. While I used to think that the airport was not all that important, I have since realized that the quality of our airport is in direct connection with our ability to get a major employer. The ability for corporate management to be able to fly in and out of town for meetings, etc. is very important.
Just an FYI, we had someone interested in opening a grocery store, but have been waiting on a survey from Associated Wholesale Grocers. Unfortunately the survey said there is only about 100 to 125k dollars worth of potential business. Woods supermarket was disappointed as they need 175k worth of business per month to be able to make a store work in Butler. This is mostly due to Walmart's huge share of the current sales.
In regards to cleaning up our fair city, 106 S. Havana and the corner of Mechanic and Dakota have been demolished and 2 more eyesores are approved and awaiting demolition.
The county has been declared a disaster due to the flooding this spring and we hope to get some federal money to help repair some sink holes and washed out culverts, such as the one on Fort Scott street.
In regards to the "Dog Days" event at the pool I voiced my displeasure to the city administrator on this. I love dogs and cats, but I don't think it's a good idea to let pets into a multi million dollar facility, mainly due to liability issues and possible damage to pumps and filters from hair, poo, and other debris in the water.
There is still some talk that Dollar Tree may be coming to town. I will update you on any further developments as they become available.
We have a Non-Binding letter of intent to purchase the spec building in the industrial park, by Local Leaf LLC. Though my desire was to have a contract for the sale of the building with a contingency on them getting their permit from the state, this was the way the buyer wanted to proceed and the council voted to sign the document. I hope this works out as it could be great long term, for the city and our community. There are still a lot of details to hash out as a deal of this size is complicated.
Please remember the Town Hall meeting on Monday August 12th at the Butler High School. There are good things happening and we need your help to continue on. Invite your friends and neighbors and be a part of the solution, as we strive to make our fair city a place we can all be proud of!
