The Butler City Council is still looking for a person to replace Police Chief Jim Garnett, who has retired. In the process, some minor changes in the job description are in the works and some documents have been approved. Of course the Council is advertising over a wide area concerning the opening.
Mayor Don Malan's "Neighborhood Pride" Committee had a city-wide cleanup day Saturday, May 14th. This is in conjunction with the annual cleanup days, but is not a part of that activity...the Mayor's group was picking up trash along streets, and doing general pick-up of litter that is not a part of the annual cleanup.
However, around 50 persons took part in the cleanup, and it's expected that they'll again be on the job in the fall, around the time of the two weeks of the annual Clean-up Days.
The City Council's Planning Commission has made some changes in requirements concerning yards in Butler. However, they're minor, and generally, all the public needs to know is to keep yards as neat as possible.
And it's official...the circus will come to town, and is set to be at the Bates County Fairgrounds on Tuesday, September 13th. So for your kids' sake, put it on the calendar. There'll be two shows, at 4:30 and 7:30 p.m., when the Carson and Barnes Circus big tent makes an appearance.
Some will remember that Butler's Industrial Park was once an Enterprise Zone. However, that type of tax relief ended in two-thousand-eight. Now, an "Enhanced Enterprise Zone" that could be located anywhere in Bates County, not just in Butler, is available, and a public meeting is set for June 7th at 6:30 p.m. at Community First Bank, out on West Fort Scott Street. You're invited. As indicated earlier, this has to do with tax breaks and other inducements to get more industry into our area. And that means more jobs.
Mo-Dot (that's the Missouri Department of Transportation)...is moving Bates County out of the Southwest District, and into the Kansas City District. What this means will be explained in a public meeting scheduled for Wednesday, June 1st., at ten a.m. in the Bates County Commission meeting room in the courthouse. We know that the highway department is short on funds, but we see that work is progressing on designating our highway 71 a part of the interstate network.
The Butler City Council accepted the only bid for getting rid of mold and moisture problems in our police station. A company called "Assured Remediation" got the nod.
Keeping Butler's sewer lines in order is quite a job. One section of the city has been cleaned, and bids are out to do another section, and there will be more work to be done even after that. It's difficult for the average person to realize the work involved in a community's water, power and sewer operations.
Give your Mayor and council person a "thank you," next time you see them!-
And you're welcome to attend any and all city council meetings.
First and third Tuesdays of each month at seven p.m. upstairs at Butler City Hall.
-courtesy FM 92 The Bullet
