Hospital charter

Here is a link to the packet for the next city commission meeting.
You may also get there by clicking on the title of this post.
http://arkcity.org/DocumentView.aspx?DID=2221&DL=1

The hospital is item no. 4

It says a five member board in the preview, but its really supposed to be seven.
The board has nine members now.
A member of the commission will be a non voting member.

One thing that I thought was interesting, is a provision to make the charter have to be approved by voters. If 10 percent of the voters present a petition, the city will have to put it before the people to vote. So even if it were passed, it could be blocked by voters.

Here is the wordage ...
Section 9. Effective Date. This Charter Ordinance shall be published once a week for
two consecutive weeks in the official City newspaper, and shall take effect sixty (60) days after final publication,

unless a petition signed by a number of electors
ten percent (10%) of the number of electors who voted at the last preceding regular City election shall be filed in the office of the City Clerk, demanding that this Charter Ordinance be submitted to a vote of the electors, in which event this Charter Ordinance shall take effect when approved by a majority of the electors voting at an election held for such a purpose.

Saturday morning

mayors and blogs

Here are a few random thoughts for a Friday morning.
I talked with Mell Kuhn yesterday. We couldn't connect for a full interview, but he is willing to answer questions. I hope to get to that even today if possible.
But we did talk for a few minutes. He feels he is actually helping the city. He said he has done a lot of work for the city, but also said he has saved the city money.l
One thing to consider is that he specializes in working on sewer plants and has worked on several around the state.
This bidding process is pretty well out in the open.
Got to hand it to Mell. He says what he thinks. He told me that if he were doing anything illegal, he would not be doing it out in the open.
He said he also does some consulting work on the phone with people at the sewer plant at no charge.
Also chatted with City Manager Steve Archer after the meeting Tuesday. He says they take extra care to make sure its all legal because he is the Mayor. Archer was a little indignant as well. He feels his own integrity is being questioned as well.
The players seem willing to put the cards on the table. Ill facilitate that as soon as i can.
As usual, I am not taking sides. Ill gather the information and leave it to the readers to decide for themselves.

Im still kinda amazed at the live blogging, and how well it was received. No one has commented on my idea of doing a general live blog Saturday. If you are going to show up let me know.
Anyway, I plan on doing it again Monday at the work session.
Work session meetngs are much less formal than regular meetings. There may be 3 conversations going on at once and it can get hard to follow.

Im sure many of you have blogs. Send me your blog addresss - or post it here - an I'll put a link to it. Im going to compile a list of local blogs here.

We have had our share of controversy lately. The trial and the death penalty, crash recovery fees, water bills, hospital boards, mayors .... the list goes on.
Actually I think this is good. Stuff is getting out in the open and being debated.
The controversy is not a problem. I think it is part of the solution really.

Let's try this

Here is another experiment I would like to try.
I am going to try the live blogging thing again Saturday morning. Lets say 10 a.m.
There wont be any event or anything.
Just stop by and we can talk about whatever you want to talk about.
What do you all think?
Does anyone want to do that?
Just sign on here and you will see the live blog. You may read or comment.
I have not figured out how to let comments just show up on their own, so I will have to approve them.
Ill let as many through as I can.

One thing I would like to talk about is the paper. The web site.
Other than that, you can name the subject.
I guess we will go about an hour if people are interested.

Live blogs

Response to the live blog has been overwhelming.
We had a lot more visitors both to the site and to the blog here as a result.
Feels like we have hit upon something you all want.
I hope to do it again real soon. We might try to get the candidates involved in that.
We have elections for city commission and school board in early April.

Another idea I have is to do a general live blog, where we could talk about whatever is of interest to our readers.
Maybe a Saturday morning. I could open a live blog and just see who shows up. Let me know if you would be interested in that.

I may also try it again Monday night at the city worksession. That won't be as fast and furious as the meeting the other night.

Aftermath

Greetings.
A lot of people showed up at the town hall meeting last night, and seems like quiet a few were participating in the live blog.
Again, public outcry has made a difference. The water fee thing will be changed at the next meeting. The crash recovery fee has been dropped.
I think its good when people get riled up.
I enjoyed doing the live blog. It was intense for me.
Hope you all understand about the typing. I was trying to type on there, and type some notes for a story, and trying to pay attention. That was the hardest thing, keeping track of what was going on as I typed.
There were also people typing in questions and comments.
I had to approve those for those to appear. I put up a lot of them. Some I just didn't have time to look at and others were not suitable.

I thought it was also interesting that people questioned the mayor about his business dealings. He answered the questions. Ill be getting a more in depth story on that together soon.
Ill try the live blog thing again soon.
Thanks to the city for their cooperation.
I would like to know what you all thought about that.

City Commission Town Hall Meeting Live Blog

Welcome to the first Traveler Live Blog! We're trying something new today, so please bear with us as we try to work out the kinks and bugs.

The above window is where the live chat is taking place. Once the live blog starts, you should see a place to click to join in. You will then be able to read my thoughts during the meeting, as well as ask questions of your own. Once the meeting is over, the blog will be archived and you can check it in the future whenever you want.

water

building

Here is a poem submitted by a reader

I watched them tear a building down

I watched them tear a building down;
A gang of men in a busy town.
With a mighty heave and lusty yell,
They swung a beam and a side wall fell.

I said to the foremen, "Are these men as skilled
As the men you'd hire if you had to build?"
He gave a laugh and said, "No indeed!
Just a common laborer is all I need.
And I can wreck in a day of two
What it took the builder a year to do."

And I thought to myself as I went my way,
"Just which of these roles have I tried to play?
Am I a builder who works with skill and care
Building others up by the rule and square,
Or am I a wrecker as I walk the town

Anonymous

Voter ID

Here is a link to a chart that shows requirements in all states.
Federal law requires ID for first time voters, after that its up to the states.
They are different. Only a few require photo ID. Most just want some kind of ID, and even a bill with your name and address on it will work.
Then there is the question of whether people should be required to vote.
Be sure to check out the link to the Australian vote near the bottom of this.

Here are state by state rules
http://www.ncsl.org/programs/legismgt/elect/taskfc/voteridreq.htm

Voter ID required in Canada
http://www.elections.ca/content.asp?section=ele&dir=ids&document=index&textonly=false

Pro and con articles
http://www.helium.com/debates/66157-should-photo-identification-be-required-to-vote

From a Time magazine article
Representatives of the ACLU and several black caucuses say there's no proof of voter fraud to justify these requirements. ID advocates counter that there is no proof of disenfranchisement either. Although an Ohio State University study predicts that 6% to 10% of qualified voters in that state could be turned away if a photo ID were demanded, no studies have yet been conducted to determine whether disenfranchisement has occurred in states where such ID is already required.

More links
http://blogs.computerworld.com/no_id_required_inviting_voter_fraud

In the UK
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/04/30/younger_id_card_voting/

GOTTA LOVE THE AUSSIES
required to vote, but just about any excuse will get you out of the fine ... even forgetting.

http://www.slate.com/id/2108832/

Required to vote
http://media.www.clarksonintegrator.com/media/storage/paper280/news/2008/04/14/Opinion/Us.Citizens.Should.Be.Required.To.Vote-3323572.shtml

Sunday morning

I posted a verse of the day yesterday, so I wont today. Some folks may feel im getting off into "religion" too much. Ill try to limit it to Sunday mornings.
Having folks give me topics would help too.
We could talk about national and world events as well as local.

Later today I am going to look around and find some stats on the death penalty.
Ill post what I find.
But you know you can make numbers say whatever you want them to say.
Someone said ... "figures don't lie, but liars figure"

Here are some sayings of the buddha

One of his students asked Buddha, "Are you the messiah?"
"No", answered Buddha.
"Then are you a healer?"
"No", Buddha replied.
"Then are you a teacher?" the student persisted.
"No, I am not a teacher."
"Then what are you?" asked the student, exasperated.
"I am awake", Buddha replied.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Words have the power to both destroy and heal. When words are both true and kind, they can change our world.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

What we think, we become.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one getting burned.

More trial thoughts

There were a couple of anti-death penalty people at the Thurber trial. They were giving quotes to the media and trying to stir up the debate about the death penalty.
They were from here and part of the Kansas organization. They certainly had every right to do so.
They also wrote a letter to the editor in the paper, and some readers have posted on here about how it was a bit harsh.
I thought it was a bit harsh too, but we don't edit letters and we try to let people say pretty much what they want to say.
I am not sure how others felt, but I felt it was in bad taste to try to stir up the debate during such a time. The community was trying to come to grips with one of the worst things to happen here in a long time. It was an emotional time. Two families hurting, and many people feeling stressed. It was a time of great sadness for all of us.
I realize people have to take opportunities to speak out when they arise. But still, there needs to be some sensitivity to how a community feels. The media pretty much did not allow itself to be manipulated.
Sometime in the summer maybe, would be a good time to have that debate, after we all have a little perspective and feelings have faded.
Did anyone else feel that during the trial was not a good time to be having a political debate?

The verdict was certainly a reflection of our community. On our latest online poll, 84 percent favored the death penalty, 11 percent were against it and the rest were undecided.
There were a lot of votes, with 835 saying they favored the death penalty.

What seems right

There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.
Proverbs 16:25

Today's verse of the day caught my attention.
I may start posting more "wise sayings" and see if people want to talk about them.
Ill include some from other religions and from non-religions.
Anyways, this one is interesting. It is identical to Proverbs 14:12, and is the only one that is repeated.
This verse really goes against a core value of our culture. Our culture says what feels right is right, or whatever is right to you is right for you etc.
What seems right, may not be, is what the writer is saying. Our culture says what seems right has to be right.
That's a deep philosophical issue, but the thing is, we can be deceived. What seems right really might be bad for us. We should try to look at the facts and not our feelings in deciding what is right or good.
The point is, you reap what you sow, no matter how it seems to you or how you feel about it.
Another way to look at it, from a more cynical point of view, would be that we all end up dead anyway, so ... it doesn't matter what you think is right.

Town hall meeting

The city commission is having a town hall meeting at 7 p.m., next Tuesday, the 24th, at City Hall.
Just so there isn't any confusion. It was originally set for a different day, and we had it in the paper as a different day on Tuesday. Tuesday night they changed the date.
Im not mentioning the other date to try to avoid any confusion.

They have had a couple of these forums and they have gone rather well.
But they have been dominated by hot button issues. There was one last fall and it was all about the windows.
I know people like to talk about hot button issues, but if that is all people talk about, there may be some really worthy issues that are passed over.

Its going to be at city hall, which is different. It will not be televised. Or recorded. City officials say they want to gather information, and they feel some people might not want to talk if they are going to be on TV.

State financial moves

Ive been talking with Kasha Kelley and Ed Trimmer about the money crisis at the statehouse.
It is cool having a representative in our area from both sides of the aisle. I think this way we get a well rounded picture of what's happening up there.
Anyways, it seems this whole crisis thing was never a crisis at all. It was just politics. As you would expect, just who was playing politics depends on which side you ask.
There never was a real danger that employees would not be paid, nor was there a real danger that income tax checks would not go out.
Trimmer said this happens every year. The state doesn't get as much revenue in Jan-Feb., and it gets more around April and May. So in the past, every year, they borrow from April and May money to finish off the lean months of Jan-Feb. It's just a short term bond note.
The only difference is that this year it became politicized.
Kelley agreed that this was never a real crisis.
But they don't agree on how it happened or why it happened this time.

The deal is, the Governor signs a bill to move the money around to make expenses, and the heads of the House and Senate sign of on it, and its a done deal.
This time, from what I gather, the house and senate leadership threatened to not sign it because the Governor had not signed the state budget bill. The governor then went to the media and cried wolf, and the media took the bait, and we had a news story.

But, some say the governor could have signed it over anyway. But republicans say there was some reason it wasn't legal this time. Looks like both sides were playing a little politics.
I would give credit to our two legislators for telling us the real deal.
Though both did point to the other side as the root of the problem.

I emailed Steve Abrams, to see what they were thinking over in the Senate.
Kinda gave him the chance to join in the political fray. To his credit, he didn't take the bait. I got the idea from his email that he was not real concerned about it. He did say it was not a real crisis, but he does think there is a real crisis with funding the overall budget.

They do have bigger fish to fry up there. There really are budget shortfalls, and the 2010 budget isnt going to be pretty. Just hope they stop playing politics long enough to deal with the situation.

corporate welfare

Just for a change of pace.
Someone said something about welfare. I know people complain about poor people getting welfare and people getting it who don't deserve it. Yet I rarely hear complaints about corporate welfare, which is giving money to huge companies that are already making a nice profit.
This is before, and beyond, any bailouts.
Here is a quote from the Boston Globe, and then a few links for your reading enjoyment.

"The $150 billion for corporate subsidies and tax benefits eclipses the annual budget deficit of $130 billion. It's more than the $145 billion paid out annually for the core programs of the social welfare state: Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), student aid, housing, food and nutrition, and all direct public assistance (excluding Social Security and medical care
--Boston Globe series on Corporate Welfare


http://www.corporations.org/welfare/

http://www.progress.org/banneker/cw.html

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,989508,00.html

crash recovery fee

Commissioners repealed the crash recovery fee tonight, effective immediately.
Very few individuals paid. They said they would not be refunding any of the money collected from insurance companies, but they may look into that further.
Full story in tomorrow's paper.

On the Thurber sentence.
I was not really surprised that it went the way it did.
There will be appeals and it will take a few years. I dont think the families will have to go through it again. The appeals will involve just lawyers and judges I think
Thurber did mutter a small apology to the Sandeholms, but only after being convicted.
I might have felt a shred of sympathy if he had taken the stand, taken responsibility for his actions, and apologized publicly.
Not that I am happy he will be executed.
Just saying it would have made a difference to me if he had done that. Might have made a difference to the jury too?

Thurber

Jury just handed down a death sentence in the Thurber murder trial

Commission update

Looks like the crash recovery fee will be repealed tonight.
Commissioners told the city attorney to draw up the ordinance repealing it and to give it to them at tonight's meeting.
Dotty and Scott want to repeal it. Remains to be seen if they have the third vote needed.
They may approve some other kind of fee. Something a lot less and more reasonable.

The water bill thing is also being debated, but may not come up tonight.
Skaters will be coming in again tonight. They are getting organized, no action is expected tonight at the commission meeting.

city commission agenda

Here is what is on the city commission meeting agenda for tonight.
Worksession 5:30 p.m. today
regular meeting 7 p.m. tuesday

1. Receive presentation on proposed MidWest Rock Fest.
2. Consider ordinance correcting verbiage in City Code 8.12.070 regarding multi-family
dwellings, trash collection.
3. Consider ordinances levying special assessments on various properties in the City for
unpaid charges for weed mowing, property maintenance violations, and removal of junk and
debris.
4. Consider ordinance amending City Code regarding responsibility for trees and vegetation
on public property.
5. Consider resolution setting hearing date for possible dangerous structures at 521 N. C, 312
N. 1st, and 715 W. Vine.
6. Consider resolution authorizing an engineering services agreement for Kansas Avenue
improvement project.
7. Consider resolution authorizing purchase of property at 1534 N. 3rd.
8. Consider authorizing use of Equipment Reserve Fund for purchase of clarifier drive,
Environmental Department.
9. Consider authorizing use of Equipment Reserve Fund for copier purchase, Administration
Department.
10. Consider resolution setting public meeting for February 26, 2009 at 7 PM at the Senior
Center.
11. Consider Mayor’s appointments to City Boards.

Review of Upcoming Ordinances.
1. Charter Ordinance on reorganizing Hospital Board.
2. Ordinance modifying municipal code regarding skateboarding violations in the
downtown, increasing deterrents and penalties.
3. Ordinance on use of CSR, emergency services fees.
4. Ordinance revising utility shut-off procedure.

Thought for Sunday

<sup>Which is the greatest commandment ?

Matthew 22:37-40
37</sup> Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
^{ 38} This is the first and greatest commandment. ^39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^
40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

What does it mean to love?

column about the trial

Here is a link to my column that was in the paper saturday.

http://www.arkcity.net/columns/jj021409.shtml

Valentines Day

Here is a question sent in by a reader of this blog.
Use this blog today to write about Valentines Day.

On a day set aside to celebrate the virtues of "LOVE" with all its hype, money and advertising. What is it that keeps some couples together for a life time and others still searching?

Thurber guilty

Jury rules Thurber guilty of capital murder.
Guilty on all counts

Skateboards and rivers

I am encouraged by the skateboard coalition. Just that they are organizing and trying to make something happen.
They tried a year or so ago and faded away. That's ok. Its cranking up again, and that is what matters.
It may take a few tries.
I think too often in Arkansas City, we are able to define problems, but do not do as well at finding solutions. Maybe we are not even defining the real problem. Maybe we don't even know what the real problem is.
It is similar to the rivers, which were also being discussed in yesterday's blog.
We all want more river access, and we all realize it is a problem. We just don't seem to know what to do about it.
Im seeing the skateboard "problem" as the same issue as the river "problem."
Both are real issues, but there may be underlying issues. We need to see that just complaining and further defining the problem - is not the answer.
We are starting to see some movement in searching for a solution to the skateboard issue.
That is encouraging.
Some people are taking charge and being leaders.
We need that to happen with the rivers as well.

The problem we have is one of leadership. Leaders are emerging on the skateboard issue. We are still waiting for river leaders to show up.
I believe that is te real problem regardless of the issue.
Who is willing to take a chance.
Who is willing to achieve great things?

I was reading about the history of Oklahoma City's downtown development. It is a very cool place now. It was terrible in the 70s. Here is the thing. This guy had a dream. His dream was to create trails for horseback riding in an otherwise dilapidated area.
There are no horse trails there now. His idea failed. Just never worked out.
But, he never dreamed there would be what is there now.
Something to think about?

New blog

Ive posted a devotional over on the new blog, which is about bible study.
It is adult material, so be warned. :)
Here is the link

http://www.mychurch.org/blog/390451/a-pure-heart


Here is a link to the blog itself

http://www.mychurch.org/musicfestival/blog

skateboarder and a wild idea

I have been down on skateboarders from time to time. But I see some things coming together and it sounds good.
Ill give them some support in the paper and help publicize their efforts - that means organizers have to give me information about events and so forth.
But when they do bad, I'm gonna say that too.
They just need to stay out of my wife's flower beds at the library. She puts a lot of work into that, and her own money, so I hate to see it messed up.
Anyways, im all for them getting organized and building a park. Exhibitions would be good too. You could also have competitions.
Now is a good time. The city has property. The current commission wants to get rid of property.
I'm not sure the city will give any money, but they might give away a piece of ground.

Which brings me to the wild idea.
The city is going to shut down Summit Street for a few days while PrairieFest is going on in May.
That's not done too often.
But, what if we did that every now and then. Make Summit into a pedestrian area. Allow skateboarders that day. Bikes. Whatever. Just no cars.
Could be dangerous. But it could be good too.
Maybe a skateboarder festival?
Just a thought.

Good Sunday morning

<sup>Did you all see the verse of the day. These are just wise old sayings. I thought today's was particularly appropriate to blogs. And to those that post there.

Proverbs 18:20</sup> From the fruit of his mouth a man’s stomach is filled;

with the harvest from his lips he is satisfied.

^18:21 The tongue has the power of life and death,

and those who love it will eat its fruit.

My comments:
It speaks of the power of the tongue - the words you use. They affect others obviously, but they also affect you.
The tongue's fruit are words ... what comes out of the mouth formed by the tongue.
It is saying you will reap what you sow. Words are powerful. Just think of the words you say to yourself, about yourself.
And on here, anonymity has given people the feeling they can say whatever they want without facing any recriminations. But, your own words will come back to you.
That is why it is better to speak positive words than negative words.

Skateboard park

Sounds like the Skateboard Park is getting some momentum.
Zach may have found himself a project eh :)
Its great to have the kids involved in it. I will really be theirs once it is built.

Ill put stuff in the paper for you. Any fundraisers or whatever. Just let me know a few days ahead.
One suggestion is to make sure you keep good records and a good trail of where the money goes. People will donate if they know their donation is spent well.

What about the area south of town where we had - have the music festival. The old meat packing plant.
There's tons of room there. It is a hard sandy surface so it could handle a cement park really well. It's got a meat packing pant buried under it so it really can't handle normal buildings.
Reason I mention that is, I would like to see that area developed and have river access there eventually.
Having a skate park there, and a growing music festival, can only help in that.

Trial

Have you guys been following the Thurber murder trial?
Nothing much has been said on here, but it is all over the place.
Most of what is coming out, came out during preliminary hearings over a year ago.
The defense has not done very much cross examining. It will be interesting to hear their case.

Ive not heard it talked about all that much in the street either. I wonder why that is.
Is it just too hard to talk about?

Tourists and downtown

Did you see the story in the Traveler this week about the tourist group from Wichita that came to Arkansas City for a day trip?
With all the Thurber trial coverage, it might have gotten lost, but it was on the front this week.
They had a good time and enjoyed their day here.
All those naysayers who are always running the city down should pay attention to this.

The tour group is interesting. Its called a "mystery" tour. A couple in Wichita runs the group, and takes people on a "mystery" tour 3-4 times a year. You go somewhere in Kansas for the day.

We have made a lot of daytrips in Kansas, and there is a lot to see and do.
Some of the people said they would like to come back. They were given schedules of events coming up, such as festivals.

Also, yesterday I was meeting someone for lunch downtown. I was running late. It was only 2 blocks, but since I was late I took my car. Here is the weird thing. There was not a single parking spot available on that block - were Bricks is - or on either side street of the block.
So I ended up parking almost as far away as I would have if I had just walked to start with.
The downtown does get busy at times.
Hardly sounds like the ghost town some want to make it out to be.

City Commission on dogs and other issues

You can be fined in Arkansas City now for not cleaning up after your pet.
City commissioners passed an ordinance Tuesday that will impose fines on people who do not clean up after animals that defecate on public property, or on someone else's property without permission. It will be complaint driven. No one will be patrolling to see if anyone is violating the ordinance.
The city also passed two ordinances regarding pit bulls and vicious dogs.

They talked about the water bill fees and the crash recovery fee more, but didn't take any action. On the water bills, they plan to exempt non-profits, and seem to be leaning toward reducing the fee to $35 instead of 50. Both will be brought up again in March meetings.

It was a four-hour long meeting.
They also heard from skateboarders. They tabled an ordinance that would require parents to come to the police station to retrieve skateboards that have been confiscated. Parents could also be fined.

Other matters:
* Approved the Public Building Commission to issue $28,000,000 in revenue bonds for new hospital facility. Voters approved the half-cent sales tax last November. The Public Building Commission — made up of city commissioners — must issue the bonds that will be used to build the hospital, funded in part by the sales tax. This is a preliminary step to selling bonds.
* Accepted KDOC HOME grant, providing for grants to remodel low-income, owner-occupied homes.
Passed a resolution authorizing city participation in NLC Prescription Discount Card Program.
* Passed a resolution authorizing engineering services agreement with Smith & Oakes for Sanitary Sewer Relocation project. A sewer main was heavily damaged in the flooding during the summer of 2007. FEMA has agreed to reimburse the city as repairs are made. Archer said the city has decided it would be more efficient and less costly to build a new one. Smith & Oakes will be doing the design work.
* Passed an ordinance modifying municipal code regarding City Commission authority to remove any board member (of the city boards) without cause.

More notice

At the worksession Monday, the city decided to try to give more warning - or notice - about upcoming ordinances.
They are going to start putting ordinances on the agenda two weeks earlier.
This means, for instance, when they put out the agenda for the first meeting in March, it will have any ordinances that will be considered in the second meeting listed.
That way, there will be more notice.
So the the agenda for the first meeting in march will have that night's items, plus the items for the following meeting. This will apply only to ordinances.

Kansas is pretty lax in its rules about agendas and such. Legally they do not even have to have an agenda, and if they do, they don't "have to" follow it. They could legally bring up an item and pass it that same night.

Got to give them a little credit here for trying to give the public more notice about things.

You can find out a lot by going to their web site.
The agenda is usually posted Thursday afternoon before the following week's meetings.
The "packet" is usually posted at the same time, or Friday morning.
The packet has background information about the items on the agenda. It is the same material - for the most part - that commissioners receive.

water bills and crash reports

Commissioners talked a long time about the water bill thing and the crash report thing.
They will likely be changed some.
One thing to realize is, that you do not have to pay the crash report fee. It is voluntary.
The insurance companies are asked to pay, and about half do, chief Wallace said.
Some companies send it back to the person who was at fault.
Wallace says no one will go after the person to pay, it wont be turned over to a collection agency etc.
On the water bills. Lane Massey said since this connection and shutoff fee went into effect, a lot fewer people are failing to pay their bill.
There were more people late last month, but the number of shutoffs were cut in half.
So if its getting people to pay, then maybe its not so bad.
But they are considering cutting the amount of the charge, and are going to not charge if a non profit - such as salvation army or a church - is paying the bill.
They talked over 4 hours.

city commission agenda

Here is the agenda for the city commission meetings
Monday 5:30 p.m., worksession.
Tuesday, 7 p.m. regular meeting
all meetings open to the public

1. Consider resolution requesting the Public Building Commission to issue $28,000,000 in
revenue bonds for new hospital facility.
2. Consider resolution accepting KDOC HOME grant, providing for grants to remodel low
income owner occupied homes.
3. Consider resolution authorizing City participation in NLC Prescription Discount Card
Program.
4. Consider resolution authorizing engineering services agreement with Smith & Oakes for
Sanitary Sewer Relocation project.
5. Consider ordinance modifying municipal code regarding skateboarding violations in the
downtown, increasing deterrents and penalties.
6. Consider ordinance modifying municipal code regarding Commission authority to remove
any Board Member without cause.
7. Consider ordinance modifying municipal code regarding additional regulation of Pit Bulls.
8. Consider ordinance modifying municipal code regarding additional regulation of vicious
dogs.
9. Consider ordinance modifying municipal code regarding removal of pet waste from public
and private property.
10. Consider Mayor’s appointments to City Boards.