City OKs policy for business expansion

Giving themselves a tool for economic development, the Fort Scott City Commission on Tuesday approved a resolution adopting a policy to offer manufacturing firms property tax exemptions for expansion purposes.

City Manager Dave Martin said the resolution could most immediately be used for an expansion at Labconco, which makes medical cabinets in Fort Scott. City Attorney Bob Farmer said a 41,000-square-foot expansion has been discussed.

Farmer said a formal request from the company will be forthcoming. With the resolution, Farmer said the city can do exactly the same tax abatement process as with bonds. The city can offer an abatement of up to 100 percent over a 10-year period, but it doesn't lock the city into that deal and it lets the city charge a payment in lieu of taxes. He noted by approving the policy, the city was not making any economic development decisions Tuesday night, but it was preparing for any upcoming requests.

He said this will be the third expansion at Labconco. "To say we're excited about it is an understatement," Farmer said.

After hearing from Friends of the FSNHS President Reed Hartford and Don Miller, president of the Historic Preservation Association of Bourbon County, commissioners voted to write a letter of support to keep artifacts currently not on display at Fort Scott National Historic Site in Fort Scott. A resolution may be considered at the next meeting.

Hartford and Miller told the panel a decision was recently made at the regional level of the National Parks Service to centralize park exhibits at one location.

"My concern is they are removing those pictures and articles from Fort Scott where it will be difficult to gain access," Hartford said. He added the memory around town would "be lost," plus the artifacts belong to the city and citizens of Fort Scott from before the site came under NPS in 1979.

Miller said HPA wants Friends of the Fort to take the point on this, but wants to throw its support behind them. He said his organization has access to a climate controlled area.

On behalf of FSNHS staff, Hartford said this was sprung on them on short notice. He said he thinks the move could be made as early as June.

Farmer said the fort was built and given to the city originally. "We hired the first superintendent and it soon became apparent that the cost of maintenance was beyond what we could do," so the city asked Congress to get involved, he said.

Mayor Jim Adams said his concern after hearing from Hartford is that these items were donated by Fort Scott citizens. "I feel like we should support Reed's effort. These collections are extremely important to us," Adams said. If they were put in an archive somewhere, people here would have limited access and they could be lost to the town.

Farmer said there is some legislative history because the Fort was built with special appropriations through U.S. Rep. Joe Skubitz, R-Kansas, and turned over to the community of Fort Scott. "We may be able to get some pressure from those people," Farmer said.

On a separate matter, commissioners approved a fee schedule for the golf course, scheduled to open at the end of May.

It also approved prohibiting fishing on the course.

Single annual memberships will be $300; annual youth memberships, $75; annual family memberships for golf only, $350; and an annual family membership with pool and Buck Run Community Center access, $450.

Fees to play nine and 18 holes on weekdays will be $10. Playing nine and 18 holes on weekends will cost $12 and a package of 25 rounds of golf will cost $250.

Cart rentals for nine holes will be $10; cart rentals for 18 holes, $18; annual trail fee, $100; and annual cart sheds, $300.

In order to rent a cart shed, individuals must buy an annual membership. The course will be open from sunrise to dark, and commissioners decided to try keeping the course open on Mondays, but they can change the policy.

"We want to make sure the community as a whole accepts this course," Martin said. "We want to make it as player-friendly as possible."

In other business, commissioners:

*Approved a $28,875 bid from R.W. Vaught Technical Services of Yellville, Ark., for a variable frequency drive (VFD) for the College Booster Pump Station. The firm has an office in Overland Park.

*Approved an $825 per month bid from Fort Scott Sanitation to provide city sanitation services.

*Approved awarding a design engineering award for a storm drainage study to Shafer Kline & Warren in Lenexa. The firm also has an office in Iola.

Director of Public Works Eric Bailey said there is no cost estimate yet on the study, but now that the commission has approved the company, he will contact the firm and get a contract going. It will likely be presented at the next commission meeting, he said.

*Public Utilities Director Richard Cook said doing the Arthur Street water line project saved the city approximately $35,000.

On another item, he said the meter replacement program will start in about two weeks and two 10-hour shifts have begun at the water plant, which has "worked really well."

"Thank you and thank you for all your innovative ideas," Adams said.

*Police Chief Ron Puterbaugh said he was notified last week the city had been awarded a grant through the Kansas Division of Emergency Management that would fund 75 percent of the cost of five new storm sirens for the city. It is a 75-25 grant, Puterbaugh said.

*Farmer said the city has an agreement to sell effluent to Archer Daniels Midland. On April 4, ADM announced plans to acquire the "soybean crushing and biodiesel facility in Deerfield, Mo., from Prairie Pride Inc.," which Farmer said went bankrupt. A news release said ADM has also formed a "partnership with Prairie Pride for the biodiesel portion of the business."

*Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Lindsay Madison said reservations are being taken at the Fort Scott Inn after an auction led to Sunflower Bank of Salina buying the business and an agreement being signed with former owner Bhupinder Singh "Bob" Dhillon to manage the hotel indefinitely, or until it's sold.