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City asks for help with Wall St. sidewalks
Fort Scott City Commissioners moved forward Tuesday with a plan to install new sidewalks along a portion of Wall Street on the east side of the city.
During a public hearing at their regular meeting Tuesday, commissioners approved submitting a Wall Street sidewalk project to the Kansas Department of Commerce for Small Cities Community Development Block Grant Special Round funds.
The estimated cost of the project, which would consist of the construction of 4,110-feet of 4-inch concrete ADA-compliant sidewalks with ramps and detectable warning pavers in an area bounded by the south side of Wall Street from Margrave to Steen streets, is $248,390 with the grant request for $221,400 of the project cost.
The current land use of the target area is residential, business and industrial. The timeline for construction is estimated to be November 2015 to August 2016, according to information from the city.
Laura Moore, planning and development consultant with the Southeast Kansas Regional Planning Commission, informed the commission that the public hearing was to be held for the purpose of considering an application to be submitted to KDOC for the grant funds.
The city's portion of the matching grant will be $26,990. The due date for the application is June 1 with an award date of July 15, the information from the city said.
Director of Finance Jon Garrison said the city has matching funds available if the grant is awarded. Commissioners approved applying for the grant and the city's commitment for matching funds.
"We have the funds set aside in case we do get the grant," Garrison said Thursday.
There were no comments from the audience during the public hearing.
Commissioners also approved a resolution certifying legal authority to apply for the grant and authorizing Mayor Cindy Bartelsmeyer to sign and submit the application, as well as a resolution assuring KDOC that funds will be continually provided for the operation and maintenance of improvements to the sidewalk system to be financed with CDBG funds.
Moore told the commission that originally, discussions took place regarding funding for sidewalks on both sides of Wall Street, but there is only funding available to complete one side of the street, Bartelsmeyer said Thursday.
Bartelsmeyer said the grant for the sidewalk project comes after discussions and meetings involving residents along the East Wall Street corridor, where a property improvement blitz planned by the Good Neighbor Action Team (GNAT) is scheduled to take place May 30-31. Residents on Wall Street have expressed concerns in recent months about the condition of roads and sidewalks along the corridor.
"The grant ties back to that and the residents' wish to have sidewalks," she said.
City Manager Dave Martin said in April that city officials were looking into the possibility of some leftover grant money for sidewalks that could be used for the GNAT's beautification project. Martin said he had met with Moore about a grant the city could apply for that includes a 10-percent city match for sidewalks on Wall Street.
The Wall Street blitz is expected to begin addressing several blighted or dilapidated properties on Wall Street from the bypass at Wall Street and U.S. Highway 69 east to the Fort Scott city limits. The focus of the blitz is improving curb appeal or the cosmetic look of the properties.
In other business Tuesday:
* Bartelsmeyer read a proclamation which states that today is Buddy Poppy Day in Fort Scott and urged all citizens to wear a buddy poppy to honor the men and women who risked their lives in defense of our country.
* Justin Meeks appeared before the commission to request use of a parking lot behind City Hall and the building which houses his law firm to conduct an auction June 20. Setup for the auction would begin Friday, June 19. Meeks ensured commissioners the lot would be cleaned up following the auction.
* Garrison reminded commissioners that Martin had talked with them at their previous meeting about a closing date for the Fort Scott Aquatic Center, which opens Monday. Garrison said the city's recommendation is to close the pool on Sunday, Aug. 16 and reopen the following weekend, Aug. 22-23, for its last weekend. The main reason for adjusting the closing date is having enough lifeguards available as many schools and colleges have started by that time, officials said. Labor Day is Sept. 7.
"A lot of lifeguards are high school or college students and they leave in August to take part in athletics and other involvements," Bartelsmeyer said. "It's a safety issue if we don't have enough lifeguards."
* The consent agenda, which included appropriation ordinances totaling $304,406 and a request form for the annual Good Ol' Days parade, was approved.
* Slayden Davis, director of information technology, reported since he has been employed by the city the online server has gone down three times, including two times last week and Davis said this is unacceptable. With the new software for the city being hosted off-site, Davis said he has researched an off-site email hosting site and plans to move email for city staff to this site to prevent outages that have recently occurred. Garrison thanked Davis for his hard work last week as Davis worked about 36 hours straight trying to get the server back up.
* Garrison reported new software for the utility billing department and municipal court has gone live. Citizens will be able to pay their utility bills online, the last week of June, however, they will not be able to call in and have employees take a payment over the phone as has been done in the past. Citizens can go online and make their payments.