City moves closer to Starting property enforcement program
By Jason Johnston
Thursday, February 9, 2012
The Emporia City Commission reviewed the third draft of the property enforcement program and looked at options to extend the runway at the Emporia Airport during Wednesday’s study session.
Zimmerman said he intends to provide the third draft of the property enforcement to the human relations commission for its Feb. 13 meeting. Emporia State University has expressed interest in the draft. Public hearings could start in March after input from human relations and ESU and changes are made to the program.
Phase I starts July 1, Phase II starts Jan. 1, 2013, and Phase III starts Jan. 1, 2014, along with subsequent phases afterward, according to city documents.
In Phase II, if homeowners do not clean their property within 30 days, the city will start forced abatement.
“We are looking not to have to do forced abatement because first of all it is not very pleasant, it time consuming, it is expensive,” he said. “… If we are seeing proactive steps, we are going to continue to work with you.”
Commissioner Rob Gilligan said the city should have a review process and then do the forced abatement.
Commissioner Joel Phipps said he is struggling about making new rules because the city should support rules that are in place, but he agrees with staff recommendation of a forced abatement.
He said he did not want Phase I of the program to have a vacant property ordinance because he did not want this to hinder the program going forward.
Mayor Kevin Nelson said Zimmerman should move the ordinance to Phase III of the program.
The city would increase its demolition program from $7,500 to $15,000 per year in Phase I and increase to $30,000 in Phase II. Demolition would be paid out of the city’s general fund.
The city would pay homeowners, who are candidates for demolition, 50 percent of demolition costs up to $3,000, and the owners would pay the other 50 percent, said Martin Peres, chief building inspector for the City of Emporia. The city could provide a loan to owners if they have problem with paying the costs.
About 28 properties are candidates for demolition.
The property enforcement program provides a comprehension tree sweep beginning this fall, Zimmerman said. He said city staff only has the manpower for one sweep per year.
In the Jan. 25 study session, the commission expressed interest in extending the runway along with doing the repairs to the runway and taxiways. However, at that session Zimmerman recommended the city should only do the repairs because of the short time frame that the city has in its sales tax continuation with the multi-year fund, which expires on June 30, 2014, to fund the repairs.
“For the few additional airplanes that we could take today with our existing runway length of 4,999 feet, it wasn’t worth the many hundreds of thousands of dollars,” he said.
At Wednesday’s study session, the commission and City Engineer Gerald Menefee discussed options to extend the runway to 5,500 feet, which would then allow larger corporate jet aircraft to utilize the airport.
Menefee said the Federal Aviation Administration allocated $600,000 to the Emporia for improvements. According to the FAA, the runway and taxiway repairs have a higher ranking than the runway extension, which means a less likelihood of having discretionary funding diverted to it. No repairs to the runways and taxiways have occurred in 24 years.
The FAA would provide 95 percent of the funding for the estimated $1.4 million in repairs and the city would provide 5 percent. Menefee said that share could increase to 10 percent because of a bill that passed in the U.S. Congress, but President Barack Obama has not signed it.
The runway extension would take between seven to nine years to complete at a cost of $4.65 million, and the FAA would contribute $4.2 million. The city may have to adjust the golf course to accommodate the runway extension. The minimum costs for this adjustment would be about $200,000.
Nelson said the city should go ahead with the repairs and maybe look at the extension at a later time.
In other business, the commission did the following:
The commission will vote on adopting the new Hazard Mitigation Plan for Lyon County at the next meeting. The city is not required to adopt the 350-page plan, said Rick Frevert, the Lyon County emergency manager, but it will not be eligible for federal dollars should a disaster happen. The current plan is a five-year plan that was accepted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in mid-December 2007, and it went into effect in 2008.
The commission will vote on installing quick response (QR) code displays at eight city locations and installing a stand, which costs $100, at the All Veterans Memorial Park. Other possible locations besides Veterans Park locations include The Prairie Passage Stones, the William Allen White House, The Gazette Building and the White Park, Peter Pan Park, the Howe House, Emporia entrance feature at Hammond Park and the Granada district. Zimmerman said the maximum anticipated cost at each location was $1,200. The biggest cost would be to hire a narrator and have IM Design construct the video and links to the Convention and Visitors Bureau website. Betty James, the bureau’s director, said the bureau contacted people to narrate, so the city will not have to pay for voice talent at the moment. She said she is hoping The Gazette owners will give the bureau permission to transfix the QR plate to the building. She wants to put a plate on the Granada Theatre.
Zimmerman said Ed Rathke, the facilities manager, told him that the facilities personnel could install the QR displays and the stand.
The commission will vote on a special events alcoholic beverage ordinance that would delegate the review and approval of sale and consumption of alcohol on public property to the city manager.
The commission will vote on amending the alcohol social hosting ordinance to not allow any minors (under 21 years old) to consume alcohol in a social setting such as a house party. City Attorney Blaise Plummer said there are already laws in place that make underage drinking illegal.
The commission wants to make a policy on how it appoints members to boards. Nelson said he suggested two terms of three years each for board members, but can reapply after a year away from the board to allow for new members. All members should still be appointed by the commission. Commissioner Jim Kessler said he would like to hear from each board concerning the new policy before the commission moves forward with a vote.
The commission did not review the 2011 budget report.
goodoleboy (anonymous) says...
Why are they wasting their time with an ordinance on drinking if their council has advised that there are already laws in place?
Thou shalt remove thy stick from rear end!
February 9, 2012 at 7:47 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jamesbordonaro (James Bordonaro) says...
QR plates at $1,200! For people who are too lazy to enter a search for CVB on Google?
This Commission is out of control!
February 10, 2012 at 7:53 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...
This money should come from the CVB budget !
February 10, 2012 at 8:39 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
"The commission wants to make a policy on how it appoints members to boards. Nelson said he suggested two terms of three years each for board members, but can reapply after a year away from the board to allow for new members"
Nelson has harped on this before. Newsflash, Nelson, people are not volunteering for boards. Those who do volunteer suddenly find themselves hard pressed to attend meetings regularly and the board is stuck without a quorum. Stop already!
Nelson must have some kind of vested interest in all this. Or is he trying to get rid of someone currently on a board? If he wants to serve on a board, go already. Volunteer. Or is that the problem with people not showing up for duty?
February 10, 2012 at 9:18 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
methusla (anonymous) says...
Is our, Commissions/Commissioners, Managers (City, etc. ), spending, taxing, government control ?
You betcha !!
Is it way past time for " We The People " to return control of the government to " We The People " ?
You betcha !!
Is it time for our : " The Peoples " elected government representatives to listen to and abide by the voice and wishes of " We The People " ?
You betcha, WAY PAST TIME !!
JMO
February 10, 2012 at 9:32 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
americus1987 (anonymous) says...
Only 28 properties eligible for demolition? I can walk up Mechanic street from 9th to 12th and probably find at-least 20 that would "eligible".
February 10, 2012 at 10:34 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )