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City commission sets date for public hearing

By Jessica LeDuc

In a relatively short meeting, the Concordia City Commission set April 7 as a public hearing on using Tax Increment Financing to fund five projects within the city of Concordia, Wednesday night.
The resolution setting the public hearing included all five projects that will be financed with TIF – 20th Street drainage structure, south Concordia water pressure project, Concordia Homestore storage facility project, south Concordia flood control project, and 5th Street project.
The 20th Street project includes rehabilitation of the 20th Street dam and storm sewer improvements. The water pressure project is to install a booster pump to improve water pressure in the south development. The Homestore's project is a TIF reimbursement for site clearance and preparation as a part of the storage facilities that were constructed at the corner of 5th and Broadway. The south Concordia flood control project is for repair, improvement and construction of drainage conduits, channels, ponds, and dams. The final project, 5th Street, is for the reconstruction and rerouting of the street, water and sewer from State to Davies Drive.
Commissioner Darrel Hosie, who has been a vocal opponent of using TIF dollars on 5th Street, asked City Manager Larry Uri why all five projects were being included in one public hearing. Uri replied that it was out of convenience, because all projects will be financed at the same time.
Hosie said that all five were very different projects, and that each warranted its own public hearing. Uri agreed, and said each would be granted its own public hearing at the April 7 meeting.
Hosie also requested that there be dollar amounts attached to each project in the resolution. Because the resolution serves as the public notice of the hearing, Hosie said he thought the public needed to know how much each of the projects would cost.
Uri said that the costs were included in the development plan, which was sent to all the TIF partners, USD 333, Cloud County Community College and the Cloud County Commissioners, but he could include them in the resolution.
The Commission tabled a special assessment resolution for Concordia Tractor for water and sewer improvements for the north development.
Of the $3.5 million project to extend water and sewer services from the city to the north development, CTI will be assessed $500,000. That will be paid by CTI over 10 years, at $50,000 a year.
The assessment was tabled because of concerns Commissioner Charles Johnson had over language in the resolution. He said one section authorized the improvements – the water and sewer extension – to be made, which has not yet been approved by the Commission.
"We're authorizing the project to move forward (with this resolution), and we haven't even discussed how we're paying for it," Johnson said.
Uri said Johnson was reading too much into the language of the resolution.
"We can't take this agreement and go build the north development," Uri said.
Johnson said he didn't agree with Uri's interpretation, and asked that the resolution be passed when the Commission considers the contract for the improvements. Bid opening for the project will be March 10, Uri said, and the Commission should have a contract to consider at its March 17 meeting.
The Commission also tabled signing contracts with Bucher, Willis and Ratliff and Campbell & Johnson Engineers for sewer studies.
The contract with BWR would be to collect and interpret data on the Broadway sewer, to determine if the line needs to be replaced. At past meetings, the Commission has heard that the sewer is flowing at maximum capacity at peak times, and that it should be replaced.
For $4,442, Uri said, BWR would assist city employees in setting up to do an appropriate data collection for analysis, review and interpret the data, and offer a recommendation as to what should be done with the sewer line.
Campbell and Johnson's contract was to study the possibility of rerouting a portion of the Broadway sewer flow into the east sewer district. Campbell and Johnson offered two options –one for $6,131 to do a continuous flow study, and $3,251 to do an intermittent flow study.
Uri said there have been questions among Commissioners as to what condition the Broadway sewer is in. He said they have been accepting the judgments of previous utility directors, but for a minimal amount of money, the city could have a professional study completed.
"We can gain a better picture of what's down there and what, if anything, needs to be done," Uri said.
Hosie asked if city staff had considered purchasing the equipment to do its own study of the sewer line. Chad Buckley, utilities director, said he had considered it, but didn't want to purchase pricey equipment that wouldn't be used very often.
Hosie said he thought they could purchase the equipment for the same amount as the contract with Campbell and Johnson, and have it to evaluate other sewer lines.
The Commission tabled the signing of both contracts, and instructed city staff to present options for a more comprehensive study of the sewer lines, and to look into the purchase of equipment.
The Commission did authorize the mayor to sign a contract with HWS Consulting Group for bidding services, for $5,470, for the airport taxiway rehabilitation project.
Brad Waller, with HWS, said the Federal Aviation Association had approved the specifications and plans for the taxiway project. Bids will be opened on April 14, and Waller said he will be at the March 21 Commission meeting with a recommendation of which bid to accept.
The mayor was also authorized to sign a letter of intent to purchase a booster station for the south Concordia water pressure project from Pump & Power. The $79,000 price tag, Uri said, is much less than originally anticipated, and delivery of the pumps will fall well within the city's timeline to finish the project.
During Uri's manager's report, he introduced Concordia's new police chief, Chris Edin, who started work on Monday. He also thanked interim chief Bruce Johnson for his work over the past eight months. Uri invited Commissioners to Jitters Coffee House at 10 a.m. on Friday to meet Edin.
During staff comments, Johnson reported on the police department's participation in the area's tactical team.
He said six police officers and three Cloud County Sheriff's deputies have been joined by three officers from Republic County to form the tactical team.
Most recently, the officers executed a search warrant in the west part of Concordia, where several arrests were made.
"We really couldn't have done it safely without all of these people," Johnson said.
Ron Copple, public works director, said there will be a public meeting on March 11, at 6 p.m. in the Commissioner's meeting room, where the Kansas Department of Transportation will answer questions about the Fifth Street project.
The Commissioners went into two executive sessions, for attorney-client privilege and preliminary discussion of acquisition of real estate, but no action was taken.

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