ELLINWOOD — Tuesday night, Ellinwood Mayor Irlan Fullbright and city council members recognized four Ellinwood EMS staff for their past five years of service to the community with service awards. Donna Williams and Josh Komarek were both present to accept their awards, and EMT Director Brittney Bailey accepted the awards for Darren Beckwith and Cody Waite in their stead. 

“They all do a great job,” she said. “I’m glad they all decided to take the class six years ago.” 

The Mayor also recognized USD 355 Ellinwood Schools, which received an Award of Highest Distinction from Kansas Dept. of Education’s Randy Watson, who presented the awards at an assembly populated with students, faculty, and the public in November. The awards are being presented to eight districts in the state that exceeded the state average for percentage of students graduating with a high school diploma. In addition, the district was recognized for the higher than average number of USD 355 students have gone on to higher education, either college or trade school. 

“On behalf of the City of Ellinwood, we appreciate the schools being here to add to the good life of Ellinwood,” Fullbright said. 

In other business, the city approved a request for a zoning change by Knopp Commercial Rentals. The company recently purchased the property at 101 West B, and wishes to install storage units there. They asked for the council to remove the R-1 zoning and designate it C-2 instead. The request was approved by the city’s zoning board prior to the meeting, and with only a few questions clarifying where on the lot units would be built in relation to other properties on the street, the city gave Knopp its stamp of approval.