HOISINGTON — It was better late than never as the Hoisington City Council Monday night honored the Kans for Kids Fighting Cancer organization.

City Manager Jonathan Mitchell apologized for neglecting to provide ample notice to Kans for Kids Director Deb Reif prior to the Aug. 12 city council meeting of the Mayoral Proclamation designating Sept. 14 as “Kans For Kids Fighting Cancer Day” in the City of Hoisington, and encouraging all citizens to honor childhood Cancer patients, survivors, their families and caregivers and remember the children who have lost their lives to this devastating disease. 

So, Deb and Duane Reif were at the meeting Monday night, and Mayor Dalton Popp presented them with framed documentation of the proclamation. 

“We couldn’t do this without all of you,” Reif said. “Thank you. 

Mitchell noted the organization will mark its 25th anniversary with an open house at its new Main Street location this Saturday during the city’s Labor Day festivities. 

Clean fuel

Another to-do item has been added to the list of maintenance needs at Hoisington’s power plant following the power outage in that city a few weeks ago, Mitchell told council members. 

Power Plant staff don’t know the last time the fuel tanks there were cleaned, but it became apparent after the last power outage time to do so is now.  Each tank holds several hundred gallons of fuel. 

Currently, only one tank is utilized for diesel storage. Still, the other tank contains rust, so transferring the fuel from one to the other isn’t an option. The fuel flows from the tank through a filter before entering the generator.

What is needed is “fuel polishing,” a term used to describe a process where the inside of a diesel fuel tank is cleaned, entirely removing rust and debris from the interior of the tank, and filtering out any sludge and water from the fuel, resulting in a clean tank and clean fuel.

“With the last big power outage, we’re pretty sure that they’re plugged,” an employee at the power plant said. “We’ve got new ones to replace it, but we don’t want to until we can clean out what’s in there.”  

Power plant staff solicited several proposals for cleaning the diesel tank, but only Seneca Companies addressed the need to filter and polish the existing fuel in addition to removing rust and solids form the inside of the tank walls. The other companies  asked numerous questions and indicated there were many steps they were unable or unwilling to do, so Seneca stood out as the best option. It also happened to be the lowest bid of the three.

At a base bid of $5,900, with an additional $160 per drum for sludge and an additional fee for haul off and disposal, the cost of the process falls within Mitchell’s spending authority, but he asked the council for input nonetheless. It was unclear how many barrels will be emptied from the tanks. The council concurred and Mitchell authorized the power plant staff to hire Seneca Companies. Once scheduled, the process should be completed in a matter of days.    

Project updates

Finally, Mitchell provided a brief update on the progress of several city projects. While hopes for having all newly acquired city vehicles delivered and in service in time for the weekend and the city’s Touch-a-Truck event Saturday missed the mark, many will in the next few weeks. 

Rain last week and over the weekend has delayed the completion of some of the projects in Bicentennial Park, but steady completion of the new pickleball courts is close to be being done on time. Not so for the dog park, but obstacles will be installed within the next couple of weeks, and plans for a new parking area near the parking lot for the Rodeway Inn next door to the park are still in the planning stages. 

Later in September, new baskets will be installed for the newly redesigned nine-basket frisbee golf range too, Mitchell said. 

An executive session was requested for 10 minutes and to include council members, the city attorney and Mitchell in order to discuss an individual non-elected employee’s performance. Upon return to regular session, no action was taken, and a motion to adjourn was approved.