ELLINWOOD — The City of Ellinwood will purchase property at 511 E. Santa Fe to provide additional storage of city equipment, the Ellinwood City Council decided at its meeting on Tuesday. An open-front shed will be built on the property which is located east of the city shop.

The cost of the property is $25,000 and will be purchased from Central Kansas Development Inc. The current building on the property will be torn down.

In other business, a pay increase for ambulance personnel was approved. They will receive an on-call pay increase from $15 per shift to $25 per shift. A shift is 12-hours long. Both Claflin and Hoisington have the same pay rate of $25 per shift. City Administrator Robert Peter stressed that the pay was per shift, not per hour.

City employees will also receive a 2.5 percent raise, the council approved.

The city will purchase a police car. It is a 2009 Crown Victoria with a total cost of $14,150.

The 11 Christmas decorations on north Main Street from Third to Seventh Streets are more than 20 years old and beginning to show their age. The council approved the purchase of new decorations for that area.

The council approved the waiver of GAAP Reporting and adopted the cash basis of accounting and audit control. Peter said that nearly all of the municipality audits in the state are conducted under a cash basis.

A 20-year agreement with the Kansas Power Pool was approved under a power-purchase agreement. The KPP will purchase an interest in the Dogwood Generation facility, which supplies electricity.

The city ambulance made the highest number of runs in 2011 that it has ever made. Peter said that the county subsidy goes up because of that.