HOISINGTON — The City of Hoisington opened its discussion of sidewalk ordinances.

"Right now, Hoisington is not a walkable community," he said. Some portions of the city have sidewalks next to the street, some have grass between the street and sidewalk, and some have no sidewalk at all.

The city is applying for the Safe Routes To School, a $250,000 grant. The funds will only go towards near the city’s schools, and is not large enough to do the whole community.

The council discussed at length the advantages and disadvantages of each type of side walk as well as making them accessible for those with disabilities. The council decided it needed a consistent ordinance particularly for new subdivisions.

The City of Hoisington is applying to become designated as an E-Community. When a community becomes designated as an E-Community, their donors help them to create a $125,000 in 75% Entrepreneurship Tax Credits. These funds will create a pool of approximately $150,000 that can be used to strengthen an existing business or help to start up a new business. E-Community funding can help make a good business concept that doesn’t quite work on paper, become viable. Therefore, contributions to this fund will create jobs in your community! At the same time, the donor will receive substantial tax benefits for their donation. The donation must be at least $250 and is not to be paid until after the E-Community award status for the community has been announced. However, the city needs your preliminary donation amounts to list on the application due in the middle of August, 2011.

In final business, the council heard:

•Hoisington’s water is begin softened from about 390 parts per million to about 100 parts per million with the completion of the work at the water department, initially scheduled to be completed in November, 2010.

•Mitchell has updated the council on the transient guest tax. The amount is $1,419.

•Council members presents had some concerns about board members not attending.