Other items of discussion and actions taken include:
Galen Zortman returned to the council with KDHE recommendations on how to prepare his house at 610 Houck for demolition and burial. After capping all utility lines and contacting Mid-West Energy prior to digging, the council approved his request to bury the demolition waste eight feet deep and under two feet of dirt. The Great Bend Tribune was designated the official newspaper of the City of Pawnee Rock.
Deb Bader was retained as the president of the council.
Approved a Chris Mead motion to waive a late charge on the utility bill for acct 051. This will leave a balance of $494.33 for the landlord to take care of prior to renting the premise.
Approved a Chris Mead motion to waive old utility balances that are $25 or less from the setoff program in order to bring the account to a zero balance.
Following her swearing in as Mayor of Pawnee Rock once more, Linda McCowan presented appointments for city council approval Monday night, May 4 at the regular city council meeting at the Pawnee Rock city office.
Ron Smith will continue in his appointment as city attorney, Dale Snyder will continue as the municipal court judge, Shane Bowman will continue as code enforcement officer, and Cathy Grover will continue as the city clerk.
Two new appointees were made. Heath Dill, a recent volunteer with the Pawnee Rock volunteer fire department, was appointed as Fire Superintendent, and his appointment was unanimously approved. Dill comes with seven years of experience volunteering with the Pratt fire department and pertinent military experience. Barry Jack, the previous fire chief, was in attendance at the meeting, and contacted the Great Bend Tribune after the fact to say the change took him by surprise. Further inquiry with McCowan brought to light that Jack, who had run for a spot on the city council and lost, had not indicated to McCowan any plans to continue as fire chief. Jack, however, told The Great Bend Tribune he was very disappointed in the action.
One of the duties of Pawnee Rock’s mayor is to appoint persons to leadership positions on a number of city boards, including the volunteer fire department, with city approval. Council members had, without prompting, separately informed the mayor that they would not support an appointment of Jack due to their dissatisfaction with his performance, McCowan said. Dill was the only applicant, so she appointed him.
Amanda Lakin was also appointed as citizen representative of the Parks and Beautification Committee. She will be working with council member liaisons to the committee, Vickie Alsup and Dorian Frances to make the city park more child friendly, McCowan said.
The committee was also asked by the Mayor to present options for updated landscaping in front of the city offices at the June meeting.
A former Pawnee Rock citizen, Chris Frost, recently received a complaint by the city on a property he says he no longer owns. The 418 Cunnife Ave. house is in need of mowing, trash removal, and overhanging limbs cut. Frost informed the city he sold it to someone else, but the deed evidently was never filed at the Barton County Courthouse. No clear title exists. Frost approached the council in hopes the city might have an interest in the property.
The council advised Frost to follow through with the Municipal Court Judge when he receives a notice to appear, and the council will request Smith to appear at that time in order to come up with a solution.
McCowan introduced Basil Dannebohm as a new citizen of Pawnee Rock. He has volunteered to assist in setting up a Pawnee Rock Day at the Rock over Labor Day weekend. The day will feature a performance by violinist Allison Boyt who is traveling state to state to raise awareness of the disease vasculitis. A catered chicken dinner from Hudson is also under consideration.
