HOISINGTON – The Hoisington City Council heard from a variety of individuals on Monday with updates of several projects ongoing in Hoisington.
• The first update given by USD 431 Superintendent Patrick Crowdis concerned the daycare plan in development by the school district. The target group is age birth to school age and is open to anyone.
The facility to be built at the Roosevelt School campus will have a capacity of 45 to 50 children. The new structure will replace the mobile unit, which needs to be removed. At this time, Crowdis is looking for someone to do that.
Councilman Darren Reinert asked about the role of the city in the daycare plan. Crowdis said the city would help with the grant process, but will not provide any funding for the project.
“There’s no financial liability and you will be just a pass-through for all of the administrative cost of the grant,” Crowdis explained.
• Code Enforcement Officer Dolores Kipper gave an update on properties slated for demolition by the city. One property had changed ownership after the resolution for demolition had been passed. The new owner was seeking more time to bring the property up to code.
City Manager Jonathan Mitchell has contacted other communities that have more experience dealing with situations like this. “This maneuvering on this property caused us to reach out to some other communities that deal with this issue,” said Mitchell.
The council, while sympathetic for the new owner’s investment in the property, believed the new owner should have been informed by the owner of the pending demolition when he made the purchase.
A second property slated for demolition also changed ownership. That transfer took place shortly before the city had voted to demolish the buildings. The new owner had not been contacted as required by law.
The council passed another resolution to start the process again for demolition of that property.
City Attorney John Horner explained that property owners do have legal recourse in these cases.
“People are not without a legal remedy,” Horner said. “If they do not like what the city is doing here, any person affected by an order of the governing body can appeal to the District Court.” That appeal process has to be started within a 30-day time limit.
• The Council made a final decision concerning the Windgate properties with a motion to demolish the apartment buildings. Mitchell contacted the State of Kansas again about the grant funding for asbestos mitigation during demolition and was assured that the funds were dedicated to the city.
A neighbor to the property, Alan Charles, spoke in favor of the resolution. After a major wind storm, he found windows broken on the west side of his house from chat flying off the roof.
“I picked up a piece of the roof that was up against my fence,” Charles said. “It was probably about a six-foot piece of a row and I had probably 50 or 60 shingles in my yard from that building.”
The next City Council meeting will be Tuesday, Dec. 27.
