By Lucky Kidd
LYONS, Kan. — The City of Lyons is looking at the potential of entering into a fleet management contract. Ken Olsen from Enterprise gave a presentation to the Lyons City Council at their meeting Monday.
Enterprise provides a variety of fleet services for a number of Kansas communities, as close to Lyons as Lindsborg. The services it would provide range from vehicle procurement and outfitting to maintenance operations. Olsen noted some communities utilize them just for vehicle procurement and others for all fleet services.
This could give the city an opportunity to replace a number of vehicles, some of which are quite old and, in some cases, becoming expensive to maintain. City staff has indicated strong support for going this route.
City Administrator Eddy Truelove told the council a city manager who is part of a list-serve he is on recently posted a request for information on experiences other communities had with this concept, and universally they were very supportive of this route, though one said while it has worked well so far, he wants a few more years of experience with this before making a firm opinion.
A specific proposal will be presented to the Council at a later date.
The Council approved revisions to city code related to the governing body. The revisions relate to powers of the mayor, administrative powers, how vacancies are filled on the council and for mayor, compensation and fiscal management policies related to signature authority in the absence of the mayor who currently has to sign all checks for the city.
The Council Monday approved a charter ordinance relating to the mill levy authorization for the Lyons Public Library. The library levy is currently controlled by a 1982 charter ordinance, which needed to be re-written and otherwise cleaned up to bring it into compliance with current Kansas Statutes and sets the maximum levy for the library at six mills.
As a charter ordinance it had to be approved by a two-thirds majority, which due to the absence of three members required the support of Mayor Dustin Schultz, who normally does not have a vote but on charter ordinances he can vote, providing the required sixth vote for passage. The ordinance becomes effective 61 days following the second publication of a legal notice unless a valid protest petition is filed which would then require an election to make the change.
Approval was given to apply for a cost-share road project proposal with Rice County. Rice County Public Works Administrator Tom Robl told the Council the project would include overlay projects on sections of American Road, Century Road, Dinsmore and West Taylor. With the exception of Dinsmore, which is entirely with the city, both roads are partly in the city and partly in the County.
If awarded, the grant would cover up to 85 percent of the construction costs, with the city and county responsible for all engineering and inspection expenses. Total cost of the project is projected at just over $900,000, with the city and county share to be just under $238,000. Rice County Commissioners, who will make the application from the Kansas Department of Transportation, gave approval to proceeding with the application during their meeting Monday.
The Council approved a Planning Commission recommendation from their February 15th meeting to change the zoning for 113 East Main from highway service to central business district, which are connected to licensing requirements for The Lumberyard.
Approval was given to the 2024-25 property, casualty and liability insurance coverage from EMC. Kent Anthony From First Group Insurance presented two renewal options, one of which would retain an existing $10,000 wind and hail deductible with a premium increase of 17.4 percent, while increasing the wind and hail deductible to 25 thousand dollars would cut the increase to 10.5 percent. Following a discussion on the pros and cons of the options, the $25,000 deductible option was chosen.
The Council also approved payment of the first quarter invoice for the new policy.
The Council approved a number of requests related to the Cinco de Mayo event to be held Sunday May 5th at Workman Park. The event will include dance performances, children’s activities and food vendors, and may also include a parade which is in the works.
