By Lucky Kidd
McPHERSON, Kan. — Some McPherson Board of Public Utilities Customers north of McPherson were without power for a brief period over the weekend. Information presented during this Tuesday’s McPherson City Commission meeting indicated the initial outage affected around a dozen customers, but in order to make repairs it was necessary to take down an entire circuit affecting around 650 customers. Most of them were without power for about an hour, some for just a few minutes and at most some were out for about three hours.
Mayor Tom Brown also touched on the work of Street Department crews over the weekend, and the challenges they faced in this storm. Those crews worked over a 24-hour period to get to the point the city is now before finally getting a break, and he also noted the department is presently two people short.
On a bitterly cold morning the Commission looked toward warmer days to come Tuesday as it approved multiple annual purchases for the Park Department. This includes flower bed seeds and plants along with supplies for the Greenhouse where those are grown for later planting. The combined cost for this comes to a maximum of $25,500 along with 2025 mulch supplies for parks, Turkey Creek Golf Course, and McPherson Cemetery for just over $6,800. The city goes through about 11 tons of mulch in the course of a year. The approval allows for purchase of material as needed.
The Commission also approved purchase of two new mowers through a state contract for the Park Department for just over $54,000 with existing mowers going to other departments and a just over $19,000 mower purchase for Turkey Creek Golf Course. Commissioners also authorized for Turkey Creek allocation of reimbursable funds for Clubhouse inventory purchases and start of the hiring process for 2025 seasonal staff.
McPherson Industrial Development Company executive director Kasi Morales presented a quarterly report to McPherson City Commissioners Tuesday, in which she said GoMcPherson is considering a strategic planning process that would likely need to involve participation from other economic development partners and city stakeholders. She also gave updates on labor force data and a currently active recruitment project along with other initiatives.
The Commission approved a payment of just under $4,700 to the Workforce Alliance of South Central Kansas for the city’s membership in the Regional Economic Area Partnership, which is involved with a number of economic development initiatives.
Commissioners recognized the Police Department promotions of Kyle Askew to Patrol Captain, Trey Lott to Lieutenant and Detective Phillip Burkhart to Patrol Sergeant, hiring of an intern for the Fire Department for the spring semester, along with meeting the new clubhouse manager at Turkey Creek Golf Course.
Purchase of two vehicles for the Police Department and related upfitting was approved. 2025 Dodge Durangos are being purchased from Midway Motors, with a net price including trade of $65,688. Upfitting work, which includes such things as installation of lights, radio equipment, will be done by Superior Emergency Response Vehicles of Andover for $25,914.14. Commissioners also approved a $100,000 payment for a Police Command Trailer, which is being reimbursed through a COPS Appropriation Grant.
Commissioners approved labor and equipment rates for Public Works for 2025. Changes in rates were relatively minor and reflected labor rates and higher charges for some equipment related to the Wastewater Treatment Plant which are being increased for the first time since at least 2021. Several annual contracts were also approved including lab services for the Wastewater Plant and Stormwater Utility, purchase of additional cationic polymer used for water and sludge separation at the plant, and a contract for various farming operations on the land the city uses for sludge application. Commissioners also approved funds for hot and cold mix patching material, each of which can be purchased from two different vendors depending on availability, and payments for winterization of various park Department facilities.
During 2024, the McPherson Police Department was assigned 13,861 calls for service from dispatch, an increase of 665 calls from 2023.
In an annual report presented to McPherson City Commissioners Tuesday, Police Chief Mikel Golden said officers made 408 arrests, a decline of 26 from 2023, while the 1,898 reports taken was up by 58. 1,488 citations were issued, up 293 from the prior year. 34 written warnings were also issued, a new statistic being tracked by the department.
The number of traffic stops made was up 165 to 3,386. It also made 1,414 Vehicle Inspection Number inspections, 206 more than 2023.
Golden also presented the 2024 Animal Shelter statistics which indicated 231 dogs were taken into the shelter last year, 164 of those impounded and 67 surrendered. The number of dogs impounded was down from 2023, while surrendered dog numbers were up, with a net decrease of ten dogs into the shelter as compared to the prior year.
The number of cats impounded, pending court cases was 26.
The shelter adopted out 89 dogs, an increase of 18 from 2023, and performed 566 cremations, of which 320 were private cremations, 24 more than 2023. Golden said 12 dogs and four cats were euthanized due to medical issues, with 134 dogs and one cat returned to their owners, with another eight dogs and 17 cats taken to rescues.
No dogs or cats escaped from the shelter last year.
