Commission elects Hutchinson as mayor

Ashley Hutchinson was elected mayor of Concordia during the reorganization meeting of the Concordia city commission on Wednesday.
Hutchinson, who is serving her first term on the city commission, replaces commissioner Chuck Lambertz as mayor.
Ragena Belden, also serving a first term on the commission, was elected mayor pro-tem.
The commission also voted to designate Hutchinson to the Frank Carlson Library board and Lambertz to the CloudCorp board of directors.
Lambertz was sworn in to a third term on the commission. He defeated Gary Jeardoe Jr. in the November election.
First elected to the commission in 2015, Lambertz has served as mayor in 2017 and 2021.
In action taken during the meeting, the commission approved accepting an application from Jim and Ronda Wilson to have a building they own at 524 East 10th St. in the city's demolition program and to authorize the mayor to sign a contract with the owner based on the lowest bid of $6,800 from C-4 Construction LLC.
The reimbursement amount will be 50 percent of the $6,800, minus the $185 title search fee for a total of $3,215.
The commission also approved a resolution releasing claims and authorizing appropriate city officials to sign the agreements related to the opioid settlement and the Kansas Fights Addiction Act and submit them to the Kansas Attorney General's office.
Kansas is part of a multi-state litigation aimed at holding the producers and distributors of opioids accountable for the negative effects that their drugs had on the American public.
Pursuant to legislation passed in Kansas, local governments will receive 25 percent of the settlement funds from the opioid producers.
In order to receive settlement funds, cities are required to certify costs, agree to spend the funds on lawful purposes and waive any claims against the settling parties.
It was reported to the commission that the city does meet the threshold of at least $500 spent on previous and expected costs in response to and the mitigation of opioid overdoses.
The monetary benefit for Concordia for participation in the memorandum of understanding is estimated at $24,992.79.
The final determination regarding the use of the funds has not yet been made. City staff has considered the addition of a drug dog to the Police Department as well as public education efforts.
A professional services agreement with Campbell & Johnson Engineers P.A. for 2022 was approved by the commission.
The commission also voted to approve a disaster declaration for the city after strong winds produced by an intensive weather system caused damage on Wednesday.
“Based on the damages that we have observed so far from the wind storm from this afternoon we believe that there is enough that we need to go ahead and make a disaster declaration,” city manager Amy Lange said.
If the Federal Emergency Management Agency makes money available for response to disaster, the city can apply for those funds.
Lange said that city crews had been out removing trees that had fallen into the street and there had been damage at the Concordia Sports Complex.
Following the meeting, the city hosted a retirement reception for Ron Copple, public works director.
Copple is retiring after 37 years of working for the city.