Commission hears update on pool upgrades

Round two of the upgrades at the Concordia Municipal Swimming Pool was the topic of conversation for the Concordia city commission during a study session following its regular meeting on Wednesday.
A proposal from Avalanche Waterslides, Chamois, Mo., for an eight foot family slide to be installed on the southwest corner of the swimming pool was presented to the commission by city finance director Amber Farha.
Cost of the family side, to be installed prior to the opening of the pool in 2019, is $68,100 and includes the canopy and installation.
The installation does not include concrete work, plumbing to the slide, electrical work and fencing.
Information presented to the commission from Farha stated that public works director Ron Copple had done extensive research into the additional cost, and has conservatively estimated the amount to be $21,600, bringing the total cost of the slide to $89,700.
The cost of the slide will be paid for by the $2 monthly fee added to city water bills that was approved by the city commission in 2017 to help fund enhancements at the swimming pool and from the city's special parks and recreation fund.
Farha estimates the $2 fee will fund $43,470 of the cost. and the parks and recreation fund will cover $46,230.
Farha said that it was estimated there would be around $49,000 in the special parks and recreation fund.
“So there would be enough to cover it. We get about $15,000 a year,” Farha said.
Funds for the special parks and recreation fund come from the Kansas Department of Revenue alcohol beverage control's liquor drink tax distributed by the state. Half of the money goes into the general fund and half goes to the parks and recreation fund.
The first phase of the enhancements at the pool, completed earlier this year, included the installation of a custom slide at a cost of $54,000 and a fish slide for the baby pool, purchased off of Purple Wave, for $577.50, for a total of $68,535.
During a commission meeting earlier this year, Farha presented a report on the pool attendance for the 2018 season.
Attendance was up 17.6 percent from the previous year, and the pool income rose by 10.8 percent.
Farha said that the $2 fee on the water bill will be used in 2020 for the purchase and installation of a climbing wall and a floatable in the training pool. The estimated cost is $42,435.
“After that it ($2 fee) will be removed,” Farha said.
“Honestly, I think it sounds silly, but I am really excited about that. I am excited to be a part of a governmental body that has something out as long as they say they will, and then actually pull it back,” commissioner Chuck Lambertz said.
Mayor Sam Sacco said that it is what had been voted on, and the costs haven't changed, so he has no problem with it.”
In action taken by the commission during the regular meeting, the purchase of new municipal court software and repairs to the camera car used by the Utility Department, were approved.
City manager Amy Lange informed the commission that the current Summit municipal court software does not interface with the current municipal accounting software. The software also does not interface with the Kansas Burueau of Investigation (KBI) reporting software.
The city currently sends paper reports to the KBI to meet state reporting requirements, and the data is manually entered.
In KBI will no longer accept paper reports beginning January, 2019.
The commission approved the purchase of Incode Court from Tyler Technologies at a cost of $15,373.
Repairs to the camera car by Key Equipment at a cost of $9,169.02 was also approved by the commission.
The camera car is used for inspecting and maintaining the city sewer mains. It was not working when the city attempted to use it two weeks ago.
The rebuild of the camera car will include everything from new motors, seals, gears, axles to the crawler body. The camera, which was upgraded in 2015, will be installed on the new body.
An updated open records commission policy and corresponding resolution was approved by the commission.
CloudCorp executive director Ashley Hutchinson presented an update on the contract agreement between the city, Cloud County and Cloud County Cooperative Elevator Association Inc. for the former ALCO property.
Hutchinson, who had also presented a report to the Cloud County board of commissioners, said Cloud County Cooperative Elevator has, to date, has met the goals established in the contract.
If the goals are met, the final payment of $125,000 will be forgiven at the end of 2019.
Renovations to the building total $626,747.30 and expenditures for future improvements are estimated at $221,000.
Cloud County Cooperative Elevator has paid $18,880.90 in property taxes on the facility.
Lange, during her manager's report, said that the city has submitted the application for grant funding for a new runway at Blosser Municipal Airport to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Blosser Municipal Airport is one of 43 airports in Kansas to be eligible for funds through the FAA Airport Improvement Program for small, rural airports.
There is no local match for projects selected to receive funds.
During public comments, Marilyn Pearce presented the commission with a petition signed by a group of 20 citizens concerned with excessive speeding by vehicles on West 18th Street.
The petition states that “It has become a speedway. There has been no respect for traffic rules and regulations, and we feel something needs to be done as soon as possible before someone gets hurt.”
“They are just thinking it is a regular speedway. So we have really got a problem guys,” Pearce said.
Also during public comments, Concordia High School tennis coach Michael Wahlmeier thanked the city for the use of the tennis courts and informed the commission that the courts are getting in bad shape.
Wahlmeier said that there is a possibility of grant funds being available through the United States Tennis Association to help cover the cost of repairs to the courts.
“I will have some more information for you. I have just started this process,” Wahlmeier said.