ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
The Liberal City Commission kept things easy at its most recent meeting Tuesday evening.
Up first for the commission was an update on Resolution No. 2400 concerning the abatement of a property at 809 N. Pennsylvania Ave.
“As of Monday, I met with the owner, and he had completed the exterior weatherization as was required,” Code Enforcement Officer Dawn Rushton said. “So, as of now, we go on to the next phase, which is the interior of the home, and that will require him to have licensed contractors and pull permits for all the work that needs to be done.”
“Do we have any kind of schedule we’ll be keeping this to? And is the property secure?” Liberal Vice Mayor Jeff Parsons asked. “And do we have a time frame for the interior?
“I actually wasn’t sure if we would do the three months or six months or what exactly,” Rushton said.
“If the exterior’s secure, it becomes more of a normal thing now, right?” Commissioner Ron Warren asked. “Because someone can pull a permit and take up to a year to do something without having to renew their permit, right?”
“That’s what the six months limit is for,” Rushton said. “And when I met with him, I did give him a list of contractors licensed in town, so there’s no reason for him to not find someone.”
After some more brief discussion, the commission ultimately voted to allow code enforcement to continue working with the property owner.
Up next for the commission was discussion of the water line replacement project.
“This is the water line project that was originally supposed to be done in 2021,” Assistant City Manager of Operations Brad Beer said. “Per the agenda information, back in 2021, we got a loan from Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) for $4,058,038.80. That loan amount does not cover the actual cost of the project with all the recent price increase in materials and labor. We recommend extending the loan with KDHE for an additional $1.49 million dollars at the same rate of 1.45 percent to bring the loan amount to $5,548,038.80 and the remaining balance of $1.2 million be paid out of our water reserves fund, with an amount not to exceed $1.5 million.”
“Adding that money, does that put any significant crimp in our ability to pay back the loan?” Parsons asked.
“What we’re mainly looking at right now is we can still get that 1.45 percent rate we had originally rescheduled,” Compliance and Innovation Director Scarlette Diseker said. “I do feel, based on the numbers I’ve seen, repayment is within reach.”
“I would add, with one of the GO bonds we were making payments with water funds has paid off,” Assistant City Manager of Administration Chris Ford added. “I believe what we were looking at before, plus the reduction of the payments that were needed for that GO bond, will be sufficient to make these repayments.”
“I just wanted to make sure everything was okay on that end,” Parsons said.
After some more brief discussion, the commission ultimately voted to accept the bid of $6,717,445 from Middlecreek Corporation to complete the water project and authorize city staff to execute the necessary documents.
Up next for the commission was discussion of the water tower maintenance contract.
“As you know, we went out for bids for a maintenance program for our water tower. We only received one bid back,” Utilities Director Jose Rosales said. “The commission knows that tower is of extreme importance to the community since it is how we regulate the pressure in town. There are some internal issues that need to be addressed as soon as possible. The purpose of this contract will be to have a water tower maintained and up to specifications from the Environmental Protection Agency and the KDHE. They come and do a sanitary survey every three years, and I believe our next survey is this year. With this contract, we would not have to worry about any maintenance or repair issues since they will be covered in the program, which will include painting the inside and the outside of the tower in the upcoming years. It really helps us because they help with all that maintenance, and that’s obviously important not just to us but to all the citizens of Liberal. There are a few issues that need to be dealt with, and this program is just the type of help we need to help with them.”
After some more brief discussion, the commission ultimately voted to accept the maintenance agreement with Viking Industrial Painting for an amount not to exceed $75,000 per year (subject to including language to help cover any issues with non-appropriation), with the funding to come out of the Repair/Maintain Water Wells 530-4941-44026 budget line item.
To conclude the meeting’s new business, the commission also discussed Resolution No. 2414 concerning the Petra residences project. The resolution includes an application for both a Moderate Income Housing (MIH) program and a request for the Kansas Housing Investor Tax Credit.
“The reason we’re here is because we were noted by Mayor [Jose] Lara and he was doing some pursuit,” Petra Chief Development Officer Tylan Dyer said. “We had also talked to the vice mayor and other folks in the past. What we want to do is bring housing solutions to smaller communities. Every town in Kansas is fighting for housing and if you do not put in housing, you die. I hate to say it any other way, but that’s the hard truth. The cool thing about Liberal is there is a lot of industry here, which is great. I actually grew up in Beaver, Okla., just down the road, so I know there’s a lot of heart here as well. We do a lot of this throughout the state, and we also know how to navigate. The most immediate upcoming project with this is a remodel to an existing structure that’s been lightly used. It’s not being used on a daily basis, but it’s being used essentially as a home, and the owners are amazing people. We would make some changes as far as the zoning and all of that, and we would change it to a multi-unit home, and we’re asking for the commission’s support for us to file, on the city’s behalf, to get this done. It’s a hefty amount the state’s willing to put forth if we get awarded. We put in somewhere between three and five applications every round with this, and it’s anywhere from 20 units to as many as 50.”
After some more discussion, the commission ultimately voted to approve the resolution before concluding the meeting.
