Argonia River Park fees to increase

By Michelle Leidy-Franklin TSnews mfranklin@tsnews.com

ARGONIA – Fees will be increasing for camping sites at the River Park in Argonia.

Sites with water, sewer and electric will go from $15 a night to $20. Sites with electric and water will go from $10 a night to $15.

Primitive camping sites with no utilities will remain at $5. Long term camping spots will remain the same price. Shelter and deck rentals also will not change.

Ordinance 586 containing the price changes for the River Park was approved by the city council on Wednesday, Jan. 5.

In other business:

• The council received the 2020 financial audit from accountant Kevin Cooper.

• An executive session was held with city attorney Bob Almanza under attorney-client privilege.

• City clerk Tara Pierce informed council members that she had been told bulk gas prices would likely remain the same after the Mid-Kansas Cooperative and Progressive

Fire dept. offering flapjacks for fundraiser

will be served at the Cheney Fire Station on Main Street. Funds will help with fire station updates.

Ag Cooperative merger. However, confirmation would not be given until after the merger is complete.

• The council approved the annual cost of software for the water plant through Winn-911 software.

• Employee evaluations were conducted in executive session. Seniority wage rate changes were approved by the council.

Before that, he spent three years as assistant to the city manager of El Dorado. He earned his Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree from Wichita State University in 2014. Gartland’s base salary will be $82,500, plus $2,000 deposited annually in a KPERS 457 retirement savings account and a $60 per month cellphone allowance. He will also receive health insurance and paid vacation time.

In other business:

• Ruth Holliday, one of the founders of the Prairie Travelers, and Rick Sroufe, the group’s current vice president, came to the meeting to update the council on their ambition to expand the Prairie Sunset walking and biking trail further to the west, perhaps even as far west as Kingman. The 15-mile trail currently ends in Garden Plain. Sroufe said that it would be helpful in the group’s dealings with landowners if they could be informed that Garden Plain supports the trail expansion effort. Several city council members said that they did.

“We’re behind this 100 percent,” Mayor Kevin Hammond said. “We love using it.”

• The council voted 5-0 to extend its business utility incentive program through Dec. 31, 2023.

The incentive is a $2,500 utility credit for new

• Interim police chief Alissa Imperatore shared some information on Flock Safety, a camera system that automatically collects license plate numbers and information on makes and models as vehicles drive by. She said such a system could have been useful in investigating some recent crimes in Garden Plain.

“We can’t see who’s in the vehicle,” Imperatore noted. “We only log into the system if we need to because a crime happened.”

Imperatore suggested putting a camera at 295th and Maple, a relatively high-traffic intersection that people from out of town tend to traverse. Council members seemed open to the possibility of adding one or more Flock Safety cameras, but no action was taken.

• The council voted to upgrade the city’s FrontDesk software, which is used for utility payments. With the upgrade, online payments will automatically be logged in the city’s software, saving administrative work. The upgrade will also allow customers to receive their statements and view their usage online. The cost for the upgrade is a $3,000 one-time onboarding fee, then $1,260 per year.

• The council approved a $470,000 temp note resolution for the Trailridge housing addition. The temp note will eventually be replaced by a bond, which will then be repaid over time via special assessments on homeowners in Trailridge.