Hoisington - During the Public Comment portion of the Hoisington City Council meeting on Monday Jan. 22, citizens  Tammy Norwood, Rick McGinnis, and Larry Unrein were disconcerted with letters they received from the city. These letters stated their properties were not up to code. Each one spoke on behalf of the property and their intentions moving forward. These discussions were quite electric and passionate.

Hoisington Animal Control and Code Enforcement Officer Dolores Kipper proposed resolutions of further contact with property owners and a hearing that would take place during the regularly scheduled city council meeting on March 11.

The property owners would then have a chance to show evidence that the property is livable and should not be condemned or demolished.

“The council would then decide if the house is livable based on the evidence,” City Manager Jonathan Mitchell said. “If the residence is still seen as unsafe we would then give time for the owner to fix or show progress of fixing the problems addressed.” 

Kipper also discussed the upcoming annual rabies clinic taking place March 2 from 9 a.m. to noon at the Hoisington Fire Department. For the past few years the annual clinic has allowed pet owners to get city tags, rabies shots, and light grooming for their animals.

New business included informational updates such as the Pole Attachment Agreement with Brightspeed that is currently being reviewed by both legal teams. There were updates on Second Street improvements, staffing challenges faced by the city, storage containers purchased by the city, and the zoning consultant selection process. The discussion of bids for key pieces of electric distribution equipment ensued about the need to replace several transformers and have spares in inventory. They received bids from Sunbelt Solomon and Midwest Electric Transformer.

Mitchell also announced that Biking Across Kansas will be making a stop in Hoisington on June 10.

When further discussing the actual year-end transfers, and increasing taxes, council member Darren Amerine raised the question of what do we tell the citizens of Hoisington we’re spending money on? “We’re doing this to be able to reduce the amount down the road,” Mitchell stated. “It’s to benefit the community to make these crucial improvements.”