Council meeting at a glance
Here is a look at what the Ellinwood City Council did Tuesday evening:
• Heard an update on the upcoming July After Harvest Festival event by Nancy Baird, representing the AHF planning committee.
• Approved a cereal malt beverage license for the Kansas Sidewinders Motorcycle Club to sell beverages at the After Harvest Festival.
• Adopted a city ordinance allowing consumption of cereal malt beverage in conjunction with activities at the After Harvest Festival around First and Main Streets in downtown Ellinwood.
• Adopted an ordinance approving a zoning change on the property at 300 S. Bismark St. as requested by Justin Joiner of Joiner Brothers Properties for the construction of a four-plex at the location. The original location was 214 W. First St. but was revisited by the planning commission to recommend another location. The zoning change was from R-1 to R-3, allowing multi-family dwelling.
• Approval of a mayoral appointment to the Ellinwood Recreation Commission Board of Directors was tabled until the next meeting.
• Approved revised environmental code ordinances to include language inadvertently left out of the codes passed in January. Amendments to four ordinances were approved in separate motions to note a change from issuance of citations to issuing notices, as the City of Ellinwood does not issue citations. Ordinances amended included 2023-13, environmental; Ordinance 2023-14, health nuisance; Ordinance 2023-15, junked motor vehicles and Ordinance 2023-16, weeds and mowing.
• Set a public hearing date to amend the 2023 sewer fund budget at 7 p.m. July 11.
• Approved a material quote from Core and Main, McPherson, in the amount of $58,883.69 for water and wastewater improvements for areas surrounding the new hospital and new housing development sites.
• Heard a staff review on the Kansas Department of Health and Environment annual inspection visit on May 2.
• Changes made by Sunflower Diversified relating to costs of recycling pickup at businesses in Ellinwood was tabled for further study.
• Heard a staff report by City Administrator Chris Komarek regarding current city activities.
• Recessed to executive session for discussion of property acquisition.
• Following return to open session, approved the purchase of property at 214 W. First St. from Joiner Brothers Property Group in the amount of $5,991.
ELLINWOOD --After hearing an update from Nancy Baird representing the After Harvest Festival planning committee, the Ellinwood City Council turned its attention to upcoming project preparations that included materials purchase as well as financial planning at its June meeting Tuesday.
Baird gave a rundown of activities planned for the 50th anniversary event planned for July 13-15, leading to council approval of a cereal malt beverage license application by the Sidewinders Motorcycle Club, as well as an ordinance designating a downtown area to allow public alcohol consumption.
Baird gave a brief outline of the schedule of events over the three days of the Festival, with emphasis on activities involving city interaction.
“We kind of got a late start this year, but I’m pleased with the outcome we’ve had in sponsorship,” she said. “I’ve got a lot of new energy. We are really excited about bringing this event back downtown.”
A notable change to Thursday’s events was to push back the traditional community barbecue from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. “We wanted to try to push that back to 6:30 for this year,” she said. “We want to see if it wouldn’t be a little bit cooler; maybe only around 100 degrees instead of 120. I’m also hopeful that in packing things closer together, people that come out for the barbecue would then stay for the other activities.”
Cost for the barbecue would be $5 per plate, but then the remaining activities would be no charge, she said. Commemorative 22-ounce stadium cups have been created to go with the barbecue, included in the meal charge.
Friday begins early with community breakfast from 7-9 a.m. at the Wolf Park band shell. The traditional 5K run has been moved to Friday at 7 p.m. rather than a Saturday early-morning activity. Registration is at the Ellinwood Hospital Foundation office downtown.
On Saturday, activities will begin with a Fishing Derby at Wolf Pond at 8 a.m. The annual parade is scheduled for 10 a.m. with preregistration of entries available at www.ellinwoodchamber.com.
“This year, we are trying to support non-profit organizations in our area,” Baird said. Involved will be a group raising funds for an Ellinwood High School trip to New York in March of 202, and Sons of the American Legion and the Knights of Columbus will serve food following the parade.
Food trucks will also be available at First and Main on Saturday.
The Heritage Center will host Wheatland Cafe, which will have bierocks and homemade cinnamon rolls for an indoor meal.
Setup for the event will begin Wednesday, June 12. About 600 chairs with accompanying tables have been rented for the event, with plans to organize youth volunteers for setup Thursday morning.
