Mayor Tim Reazin said at Monday night’s meeting that he wanted to reach out to the library board to see if a partnership was still possible since the city had previously discussed partnering with the library to build a space for a joint building.
“I’d like to reach out one more time to present the idea that we had,” he said. “I think that we’re still very interested in it from our standpoint.”
Reazin said the city doesn’t need to necessarily own the building, which was a prior concern of the library board. He said he hopes to draft a letter to the board to outline how a partnership could work.
“We don’t necessarily need to own land, or we don’t want to push them into anything, but we’re trying to do something from a city standpoint, that I think would help the library to grow into a new space that would serve the community for, you know, for 40,50, years,” he said.
Commissioner Alex Curnes said it was a benefit for the taxpayers to have a place to use city services in one space.
“I said during during some of those conversations, you know, and I think we’ve talked about this fairly openly, you know, it’s to the benefit of the taxpayers to not have to build multiple parking lots and have everything in one centralized space, and many communities, when they redo a library, have some sort of a civic campus where people can access other services,” he said.
Currently the library is its own taxing entirety, but due to confusion surrounding a bill previously drafted, the ability of the board to hold elections needs some clarity, Reazin said.Those things need to be sorted out if the city were to enter into a partnership, he said. Reazin and Gero recently discussed a fix when they were at the state Capitol.
“I think the fact that we appoint those, or a portion of those folks, to that spot, and they have yet to finish out their – how the bill was written, to become their own entity, taxing entity, and have an elected board,” Reazin said.
In other business, Ruth Hughs gave the commission an update on the Senior Foundation of Eudora.
Hughs said having the memorandum of understanding with the city has made things more organized and the foundation will provide quarterly updates. The city will provide an annual allocation of $2,000 to the foundation as part of the memorandum.
Hughs said Parks and Rec also works closely with the foundation and has grown to have around 30 people involved with their Fit and Strong classes. With the memorandum of understanding, the foundation is able to use the rec for no additional charge.
The foundation’s recent sit-down meal drew around 100 people, and money from the city helped fund that free meal, Hughs said.
The money also helped the foundation do advertising in various publications in town, she said. That’s something she thinks is a priority so people can keep finding out about the foundation, she said.
Hughs said seniors like to live where they feel safe, so she thinks the city being ranked No. 1 in safety is a good way to advertise the city. With Paschal’s Landing apartments and the new townhome options coming to Shadow Ridge North, it’s something the city can partner with the foundation to come up with a new slogan for, she said.
“Seniors are moving here because they have kids that are here who are adults who have kids in school, because the school is an amazing place,” she said.
Hughs thanked the city for its support and Reazin said he was appreciative of the foundation’s invitations to speak at senior events. Hughs also thanked the commission for making senior housing part of the conversation.
In other business, the city was notified earlier this year that there was a pending sale of the Modern Manufacturing facility to Serrmi Products LLC. The commission previously approved industrial revenue bonds for the construction of the facility.
To retain the terms and obligations of the industrial revenue bonds passed in 2020, the commission needed to approve a resolution. The agreement includes a 10-year property tax abatement with a 50% payment in lieu of taxes. The resolution also included similar incentives for an expansion of the facility.
Serrmi, which was started in Pittsburg, Kansas, has since expanded and plans to continue using the employee base at the new location.
In other business, the community development block grant awarded to the building at 701 Main St. has come to a close as the project wrapped up, but to do so the city had to hold a public hearing.
Kyleigh Moore, a grant specialist with the Southeast Kansas Regional Planning Commission, appeared on behalf of the owners Kawehi and Paul Wight.
“At the conclusion of the project, the exterior walls were renovated, restored, and the exterior walls were restored and a new storefront placed with all new windows,” she said.
The Wights had previously discussed using the space for a recording studio.
Out of the requested $250,000 for the project, $240,591 was used.
Residents did not speak during the public hearing.
During staff comments, City Manager Kevyn Gero thanked the Senior Foundation for its work and highlighted how special it is for a city to have something like this.
Fire Chief Justin Lee introduced himself to the commission as he has officially started his new role.
Lee had visited Eudora last year when teaching a class through the International Association of Fire Chiefs. When he saw a job opening in the area, he applied after liking the community.
Lee said it’s important for the department to continue to be an advocate for seniors and to do community engagement with Eudora youth.
Lee also shared a letter from Consolidated Fire Department #1 Fire Chief John Mathis thanking Eudora fire for their help fighting the fire in their district March 24. About eight firefighters from Eudora assisted, he said.
The letter said the following, “The grass fire that occurred in Consolidated Fire District #1 (CFD1) in the 1500 block of E 400 Rd. had near hurricane strength wind gusts. It was a large, extremely dangerous fire. With the help of many departments, no structures or lives were lost. Many long-time county firefighters called that day one of the worst fire days in their experience. ECFD’s support in the county allowed the dedication of resources to that incident.”
Gero also thanked Police Chief Wes Lovett for another year with Eudora being the safest city in Kansas.
Sally Pennington, director of Parks and Rec, said the master plan is in its final stages. A final draft should be available in about six weeks, but Pennington said she would send the commissioners conceptual drawings of some of the ideas in case there are comments.
