The speed limit on Seventh Street between Ash and Oak streets will be reduced to 20 mph following complaints from residents.
The Police Department conducted a traffic analysis and did not find cars driving excessive speeds. However, with emerging commercial activity in that area from short-term rentals and the old Methodist church being converted into an event center, the City Commission approved the change at its Monday meeting.
Commissioner Roberta Lehmann asked about temporarily putting radar speed limit trailers on that road, and Police Chief Wes Lovett said one could be rented. He also said the department will post about the change on social media and try to educate the public about it for a few weeks before enforcement.
The city will also purchase two speed limit signs to be placed at Seventh and Elm streets in the eastbound direction and near Seventh and Birch streets in the westbound direction.
City Manager Zack Daniel said the city is using this as a “door to a larger sign inventory and analysis” for different sections of town.
Mayor Tim Reazin said he would like to see other traffic studies done around town, too.
“We talked about it for quite awhile about traffic studies on each individual development, but I think it’s worth the time since we have five different potential areas for development,” Reazin said.
In other business, the city approved the purchase of a new HVAC system for the Community Center’s community room. Parks and Recreation Director Sally Pennington said they barely got through the summer with the current system from 2005. The commission approved costs up to $18,812.
Budget analyst Michael Gentry gave an update on the budget at Monday’s meeting. Gentry said the city remains in a healthy financial position. While the city sales tax is slightly down, he said the city compensating use tax, county sales tax and county compensating use tax more than make up for it.
Gentry also said the utility funds performed stronger than the revised budget estimates. While the city’s electric expenses were slightly higher than expected partly due to its contract with Evergy, it still ended in a better position than expected.
Responding to a question from Lehmann, Gentry said Evergy’s rates didn’t increase, but the city used its services more than it thought it would.
He also praised the Parks and Recreation department.
“Parks and Rec continues to generate more and more revenue as they get more participants, more events going on,” Gentry said. “They’ve done a really good job finishing out this year.”
The 2026-2030 Capital Improve Plan has also been updated with revised project scopes and prices, and the commission approved the updated plan. The city also added a narrative section to the plan, which includes descriptions and pictures for each project.
“It’s kind of just to help that connection and kind of put the information out there on, you know, ‘Here’s where we’re spending money,’ and ‘Here’s some projects you can potentially expect coming down the pipeline,” Gentry said.
Commissioner Alex Curnes said he thinks this addition is important.
“Having pictures of it, I think it matters,” Curnes said. “When you see numbers on the spreadsheet, it doesn’t always tell the story, so I think that’s great.”
In other business, the commission approved an updated Housing Needs Analysis on the city. Daniel said that if the city wants to establish a Reinvestment Housing Incentive District to develop more housing, it should have an updated analysis.
The housing analysis findings in the meeting packet include:
- Lack of available housing to accommodate population growth over the last five to 10 years
- A severe lack of housing to accommodate anticipated growth in the region due to development projects and population projections.
- Stagnate population increases in the city over the last 10 years that correlate with a reduction in residential building permits issued in the city.
- Flat revenue growth in areas directly related to residential growth, namely utility revenues and local sales taxes
- Slow commercial growth in planned development areas in part due to the lack of rooftops to support specific businesses
During the meeting, the city also approved an annexation request for approximately 105 acres of property at North 1400 Road and 2300 Road.
It also approved the reassignment of existing industrial revenue bonds to the new owners of Eudora Assisted Living. The new owners, Homestead of Eudora, will continue to operate the facility as normal.
The city chose a company called Cohorst Enterprises for the Peach Street lift station decommissioning project. The estimate for this project was $430,000, but Cohorst Enterprises said it could do it for $280,685.
Pennington also mentioned all the holiday events coming up in the city, which include the Mayor’s Tree Lighting at 6 p.m. Dec. 1, December Dash at 10 a.m. Dec. 13, Candy Cane Hunt at 10 a.m. Dec 20 and holiday hay rides every Tuesday and Thursday at 6 p.m. and 6:45 p.m from Dec. 2-18.
City offices are closed Tuesday for Veterans Day.
Reach reporter Bella Waters at [email protected].
