Parks and Recreation Director Sally Pennington announced several changes regarding the community pool, including its expanded hours and the tentative opening date, set for May 31.
No applications for a seat on the City Commission have been turned in yet, city officials said at Monday’s meeting.
The deadline to submit an application is May 4, and applicants will be interviewed May 16 and 17. City Clerk Kelly Delay said information about the application process has been shared in mailers, flyers and on Facebook.
Mayor Tim Reazin asked City Manager Barack Matite what the hiring process would look like if no one applied for the position, which is opening due to the pending retirement of Ruth Hughs.
“Our hope is by the deadline we get someone, but we do have some time between when the deadline to submit a letter of interest is and when we do interviews,” Matite said. “If we don’t get anything, we can have a discussion as far as what we do.”
Matite also provided an update on the High 5 development, which is still undergoing financing and has until the end of May to do so.
“We are having ongoing discussions with them,” Matite said. “We want to keep the momentum going to make them move in right now, to be able to be a catalyst for all the other sales.”
In the meantime, the city is allowed to have discussions with other parties who may be interested in development.
The city also granted Verizon Access Transmission Services an agreement that allows the company to construct a telecommunications system in the city’s right-of-way. By allowing this, the city will receive $5,000 annually. However, Verizon Access Transmission Services does not plan to provide services for Eudora residents.
In other business, the commission approved a resolution supporting Matite’s application for a KDOT grant. The recipient of the KDOT Transportation Alternatives grant will be announced this summer and would provide over $900,000.
The money would go toward the city’s planned construction of a shared use path, connecting the sidewalks at 15th Street with the shared use path at 20th Street. The path would be ADA compliant and connect to Lucy Kaegi Park. The project is estimated to cost about $1.3 million.
After some residents shared concerns over their power being shut off during the weekend, commissioners strategized on how to deal with late bill notices. If a resident hasn’t paid for utilities, the cut-off date is the 22nd of any month.
“I would like to say we don’t turn off utilities on a Friday, because there is no way to get ahold of somebody,” Commissioner Roberta Lehmann said. “There’s always going to be a reason people don’t get a bill paid, but turning off utilities on a Friday is going to open up a can of worms for everyone.”
Matite said his office will reach out to the individuals affected by the shut-off. He also suggested the creation of informational flyers that could be distributed throughout the community, making sure residents know about the deadlines.
In other business, Parks and Recreation Director Sally Pennington announced a few changes regarding the city’s pool, including the hours of operation.
The pool will return to the schedule it had before COVID-19, staying open 1-7 p.m. Monday to Thursday and 1-6 p.m. Friday to Sunday. The tentative opening date is May 31. Lifeguards will also make a starting hourly wage of $10.50, raised from about $8.50.
Reach reporter Abby Shepherd at [email protected]