Ark Valley News - Council divided on library board rule

Council divided on library board rule
By Chris Strunk
Last Updated: October 19, 2017

As a matter of principle, some Valley Center City Council members have a hard time with the notion of non-residents deciding the fate of residents' taxes.

That's why a proposal to allow non-residents to sit on the public library's board of directors was turned down Oct. 17.

The council voted 4-3 on the proposal. Because the request required a so-called charter ordinance, it needed a two-thirds majority to pass.

One council member was absent.

“I have a huge problem with non-residents dealing with tax dollars of residents," said council member Lou Cicirello.

He was joined by Dale Kerstetter and Gina Gregory in voting against the ordinance.

Ben Anderson, Al Hobson, Jake Jackson and Marci Maschino voted for the proposal.

“I think people outside the city use (the library) and have a stake in it, not financially, but support-wise, as a community," Anderson said.

Maschino said she was voting for the request to extend discussion. If approved, the ordinance would have gone to a second vote at the next council meeting.

The proposal would have allowed at least two library board members to reside outside the city limits, but within specific boundaries of northwest Sedgwick County.

Chad Dove, a member of the board, said as the board was reviewing its bylaws, the membership requirement came up for discussion. He said the board has some difficulty getting people interested in serving, and extending membership to non-residents would widen the pool of candidates.

“This was a direct request from the library board," said Kristine Polian, assistant city administrator.

Polian said the library receives about $250,000 in annual tax revenue from the city.

No free land

Also Oct. 17, the city council shelved a request from the Valley Center school district to give the district a small piece of land along South Park Street.

City officials said the district is looking to sell property it formerly used to park buses and the city-owned land could make it more marketable.

No one from the district was at the meeting to address the request.

“I would like to know what the use is before I vote for this," Cicirello said.

Anderson said he would like to hear more about the request.

“We're going to sell it to them for $1 so they can increase the marketability of their land?" Anderson asked. “… To me, the size of our property is just as big as the size of their property."

Hobson said if the city isn't using the property, it should get rid of it and allow something to be developed on the land.

Polian said the land has not been used by the city for a long time and city staff saw no problem giving it to the school district.

“I have no problem getting rid of it," Anderson reacted. “At the same time … I'm looking at any dollar we can get going to our future sewer project or something."

Maschino suggested the city ask someone from the school district to address the request at a future meeting.

Mayor Laurie Dove agreed.

In other business Oct. 17, the council:

•Heard the mayor make a proclamation for Veterans Day on Nov. 11 and Military Appreciation Month in November.

•Gave final approval to an ordinance that rezones property near the Sunflower Gardens campus on North Emporia from single-family residential to multi-family residential to clear the way for Mennonite Housing's expansion project.

•Approved an ordinance and two resolutions to sell $3 million in general obligation bonds and a $2.5 million one-year temporary note to finance the construction of the Community Center & Library.

•Approved spending $22,622 on four car camera systems and eight body cameras for the police department.

•Learned that Valley Center High School student Scott McCune is completing an extensive landscaping project in Veterans Park as part of his Eagle Scout requirements.

Council member Brendan McGettigan and City Administrator Scott Hildebrand were not at the meeting.