State officials paid a visit to the Emporia City Commission during their study session Wednesday to update Commissioners on both state and local matters.
At the state level, Senator Jeff Longbine expressed his optimism for State Revenue which has continued to exceed estimates for 19 consecutive months. He also shared his concerns for the Ag sector, Kansas’ largest production area, which took a heavy hit due to long-standing drought over the past year.
A major topic locally, which also concerns Longbine is the potential of a property valuation cap being proposed by gubernatorial candidate Kris Kobcah. Longbine explains he is concerned by the constitutionality of the cap.
Representative Mark Schreiber was also in attendance and explained a major focus of the upcoming legislative session will be addressing uncertainties regarding K-12 education.
In other business, commissioners were presented with a policy proposal for alcohol sales and consumption in White Auditorium. State law allows cities to make the decision of whether or not alcohol sales and consumption may be permitted inside city-owned buildings.
Commissioner Bobby Mylnar explains she has many issues with allowing the policy. Specifically, she fears alcohol sales will create a higher potential for damage to the building.
Commissioner Becky Jaggard Smith says Emporia needs to be more aggressive when it comes to hosting events.
https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/kvoe/Audio/2018/October/102418/Smith+alcohol.mp3
Commissioners tabled the discussion until their next study session in three weeks.
Another major topic was the water rate increases which will take effect Jan. 1 2019. They include an 8% increase on water, 10% for wastewater and 5% increase for solid waste.
Commissioners also discussed an update project for the Prairie Street Bridge which requires the bridge to be closed for 50 days. Commissioners made no decisions on the matter, however, stated a contract most likely would not go into effect until spring 2019.
The commission’s next meeting will take place Nov. 7 at 1:30 in the municipal courtroom in White Auditorium.
