For the second time in as many weeks, Emporia City Commissioners have chosen to submit a petition related to the ongoing Flint Hills Digital Campus discussions to Lyon County District Court for a declaratory judgment.
Following the commission’s decision to send a petition seeking to ban high-impact data centers to district court on August 5th, they took the same action during their regular action meeting Wednesday with a separate yet related petition regarding the installation and operation of battery energy storage systems in the city limits. Commissioners approved the action with hopes of adding it to the previous item; however, City Attorney Christina Montgomery noted that it will be up to district court to decide.
With that in mind, commissioners included language to allow the city attorney to refile the petition separately should it not be considered with the original submission. Once that decision is made, district court will review the petitions and deem whether they are legislative or administrative in nature.
If the review leads to an administrative ruling, the city has said the petition will likely be invalidated. While speaking with KVOE on the monthly Q&A segment Tuesday, City Manager Trey Cocking stated that based on information reviewed by the city in recent weeks, “There is a lot of case law that supports that this is an administrative ordinance, not a legislative ordinance because it relies heavily on our planning and zoning statutes and what we are doing here.”
As KVOE News has reported, these are not the only petitions circulated in recent weeks.
A series of additional petitions continue making rounds locally, with the first seeking to abandon the current city commission structure of city government. Another is seeking to replace that structure with a city council form of leadership with four wards and an at-large position.
Emporia City Manager Trey Cocking, during the monthly Q&A With Trey Tuesday, addressed this effort, saying he and others are very open to discussing this proposed change.
That said, Cocking noted that he believes if the matter is to be addressed, it needs to be a “holistic” conversation.
Once again, commissioners held their meeting virtually; however, they may be moving back to in-person meetings at the start of next month following a discussion on public forum and decorum matters as part of their study session Wednesday. Commissioners reviewed the requirements and standards of public comment, which were not provided during the past two meetings.
Per information provided by City Attorney Christina Montgomery Wednesday, the city is not required by law to provide a period of public comment, with Montgomery noting differences between comment and public hearings; the full presentation can be found online under the agenda tab at EmporiaKS.gov. Following the presentation, commissioners ultimately decided that they will plan to return to an in-person meeting on Wednesday, September 2, and will provide public comment.
Commissioners did express plans to potentially review and further define their standards for decorum for the meeting and public comment period, which included a possible time limit on the public comment period. That suggestion was ultimately turned down, with Commissioner Erren Harter specifically stating his opposition to limiting the time frame but making the commission’s rules and expectations explicitly clear moving forward.
The return to in-person meetings will be subject to input from Emporia Police Chief Ed Owens as the department has been leading an investigation into what have been called “credible threats” made against city leadership and staff in recent weeks. The existence of said threats is what led to the commission moving to a virtual platform for both of its meetings this month.
In separate action Wednesday, commissioners approved placing a 0.25-percent cent sales tax question on the November ballot, which, if approved by voters, would serve as the main funding source for the proposed new and updated Emporia recreation facilities in west Emporia and the Lee Beran Recreation Center. Following the action, Emporia Rec Director Amanda Gutierrez stated the action was “a long time coming” and a step they have been looking forward to since “the get-go” of the rec center discussions.
Should voters in November choose to go against the sales tax mechanism, Gutierrez stated there is no backup plan for funding the rec center project, which carries a near $24 million price tag.
Between now and November, Gutierrez says the rec commission will be hosting more open house events for the community, similar to the ones held last week, where residents will be able to engage with rec leadership and gain a better understanding of the special question. Those engagement sessions will take place September 17th at the Lyon County Fairgrounds and October 13th inside the Lee Beran Recreation Center, both from 4 pm to 6 pm.
Wednesday’s meeting followed a demonstration by a new community organization known as Emporians for Progress, which was showing its support for Emporia City Commissioners. Details on that demonstration are available here.
