Review of the old and amend the new , was the substance of Tuesday’s Wamego City Commission meeting. At the last meeting, City Manager Merl Page and the Commissioner’s felt a review of the City’s Tax Abatement Policy adopted in 1989 was in order, because of a recent request for tax abatement from Caterpillar Work Tools for their ongoing expansion project. According to Page, City Attorney Jake Pugh reviewed the current policy and found a couple of minor changes that should be adopted. One of the changes was the latitude of the Governing Body to evaluate the tax incentives, and the final analysis has to benefit the State of Kansas. The Commission adopted a resolution to incorporate the subsequent changes into the City of Wamego’s Policy.
In other business, Page highlighted a small problem with the City’s Credit Card Policy that was approved at the last meeting. The Commission approved the acceptance of Credit Cards for various City services, but found the use of debit cards fell under a different fee structure by the credit card processor. Page requested the Commission amend the previous resolution and strike ‘debit cards’ from the ordinance. Page stated the City could accept debit cards as long as they were run as a ‘credit’ transaction and it would eliminate the increased fee and eliminate some confusion. The Commission approved the use of credit cards contingent on passing the transaction fee on to the consumer. The amendment was approved.
Also at Tuesday’s City Commission meeting, Page told of receiving the appropriate petition from the Eichman Brothers, owners of property adjacent to residences along Highway 24, to consider annexation of the property. Page said the Planning Commission held the hearing for the annexation and the final platting of the property, and unanimously recommended approval of the final plat with a few modifications . Owner Rob Eichman was present and approved the modifications. The governing body approved the annexation.
In other business, Page reported finalizing all the contracts for the Automated Meter Reading System (AMR), and said installation of the system should start in a couple of weeks.
Page reminded the Commissioner’s of the Train Dedication coming up Saturday at 10 a.m. at the new Depot in Wamego’s City Park. He said there are a number of things planned and said Gilbert Willy will be the train’s conductor for the dedication. Page went on to say the Train’s operation is exciting for everyone in Wamego.
