Wamego has a new leader. Tuesday’s meeting was Sine Die, better known as Commission reorganization, with the newly elected Commissioners, Dr. Bill Ditto and Cliff Baughman taking their oath of office. Commissioner Bob Morse was elected Mayor and Larry Fechter was elected Mayor Pro-Tem.
After Mayor Morse reopened the meeting, the Commission accepted the resignation of Lorraine Richard from the Airport Board due to relocating out of the area, appointed Housing Authority resident Glenn Linder to the Housing Authority, and appointed Commissioner Vic Enns and City Manager Merl Page to the Kansas Municipal Energy Agency Board for another year.
The commission also gave their conceptual approval for a new Veteran’s Memorial. Page introduced Gary McCloud, who presented a detailed drawing of the proposed memorial that will include the names of all the area fallen men and women in every war beginning with World War One. The proposed cost of the project is estimated at $165,000 without the statue. McCloud was asking the Commission for an approved location, preferable in the Wamego City Park, and a commitment for future maintenance of the Memorial by the City.
According to Page, there are ongoing discussions, but the ideal location of the Memorial is off of 6th Street, in the area of property that the City owns that is slated for demolition. All the decisions are tentative, but McCloud can begin fundraising for the project after the Commission’s conceptual approval.
In other business, the May Sales Tax numbers are in, and both the City and County-wide numbers are down. The City is down 4 tenths of a percent and the County is down 3 point 75 percent. City Manager Merl Page noted that the County’s formulas change every 6 months, and thought this may be a factor in the downturn.
