The Wamego City Commission did not adopt the Contractor Licensing petition. At Tuesday’s meeting, City Manager Merl Page went over the petition that was presented at the last meeting. He instructed the Commissioners they had two options, 1. to adopt the petition as written, or 2. not to adopt and the petition would go to a public referendum.
Page added that the City staff cannot support the new language of the petition, because they felt it would be a step back from where they were before. Mayor Vic Enns asked the City Attorney Jake Pugh if the language of the petition was too wide a scope that would have the potential of weakening the City in other places. After a discussion, Commissioner Bill Ditto made the motion to NOT accept the petition as written, and passed by a vote of 5 to 0. Mayor Enns asked the City Attorney to draft the question to put on the April ballot. Both Commissioner’s Cliff Baughman and Tom Beem want to make sure the public is educated on what they will be voting on when the question appears on the ballot.
In other business, The Wamego City Commission approved improvements to the Recreation Complex. City Manager Merl Page said he was approached by Recreation Advisory Board member Jerry Johnson with a proposal to install Astro turf to the batting cages at the complex. Johnson said the High School baseball team would pay for the product and installation, with no cost to the City. Approval was given by a vote of 4 to 0, with Mayor Enns abstaining.
