Wamego Officials Look at Needs Assessment

The Wamego City Commission reviewed the counties needs assessment. At Tuesday’s meeting, City Manager Merl Page introduced Debbie Nuss, Project Coordinator for the Riley County Senior’s Service Center. Page said he’d heard the presentation of the Pottawatomie County Community Needs Assessment at an earlier meeting, and asked Nuss to present the information to the Commission.

According to Nuss, the Community Needs Assessment was conducted through Wichita State University for Riley County in 2013, and because there is some overlap, Pottawatomie County was included. The assessment surveyed 479 Pottawatomie County residents, with the majority of the respondents coming from Wamego. Wamego is the largest community in Pottawatomie County with a population of 4,372 (2010 census), and typically experiences a lower unemployment, poverty, crime and dropout rate than other counties in the State. Even though the survey showed that Pottawatomie County ranked high in quality of life issues, and is a good place to raise a family, there are still needs to be addressed. The complete assessment can be found at www.pottawatomiecountycommunityassessment.com.

In other business, Shad Hufnagel, the new Parks and Cemetery Supervisor was introduced to the Commissioners. Hufnagel replaces Morris Crisler, who is retiring effective June 23rd after 45 years with the City Park Department. Page wants to remind the public of Crisler’s reception on June 23rd from 3:30 to 6 p.m. in the Commission room at Wamego City Hall.

The Wamego City Commission revisited the aTa Bus proposal. City Manager Merl Page introduced aTa Bus associate Kevin Riley, who answered the Commissioner’s questions about the service aTa Bus is providing to the Wamego area. In the earlier proposal, Director Anne Smith asked the City of Wamego for annual support of between $3 to 5,000 for route service from Manhattan to Highland Community College 4 times per day. The Commissioner’s asked Riley if they could expand the service to another pick-up location in downtown Wamego. They asked Riley to go back and review the request with Director Smith, tabling the funding decision until more answers are available.

In other business, authorization was given to renew the drug testing contract with Utility Consultants for another year. Page said Utility Consultants provide pre-employment and random drug tests to staff, and the contract is year to year.

The Commission approved an ordinance to change the utility disconnection procedure to a specific date each month. Page said this will be a win/win for both the City and the customer, due to the change being the first Monday after the delinquent notice being sent. The utility service bill becomes delinquent on the 16th day of each month, if payment is not received, the disconnection would take place the first Monday of the following month. He said this gives the customer an additional 5 to 7 days to settle before disconnection.

Also, Page reminded the Commissioners of the Veteran’s Memorial statue unveiling on June 26th at the Columbian Theatre. The artists will be available at 4 p.m. with the unveiling at 5:30 p.m.