The Wamego Chamber of Commerce updated the City Commission on recent events at Tuesday’s meeting. City Manager Merl Page talked about the partnership formed with the Chamber of Commerce and the Convention and Visitors Bureau earlier this year. With this partnership, a regular update was part of the agreement. Chamber Executive Director, Megan Umscheid (um shide) and Tourism Coordinator Mikaela Kall went over the past events and told about the upcoming programs. The next event will be the
Season of Lights on December 6th in the City Park. Both Umscheid and Kall thanked the City for all their support this year, while Page thanked them for a job well done from the City’s perspective. For a full schedule of the upcoming events, go to visitwamego.com.
In other business, the Commission appointed new resident to Wamego, Frank Laubhan to the Wamego Hospital Board for a term that expires January, 2020. Laubhan moved from Pratt, served as President of the Pratt Chamber of Commerce, Mayor for 9 years, and chaired the Pratt hospital renovation project. Page said his previous experience brings a lot to the table, and he welcomes his involvement.
The Wamego City Commission approved a rezoning ordinance. At Tuesday’s meeting, City Manager Merl Page went over the specifications of the rezoning ordinance for property owned by Pat Weixelman at 4660 North Highway 99 from R-M (Residential Medium Density) to R-2 (Residential two-family). Page added that R-M is a holding zone for areas outside the City because the property is located within the Extra Territorial Area of Wamego. Page said the Planning Commission approved the rezoning unanimously and the ordinance was approved by a vote of 5 to 0.
Page announced the sales tax numbers remain strong, with the City up 1 point 4 percent and the County up 1 point 2 percent. He added the numbers are a good economic indicator for the region.
Page was asked to go over the power outage problems during the recent storm. He said all the problems were with Westar’s transmission system so the City elected to run the Power Plant until all the problems were resolved. He highlighted the value of the Power Plant is the City has it when it needs it.
Commissioner Bob Morse made a motion to give the City staff the entire day before Christmas off with pay, which passed by a vote of 5 to 0.
