The Fairview City Council met at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 9, at the Fairview Community Building. Present for the meeting were Mayor Art Vondershmidt, Council Members Bridget Harvey, Sierra Renner, Doug Bletscher and Charlie Kramer, Community Center Manager Joann Keim, Secretary Christine Rosenberger, Code Enforcement Officer Ashley Martinez, and City Employee George Blanton. There were three guests present.

Mayor Vonderschmidt and Councilman Bletscher took their oath of office for two years. Councilman Holthaus was not present to take his Oath of Office.

Paul Reynolds asked the city to bypass the sewer charge on Reynolds property located at 314 S. Elm, since the trailer house is gone. After discussion, the council approved this request.

Joel Bacon presented a building permit to the council for 117 W. Flora and asked them to approve adding three trailer homes for rentals. Bacon said one trailer would be 16 feet by 70 feet, while the other two trailers would be 16 feet by 64 feet. Bacon said the trailers will sit east to west. The size of the lot where he is requesting the trailers be added is 25,373 square feet. Bacon also stated he would have three sewer and water setups. After discussion, the council approved the building permit.

After the council approved the building permit, they discussed giving each of the trailer houses their own address. The addresses the council agreed on were 109 W. Flora for the north trailer house, 111 W. Flora for the middle trailer house and 113 W. Flora for the south trailer house.

New Business

The council approved two demolition assistance requests. The first was for the United Church of Christ house located at 113 West Maple Street. The estimated cost for this demolition is $4,000. The council approved assisting with 50 percent of the costs up to $2,000. The second demolition assistance request was for Bletscher and the house and outbuildings located at 211 West First Street. The estimated cost for this demolition is $8,000. The council approved assisting with 50 percent of the costs up to $2,000. Bletscher abstained from voting. Each party has 60 days to tear down these properties.

Vonderschmidt said the city received a letter about the Kansas water pollution control permit. Vonderschmidt said they would pass the information on to Bill Shroyer of Sabetha, who does the city’s water inspections.

Martinez said she needs to schedule a court date for unpaid fines. Martinez said she would talk with city treasurer Kim Rettele and city attorney Luke Sunderland prior to scheduling a date.

Blanton said the city truck is fixed.

Keim said a refrigerator at the community building isn’t working and she has contacted a repair man. She also said the concrete at the front of the community building needs to be fixed because the doors won’t open. Keim asked if she could contact Goodman Brothers of Sabetha. The council agreed to have her check with them.

Rosenberger said they will start billing for 2023 sewer rates in April. Rosenberger suggested raising sewer rates and having set rates for residential properties and businesses properties. After discussion, the council decided to table this topic until the March meeting.

Also at the meeting:

The council approved minutes from the Jan. 5 meeting.

The council approved the bank statements and treasurer’s report.

The council approved Ordinance No. 2023-01 for a Community Improvement District.

The council approved the contract through Madget Demolition for the Checkers building located at 424 West Commercial in the amount of $20,000. This price includes the landfill fees and backfilling. Vonderschmidt said they expect to demolish the building within the next two weeks. Vonderschmidt also discussed the asbestos report.

The council approved the bills to pay.

The next regular meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 2, at the Fairview Community Building.