By ROWENA PLETT

Staff writer

According to Lincolnville Mayor Barb Kaiser, the city has been invited by the Kansas League of Municipalities to attend an all-day festival Oct. 8 in Wichita to celebrate the 150th birthday of the State of Kansas. The festival is being billed as a statewide event. With a $5 ticket, participants will enjoy a parade down Douglas, an encampment with food, art and historic re-enactors, and a “Kansas: Home on the Range” concert, which will tell the story of Kansas in song, poetry, and video.

After a budget hearing Monday, Lincolnville City Council adopted a 2012 budget with a mill levy that is .3 less than the previous year. Because the city has been working to build up its capital outlay fund, it has the authority to spend $105,510, compared with $85,000 in 2011. Treasurer Clay Simons said the city will have no lease payments in 2012 but will be installing a siren and doing a sewer project.

In the regular meeting that followed the budget hearing, Simons said the city has spent 56 percent of its 2011 budget and “needs to slow down a bit.”

Streets chairman Dennis Burch praised city workers for the job they are doing in maintaining the city during this hot weather.

“They’ve done a lot considering the heat we have been having,” he said.

He suggested the city have a barbecue every year in appreciation for the work that city employees do. Currently, four are employed.

The council approved replacement of a wall in the utility room in city hall and installation of an on-demand water heater for the bathroom sink. The cost is not to exceed $500.

Council members found a perceived discrepancy on a bill from Cardie Oil, Inc. It looked like the city had been charged for two tires for the city truck, but only one was replaced. When the council paid bills, it authorized payment of just one tire to Cardie Oil.

Sherri Pankratz, parks and recreation chairman, reported that the portable toilet at the ballfield had been vandalized and was replaced. Community service workers were utilitzed to paint facilities at the ballfield.

Pankratz also reported that the city received a donation of $12,000 to install new playground equipment in the city park. Local volunteers are providing the labor and KDOT is providing concrete. More details will be published when the project is completed.

Clerk Sabrina Carson was instructed to resend mowing bills every month until paid to absent property owners who do not mow their grass.

City celebrations chairman Kristen Ebaben instructed maintenance workers to keep the grass watered at the community center in anticipation of the Oct. 1 Octoberfest.

The next regular meeting will be 7 p.m. Sept. 12.