New council sworn in, appoints city positions
Staff reporter
Marion City Commission became Marion City Council Monday when four newly elected councilmen were swornin and took office.
Stacey Collett and Gene Winkler each will serve four-year terms, and Bill Holdeman and Jerry Kline were sworn in to serve two-year terms each.
Prior to their taking office, outgoing commissioners Jim Crofoot and Max Hayen were given opportunities for closing remarks.
Crofoot said he has appreciated serving Marion residents for the past 15 years and wished the best to the new council.
Hayen also expressed his appreciation and said he hoped the council could get along.
In other business:
— Following a 30-minute executive session to discuss non-elected personnel with city administrator David Mayfield and city attorney Dan Baldwin, the meeting reconvened with the council approving appointments of city positions.
Mayfield was re-appointed city administrator, former assistant city clerk and city treasurer Angela Lange was promoted and appointed city clerk, former utility billing clerk Becky Makovec also was promoted and appointed city treasurer, Mike Regnier re-appointed fire chief, Baldwin re-appointed attorney, and Bryson Mills re-appointed municipal judge.
Lange and Makovec each will receive a $3 per hour pay increase to compensate for the promotions.
The appointments are made annually in April.
— Decisions were tabled until next week regarding a change of meeting time and number of meetings per month.
As a mayor-commission form of government, the commission was required to meet at least once a week. As a mayor-council form of government, the council must meet a minimum of twice a month. Mayfield recommended meeting twice a month.
Collett said he would like the council to meet later in the day. Holdeman agreed and suggested 7 p.m. After further discussion of time possibilities of 4, 5, 6, or 7 p.m., the council decided to wait on a decision. Meetings will follow the current city ordinance of 4 p.m. every Monday until the council determines a time and day of week.
The council did decide to meet in the basement for the time being instead of removing walls, replacing carpet, purchasing a new table and chairs, and complete other remodeling tasks in the former commission room.
Approximate cost for renovations and furniture could run $5,000, Mayfield said. The former commission room could be used for staff meetings, he said.
— The council appointed Mayfield as Director 2 on the board of Kansas Municipal Energy Agency, and street superintendent Marty Fredrickson as an alternate. Harvey Sanders, public utilities director, currently serves in the Director 1 position.
— Holdeman volunteered to serve the remainder of 2006 on the Marion Economic Development Advisory Board as a council representative. Hayen will continue to serve on the advisory board as a resident. Kline will serve during 2007.
— The council approved the February utility billing tie out and warrants.
— Mayor Martin Tice asked department heads if they had anything more to say than what was said earlier during an orientation for the new councilmen. There were no reports given at the open meeting.
Tice added that the orientation session was not required to be an open meeting because the four councilmen had not yet been sworn in.
Mayfield facilitated the closed work session with the four new members and Tice. According to Mayfield, the work session was an opportunity to familiarize the council members with the workings of the city. City department heads presented information about their departments and duties.
The next council meeting is at 4 p.m. Monday in the city building basement.
