New Marion official wants dollar store to sell gas
Staff writer
After his week on the job, new city administrator Bryan Wells met with Marion City Council members Monday to map priorities for the city.
Wells already is asking Dollar General Corp. whether the chain might add gas pumps Marion. He has not been able to reach anyone, however.
Regular gas pumps at Casey’s have been unusable for weeks, and some alcohol-free pumps are now out of service. The city has only one place to buy gasoline, and Dollar General at Hillsboro has gas pumps, Wells noted.
Wells said he had spent time reviewing things the city has done in the past.
“I’d be willing to meet with you all,” he told council members.
Wells said one person had applied to be municipal court clerk, and two applications had come in for police chief position.
Code inspector James Masters, who went to work for Council Grove on June 9 for a slight pay cut, has agreed to return to Marion on June 30, he said. He and the council did not reveal what had changed his mind.
Council member Zach Collett said his “top bullet” was to hire an economic development director.
Collett said he also wanted the city to review its capital improvement plan annually and look back at the city’s strategic plan.
Street conditions also were a council concern.
Mayor Mike Powers suggested asking the police department to notify the city of potholes that need repair.
Collett suggested having trash truck crews report potholes in alleys.
Powers pointed to the condition of Kellison St., a partially gravel road starting at Eisenhower Dr. and going past a housing development in the 300 block of N. Coble St.
“That is our newest housing development, and that gravel road puts out a lot of dust,” Powers said.
Powers wondered whether some kind of spray might keep down the dust.
Council member Kevin Burkholder said he would like to see Wells get out to meet business owners.
He also said he wanted the city to give merit-based raises based on performance reviews instead of across-the-board raises.