Fort Scott, KS - The Fort Scott City Commission celebrated the restoration of clean drinking water during Tuesday night’s meeting following a catastrophic 10-inch main break that left much of the city dry last weekend. City Manager Brad Matkin gave an update to the Commission on the cause of the outage.
“The water leak started at 4:45 in the morning [on Saturday]. Nobody saw it until seven o'clock when somebody walked by and saw it gushing from the ground,” Matkin said, “It was a 10 inch water line. You could put your fist through the hole. That's how bad it was. Getting that shut down when it's a 10 inch line coming from the water tower is about impossible.”
Matkin said the city has an alarm system in place for outages, but they are triggered by losses in pressure, not volume. Matkin also praised the responsiveness of city workers.
“We do have alarm system on our water towers, on our water systems, but with the way this leak was, we did not actually lose pressure to set the alarms off. We lost water,” Matkin said,“...the water department, water distribution guys, by the time they found the leak, got stabilized, they had the leak done in about three hours, which was very impressive.”
Matkin said city staff are now researching a mass notification system capable of sending simultaneous texts, emails, and automated phone calls to citizens in the event of future emergencies.
Mayor Kathryn Salsbury requested the city develop a policy to ensure businesses like restaurants could be reached more effectively than through social media alone.
“...I think that there was a gap in notices to people that use water for their businesses, like fountain drinks and stuff,” Salisbury said, “and that would be nice if we had something other than just the Facebook message.”
Commission Defers Alley Vacation Over Legal Notice Error
In other business, the commission voted to delay a decision on vacating a landlocked alley between 1406 and 1416 East Wall Street after a clerical error surfaced in the public notice. The notice used the word "eginning" instead of "beginning," which Logan Wallace, an attorney representing objectors Zach and Shelly Bradley, said invalidated the hearing.
Attorney Gayla Mason, representing neighboring property owners Daugherty Enterprises LLC, argued the alley is landlocked and blocked by permanent structures and mature trees. She alleged that the Bradleys, owners of The After Effect Salon, are using the public right-of-way as an unauthorized private parking lot.
"This is a landlocked alley that is not even being used and it is blocked on both ends," Mason said, "Only the Bradleys can use that... they've had that vacated".
Petitioner Dennis Daugherty alleged that the Bradleys placed gravel on the public right-of-way without city approval. His son, Shawn Daugherty, argued the strip provides no public benefit."It's an alley to nowhere," Daugherty said.
Wallace said that his clients possess legally protected property interests in the "ingress and egress" of the roadway .
A motion to approve the vacation failed in a 2-3 vote. The commission subsequently voted 4-1 to republish the legal notice correctly and reschedule the hearing to allow for further research.
Public court records show that the Daughertys and Bradleys have been in recent litigation over the alley.
Horton Street Warranty Dispute
The commission also discussed a formal response to contractor Emory Sapp and Sons regarding failing asphalt on the Horton Street project. Commissioner Wells said the contractor deviated from the contract by laying asphalt in a single three-inch lift rather than two separate 1.5-inch lifts.
Wells recounted an alleged confrontation with a company representative regarding the poor condition of the street.
According to Wells, the representative said "I would not accept it. It is bad, but we're a $70 million a year company. What are you going to do about it?"
Mayor Salsbury cautioned that the legal fees to fight the contractor would likely exceed the $370,000 cost of the project.
“This will require a specific kind of attorney who handles this. They cost between five and $750 an hour. It will take about $300,000 on the low end to get this to trial…,” Salsbury said,” The dispute[d] overlay in question cost us $370,000.”
Gun Park Short-Term Rental Proposal
Commissioner Wells also proposed a $30,000 renovation of the Gun Park caretaker’s house to convert it into a city-managed short-term rental for visitors.
"This is about being good stewards of what we already own and taking something that is underperforming and making it work for our community," Wells said.
Commissioner Julie Buchta questioned the city's ability to provide 24-hour maintenance and professional-grade cleaning on the property.
“We rent a lot of Airbnbs when we travel, booking.com, you name it,” Buchta said, “And the main thing is you really, really have to scrub those from head to toe. You have to scrub the cabinets, you have to scrub the crevices. Otherwise, you're going to get super bad reviews. One bad review can just obliterate.”
The commission tabled the discussion to allow for further research into operational costs and insurance liability.
Other Action
- Approved a letter of support for SEK-CAP’s application for an Emergency Solutions Grant for rehousing the homeless.
- Authorized a five-year lease for a city parcel on the floodplain at 101 S. Clark for $500 annually to Alex Swink.
- Accepted a $15,000 bid for the sale of a surplus 1997 fire truck.
- Approved the annual purchase of water meters and registers for $111,496.16.
- Approved the purchase of a used mower for the LaRoche Complex for $23,500.
- Tabled Ordinance 3797 regarding Conex boxes to allow for further revisions on residential screening and grandfathering clauses.
- Recessed into a 21 minute executive session regarding financial affairs or trade secrets of corporations, partnerships, trusts, and individual proprietorships with the five Commissioners, the City Manager, City Attorney Bob Farmer, and County Commissioner Gregg Motley. No action was taken.
- Recessed into a second, 7 minute executive session regarding financial affairs or trade secrets of corporations, partnerships, trusts, and individual proprietorships with the five commissioners, the City Manager, and the City Attorney. No action was taken.
