Housing complex planned

By RICHARD LUKEN
Register Reporter

A developer expects to bring designs for a housing complex near Cedarbrook Golf Course to Iola city commissioners later this month.
Ron and David Dean, representing Dean Development, LLC of Prairie Village, spoke briefly with commissioners Tuesday about their hopes of building a 24-unit housing complex for senior citizens.
The housing complex would target seniors in search of affordable housing, though not dependant enough to require assisted living or nursing home services, Ron Dean said.
The Deans, who attended Tuesday’s meeting with John McRae of Iola Industries, hope to build the complex near the Cedarbrook clubhouse.
The Deans aren’t the first developers to target Iola Industries property on what was the western half of the golf course.
Carlson Gardner of Springfield, Mo., will begin construction of 30 rental houses as soon as utilities are in place and Cottonwood Street is extended to the north. Installation of sewer and stormwater collection utilities is expected to begin this week.
A third, as-yet-unidentified developer also has approached the city about building at Cedarbrook, City Administrator Judy Brigham said.

WHILE THE city continues to seek a police chief, David Corp encouraged commissioners to find a chief dedicated to enforcing traffic laws.
Corp, a law enforcement liaison with the Kansas Department of Transportation, was on hand to present the city with a digital camera and a preliminary breath test machine. The equipment, valued at $800, was made available through the same grant funding that paid for the city’s participation last year in the “Click It Or Ticket” program.
“There’s nothing more a police department can to do save a life than to enforce traffic safety,” Corp said.
He noted the state’s ongoing efforts to enforce traffic laws, including Click It or Ticket, reduced the number of traffic fatalities in Kansas from 468 in 2006 and 430 in 2007 to 355 in 2008.
He also explained the state’s seat belt laws. Officers are allowed to pull over any motorist if they spot someone in a vehicle who’s 17 years or younger and not wearing a seat belt. Seat belt violations are considered “secondary” for adults; that is, a motorist must be stopped for another violation.
Corp would like to see that law changed, so that any motorist spotted without a seat beltwould be subject to a traffic stop and citation.
“The public knows what the law is,” Corp said. “There’s no excuse for not buckling up.”
Commissioners still are interviewing three candidates for the police chief’s position.

COMMISSIONERS approved two more measures necessary to build a new warehouse for Van Diest Supply Company near Russell Stover Candies. They approved a contract with Shafer, Kline & Warren, Inc. of Iola to design a sewer extension to the Van Diest property at a cost not to exceed $2,100.
Commissioners also approved a lot split near the intersection of Marshmallow Lane and Miller Road to create the Van Diest property.

THE CITY WILL visit further with Robby Nelson, Iola American Legion commander, to determine the protocol for repairing grave stones for veterans at Highland Cemetery.
Many of the stones have begun to lean, Parks Superintendent Berkley Kerr said. Their stones are on lots owned by the Legion.
Commissioners wondered if it was permissible for the city to repair stones on land the city doesn’t own, and whether other stones in both Highland and Iola Cemetery should be repaired or straightened as well.
The city also is awaiting a decision from Kansas Attorney General Stephen Six to determine if cemetery funds could be used for the stone repairs. Iola has about $60,000 in the fund.

BRADLEY Yoder, who has worked in the Parks Department since August 2007, is Iola’s new recreation program coordinator.
The position was created when commissioners agreed last fall to expand the Rec Department’s services. Yoder takes office Jan. 26.
Commissioners also hired Jody Mader, Tina Beckham and Debra Brooks as 911 dispatchers and Kim Laymon to the Street and Alley Department.