Iola city crews are well on the way to extending a walking trail to the new Iola Elementary School site.
Iola Assistant City Administrator Corey Schinstock told City Council members Monday that limestone screenings have been placed along much of the 10-block stretch, from where the MoPac Trail ends near Iola High School to the elementary school site on North Kentucky Street.
Next up is to cut out and replace curbs where the trail intersects with the various streets to make it more accessible for bicyclists.
The trail follows the old Missouri Pacific Railroad corridor. Currently, the trail stretches from the IHS tennis courts to the Prairie Spirit Trail west of State Street.
Once finished, the MoPac Trail would be the first walking and biking trail reaching the easternmost points of Iola.
“Things are going to start moving pretty quickly,” Schinstock said. Signage is also on the to-do list.
The trail should be done well in advance of the start of classes in mid-August.
In other school-related items, Schinstock said he, City Administrator Matt Rehder and Police Chief Jared Warner have begun looking at how traffic patterns will be affected, both near the new school site and at Iola’s three shuttered elementaries, Jefferson, Lincoln and McKinley.
With traffic around those sites likely to be much less compressed, the city may remove some of the travel and parking restrictions, Schinstock said.
“We’ll probably see some changes in the coming weeks,” he said, “but nothing drastic.”
WITH AN extended spell of hot weather, combined with high fuel costs, city electric customers have been walloped with high utility bills this month.
Councilman Nickolas Kinder said he had been approached by a handful of residents whose utility bills were roughly $100 or more higher than what they typically pay this time of year.
Rehder noted the city has been running its generators steadily during the hottest times of the day to reduce Iola’s dependence on market-rate energy, which is vital “during these extreme events.”
There may be a light at the end of the tunnel, Rehder said, with more seasonal temps expected to move in by the end of the week.
COUNCIL members voted, 6-0, to proceed with demolition of two condemned houses, at 307 S. Ohio St. and 914 E. Broadway St., for a cost of $5,000.
Ray’s Metal Depot was the only local demolition company that submitted a bid to remove the structures.
