While Iola officials struggle with closing an $800,000 gap in the city’s 2017 budget, City Administrator Carl Slaugh notes the 2016 spending plan also must be addressed.
Slaugh said at Friday’s See, Hear Iola session that he has ordered an across-the-board, 5-percent spending cut for the remainder of the calendar year.
“It looks like our carry-over funds will come up a little short” otherwise, Slaugh said.
IN OTHER items Friday, Carol Sager, Iola Area Chamber of Commerce executive director, spoke about a “Junk Or Trunk” outdoor market Thursday.
The event will coincide with the weekly Allen County Farmers Market on the courthouse square.
While the Farmers Market will remain on South Jefferson Avenue, the Junk or Trunk market will be set up on Jackson Avenue, on the north side.
The rules are simple.
For a $10 registration fee, sellers can peddle pretty much anything they can fit in their respective car trunks. Vendors will be required to set up their own tables, chairs or other displays. They’ll also be responsible for cleanup afterward.
The session runs from 5 to 7:30 p.m. and is designed not only to catch those at the Farmers Market, but those who attend the weekly ice cream social and Iola Municipal Band concerts.
Sager said she was unsure if it will be a weekly event; that will be dictated by turnout.
For more information, call 365-5252.
DONNA HOUSER gave an update to ongoing locker room renovations at the Riverside Park football stadium.
The entrance to the home locker room has been relocated to the north wall in an effort to prevent water runoff from easily entering the locker room, Houser explained.
In addition, the floors have been resurfaced with an epoxy sealant.
Midway through the project, Houser also was asked to take on roof repair.
While not in the original $30,000 budget, Houser said the project has received a boost from Boren’s Roofing.
Counting pledges (about $28,000) and in-kind contributions, the total project cost has been pegged at nearly $40,000.
