While few if any specific details were covered, Iola City Council members anticipated discussing further the city’s financial stability, infrastructure and economic development as they kicked off a two-day planning session.
The first session was Monday, but rather than diving straight into the topics at hand, Council members participated in a few exercises geared to helping them focus more closely on themes they considered most important.
The exercises were led by Trudy Rice, a community development specialist with K-State Research and Extension, and Carla Nemecek, Southwind Extension agent.
After a brief introduction about the process, Rice and Nemecek had Council members write down issues they considered most important for the city, such as housing, youth issues. From there, an informal vote — Council members placed dots on the issues they thought deserved the highest priority — showed most wanted to focus on the aforementioned financial stability, infrastructure and economic development.
The issues will be covered at length at tonight’s planning session, which begins with a meal at 5:30 at the Allen Community College Conference Room. The public is invited.
CITY ADMINISTRATOR Sid Fleming explained his rationale for seeking the two-night planning session.
As a relative newcomer to Iola — he was hired last summer — Fleming said his target was to ensure he remained on the same page with the Council.
“I’m trying to figure out what you folks, myself and my staff do on a daily basis, and where we’re going,” Fleming said. “I’m not sure I have a clear, definitive idea of what that is.
“I want to make sure that I have a clear picture of what the Council’s desire is on whatever issues are discussed. There may be issues the Council hasn’t addressed, but if I know the things around it, it will ensure we’re all working toward the common goal.”
Fleming said his ultimate goal was to prevent duplication of services, or gaps where city tasks aren’t being accomplished to the Council’s standards.
“Or maybe there are things we shouldn’t be doing,” he continued. “It’s important for the city to provide leadership to the community. We can say, ‘Here’s a vision; here’s what we want to do.’”
He rattled off a list of potential topics, from whether the Council wants to expand or better market Iola’s newly developed trail system for enthusiasts; whether Iola’s city sales tax should be extended past 2019; whether the Council remains desirous to pursue annexation of neighboring subdivisions; or how to develop downtown.
“”It’s good for the Council to figure out where we want to go on these things,” he said.
MONDAY’S session concluded with another exercise, in which the Council members broke off into groups of three to draw up mock newspaper pages from 2020, which would depict stories written if each of the three main planning topics were successfully implemented.
The economic development group — Mayor Joel Wicoff, Councilman Don Becker and City Clerk Roxanne Hutton — showed a paper filled with stories about new jobs coming in by utilizing technology, such as bringing in a Google outlet, and growth of the new Regional Rural Tech Center in LaHarpe.
The financial stability group — Councilman Jon Wells, Fleming and Councilwoman Beverly Franklin — drew up a newspaper page that highlights capital projects, such as a new rec center and major road projects underway, with higher property valiues, stable utility funds and rising sales tax receipts.
Council members Nancy Ford and Aaron Franklin teamed with Assistant City Administrator Corey Schinstock to make a paper filled with articles about Iola’s gleaming infrastructure, and how it had improved the region’s health rankings. (Council members Bob Shaughnessy and Sandy Zornes were unable to attend.)
Rice noted that many of the mock-ups carried similar ideas, ones she hopes the council will consider during tonight’s concluding planning session.
