A new Iola ordinance clarifies rules for downtown businesses to allow outdoor seating on city rights of way.
Council members approved Monday an ordinance that allows for outdoor dining, provided establishments allow for at least six feet of space for passing pedestrians on city sidewalks.
The only provision with the new ordinance that sparked discussion at Monday’s meeting was a clause that requires businesses to obtain necessary permits from the city and/or state to allow outdoor dining.
Mayor Steve French wondered if the “and/or” was appropriate, for fear of a merchant skirting state permission by going to the city instead.
The state permit is necessary only if an establishment wished to allow alcohol consumption, City Clerk Roxanne Hutton explained. Otherwise, businesses only need city permits.
Approval was 6-0, with Council members Nickolas Kinder and Joel Wicoff absent.
COUNCIL members approved a number of other routine matters Monday.
They accepted a bid from Poor Boy Tree Service to provide up to 600 hours of tree trimming where necessary this year, at a cost of $114 per hour.
The Poor Boy bid was the lower of two.
Council members also accepted a bid from Vance Brothers, Inc. of Kansas City, Mo., to sell the city up to 46,000 gallons of emulsion oil used with street maintenance via chip-seal.
The Vance bid, $2.48 per gallon, was the lower of two.
THE COUNCIL also approved a number of requests from the Iola Rotary Club for the upcoming Rotary Day in the Park, which coincides with the Allen County Fair.
The city will allow overnight camping at Riverside Park for barbecue cookoff teams and their helpers; provide up to 100 free passes to the Iola Municipal Pool for families of cooking teams and install temporary electric panels and use of water for the cooking teams. The city also will provide regular police patrols during the event July 28-29.
COUNCIL members were reminded that Iola City Hall will be closed to the public from 1 to 4:30 p.m. Thursday for upgrades to the building’s electric infrastructure.
This closure is for the utility, administration and code enforcement offices, the Iola Municipal Court and Iola Police Department. Phone lines for each office will be down as well.
