City purchases nine acres to expand Countryside Park

Holton’s Countryside Park is about to grow by nine acres, thanks to action on Monday night by the Holton City Commission.

During the commission’s first meeting of 2016, commissioners approved the $75,000 installment  purchase of an approximately nine-acre farmground tract that lies between the community garden at Countryside Park and South Iowa Avenue from Countryside Development Corporation.

After the meeting, Holton City Manager Bret Bauer said a portion of the land purchased on Monday could “potentially” be used as a dog park and has been considered as “an area of interest” for such a use. However, Bauer added that a “dog park committee” created to explore options for a dog park has not yet made a final recommendation to the commission on where a dog park should go.

The creation of a dog park has been an item of interest for commissioners for several months, it was reported. In November, Bauer told commissioners that the first step in putting a dog park together in the city would involve forming a committee to discuss options for a park and make recommendations to the commission for action.

Earlier in the year, the city discussed possible locations for a dog park after Bauer noted the receipt of a financial gift to the city to be used for that specific purpose. Bauer told commissioners in September that if the commission chose to accept the gift, it would have to be used for creation of a dog park.

At present, however, options for the land purchased on Monday remain open for discussion, with Bauer and commissioners expressing a desire to change one part of the purchase agreement. According to the agreement, Countryside Development requested that the city not use the land “in such a manner that would create noise or light issues after 10:30 p.m.,” while Bauer noted the city’s other parks stay open until 11 p.m.

Holton Parks and Recreation Director Mike Reichle agreed, saying that operating hours at all of Holton’s parks should be uniform throughout the city. Reichle also told commissioners that he had spoken with a representative of Countryside Development that morning and was told there would not be a problem with changing the time from 10:30 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Commissioners voted unanimously to accept the purchase agreement with the time change, and Bauer said City Attorney Dennis White would change that part of the agreement and “bring that back for the appropriate signatures” at a later date.

According to the purchase agreement, which listed the tract’s sellers as Dean and Peggy Tuley, Leslie and Janice Brandt and Don and Diana Fate, the city will pay $35,000 at the time of the agreement’s approval, with remaining payments of $20,000 to follow on or before each Jan. 4 of 2017 and 2018.

In other business on Monday, commissioners:

* Approved minutes from their Dec. 21, 2015 meeting.

* Acknowledged the retirement of city power production operator Rick Johnson, who has worked for the city for 30 years. Johnson was not present at Monday’s meeting.

* Noted that the next commission meeting would be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 19, due to the commission’s next regular meeting date falling on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday.

* Noted the winners of the recent Christmas light contest, including first-place winner Howard Larson, second-place winner Adam Binkley and third-place winner Steve Bohnenkemper.

* Approved annual designations of Denison State Bank, The Farmers State Bank and Holton National Bank as official city financial depositories and The Holton Recorder as the city’s official newspaper.

* Were reminded by Bauer of the annual Local Government Day, to be held Wednesday, Jan. 27 in Topeka.

* Were reminded that the monthly sewer rate for city utility customers was an average of each customer’s water use during the months of December, January and February. Commissioner Tim Morris requested the information be placed into the city’s newsletter. 

* Noted that the city has received one application, from Holton resident Christina Cobler, to fill the unexpired term of Commissioner Erich Campbell, who will resign his commission position at the end of this month to accept a Kansas Second Judicial District magistrate judge position in Pottawatomie County.

* Met in executive session for 20 minutes to discuss non-elected personnel matters. No action resulted from the session.

* Adjourned the meeting at approximately 7:40 p.m. All commissioners were present, including Campbell, Morris, Dan Brenner, Twila White and Mayor Robert Dieckmann.