Go
Saints!

Thursday
March 28th, 2024

kelly kirk city commission lfdLiberal Fire Chief Kelly Kirk talks to the Liberal City Commission regarding one of the Liberal Fire Department's requests during the commission's most recent meeting Tuesday evening. L&T photo/Elly GrimmELLY GRIMM • Leader & Times

 

Some requests from the Liberal Fire Department kicked off business for the Liberal City Commission during its most recent meeting Tuesday evening. 

The first request was about Ordinance No. 4551, which concerns making changes to the number of inspections done by the Liberal Fire Department. 

“This isn’t as cool as the inflatable fire house we asked for last time, but basically, what we’re looking to do is remove the twice-a-year inspections for any business that’s in the city, like downtown and the plazas up north,” Liberal Fire Marshal Cody Regier said. “The international codes don’t dictate doing the inspections twice a year, and it turns out we’ve been doing that for a number of years simply because that’s what was done. After some discussions, we don’t really see a big benefit from doing that extra inspection every year, we’re not really picking up anything particularly dangerous. If we eliminate that extra inspection, that will eliminate about 200 inspections every year. So we’re asking for you guys to approve the changes Lynn [Koehn] made to that part of the city ordinance.”

al shank 80th article

Ultimately, the commission approved changing the inspections to once a year, and the commission then heard from Liberal Fire Chief Kelly Kirk regarding a pickup transfer and purchase. 

“This is a unique project, and it was not a regular budgeted item – I saw this as an opportunity,” Kirk said. “Like it’s written in your agenda packet, will be needing to purchase or replace some specialized apparatus in the not-too-distant future. These include a structural engine, ladder truck and a heavy rescue truck. Prior to COVID-19 and everything else, one of my plans before budget time was to get a committee together and start to do some fleet analysis toward that end. It’s an opportunity to do some things that will benefit the city as a whole, particularly with the Parks Department and the Liberal Fire Department. It’s an opportunity to upgrade some of the more minor apparatus in our fleet and help another city department at the same time. We’re recommending to purchase a 2021 Ford F-250 4X4 crew cab pickup from Foss Ford in the amount of $34,950, and transfer a 2010 Ford F-150 regular cab pickup from the Liberal Fire Department to the Parks Department.”

Ultimately, the commission approved the  purchase of a 2021 Ford F-250 4X4 crew cab pickup from Foss Ford in the amount of $34,950, and transfer a 2010 Ford F-150 regular cab pickup from the Liberal Fire Department to the Parks Department. 

The commission also approved the purchase of a truck load of trash bags for the Solid Waste Department for $56,320 from Dyna Pak and also approved the purchase of four SCBA sets  from Panhandle Oilfield Services for the Waste Water Treatment Department in the amount of $15,350. The commission also approved a special use permit for a  Ready-Mix Concrete plant at 1406 E. Tucker Road and also approved Ordinance No. 4552 concerning the vacation of a “Highway Access” easement at 764 E. Pancake Boulevard. Commissioners also approved a request to appoint Steve Norton to a position on the Planning & Zoning Board. 

Also before the commission was a request from the Junior Elite Softball Association for the construction of batting cages at the National Beef Family Sports Complex. 

“Currently, the only batting cages available are at the baseball fields just north of the softball complex,” Junior Elite Softball Association President Justin Carter said. “Junior Elite Softball has raised enough money through private donations and investments by the league itself, and this will benefit everyone who plays softball in Liberal. The construction of the cages will come at no cost to the taxpayers. We’re asking for two things this evening: first, that you accept a $28,500 donation to build the batting cages, and we’re also requesting permission to designate the association space to build two softball cages with two pitching bullpens.” 

Ultimately, the commission accepted the $28,500 donation from the Junior Elite Softball Association, and approved the purchase of the softball batting cages. 

The Liberal Rec Department was on hand to celebrate the Robotics program moving into the Recreation Center. 

“There’s more space in the Recreation Center for the program, which we foresee continuing to grow in the coming years,” Recreation Director Matt Quint said. “It’s really exciting, and we know Traci [Kirk] is going to do a great job getting everything going as the Robotics supervisor.”

The Rec Department was also on hand to request the purchase of new carpet from Brown’s Furniture for the Robotics program’s new space and the purchase of LEGO SPIKE Prime sets from LEGO, both of which were ultimately approved. 

“When we moved in, we actually had to knock down a wall to make sure we had the space we needed, and since the building has been around for so long, the carpet’s really worn in,” Kirk said. “So we want the space to be warm and inviting and still fun for the kids, so that’s why we decided on the request for the new carpet.”

The commission also approved awarding B&H Paving the bid for the annual crack and street sealing for $245,941, and also approved New Boston Creative Group working with the City on a new Web site for the city’s Economic Development Department.