Ellinwood City Council meeting at a glance
Here is a brief look at what the Ellinwood City Council did Tuesday evening:
• Recognized Ellinwood Fire and EMS departments employee Shyler Cook for five years of service. Also recognized was Ellinwood Police Sgt. Kyle Reed for lifesaving measures performed at a recent motor vehicle accident in the community.
• Approved financial assistance at roughly half the total cost of $26,000 with another $3,000 for installation to the Ellinwood Chamber of Commerce for its proposed electronic sign project on American Legion property near the southeast corner of Santa Fe Blvd. and Main St. Nancy Baird, representing the Ellinwood Chamber of Commerce, the Chamber had raised approximately $13,000 through memorials and another $5,000 through a local match that would enable the LED-lighted sign to be installed by April.
• Approved the Ellinwood Rise program providing assistance to local residents in need and or supplying labor for structural or yard improvements to their residence. Two members of the council not currently serving on the Ellinwood Community Foundation board were selected to serve on the Ellinwood Rise board.
• Passed Resolution 101425 approving the application for tax credits by Joiner Brothers Property Group during the application process for the MIH grant through Kansas Housing Resources Corporation.
• Discussed future water and sanitary sewer maintenance needs for possible approval at next month’s meeting with expected implementation in 2026.
• Approved a quote from T&R Electric for the purchase of six 37 KVA pole-mount transformers and one 500 KVA pad mount transformer at a cost of $23,734. The transformers will serve as inventory and the 500 KVA will serve as a spare for Ellinwood Hospital & Clinic.
• Discussed potential changes to the city’s utility billing format utilizing new software on Jan. 1, 2026.
• Approved a Stone Sand quote in the amount of $63,440 to install pavement in the new housing development. The surface would consist of 6-inch millings over a 4-inch base of crushed concrete that would be topped by a chat seal to be applied in the spring, on a separate bid.
• Approved the third of several options to apply costs associated with the NW Addition street and utility improvements to each lot offered for sale. The third option consists of assessing half the cost on square footage and half on curb frontage. The council approved the approximately $285,000 for street improvements to the addition, to be divided among the lots.
• Approved a move forward with the sale of Lots 1, and 14 in the NW Addition. Preparations include directing legal counsel to begin sale contract work.
• Re-appointed Ellinwood City Administrator Chris Komarek as the primary voting delegate and Jon Perron and Jarrod Carr as alternates to the KPP Energy board in time for the annual membership meeting in December.
• Set a study session on Monday, Oct. 27 at 1 p.m. for updating operational agreements with the Ellinwood School/Community library. The original agreement was made in 1968 calling for a 2-mill city subsidy for library operations, which in today’s dollars translates to approximately $28,000 per year. The study session would include USD 355 Superintendent Ben Jacobs and lead librarian Sheri Holmes.
• Agreed to set the date for November’s meeting, which falls on Veterans Day, at 7 p.m. Nov. 11 after a short discussion of alternate dates.
• Heard a city operations report from City Administrator Chris Komarek, which included tree trimming, a pole replacement, replacement of storm boxes and streetwork projects.
• Recessed into a 10-minute executive session for attorney/client privilege.
ELLINWOOD — The City of Ellinwood on Tuesday directed City Attorney Mark Tremaine to begin preparation of sales contracts for two of the lots in its newly-developed Northwest Addition in the hopes that housing construction will soon follow.
Ellinwood City Administrator Chris Komarek noted that two prospective buyers have been patiently waiting since infrastructure preparations were begun in December 2024. The project itself has been in the works for several years, even as the community looked toward its new hospital and downtown streetscape revitalization.
On Tuesday, Komarek remarked to the council that he had names for Lots 1 and 14 as interested buyers. “These people have been on the list since square one,” he said. “As things move forward, I’d like to be able to tell them that Lots 1 and 14 are taken; I would also like to be able to say that as the curb and gutter is not in yet, they could have an approach put in. These people know exactly what they want. We could get the curb and gutter put in and then pull this trigger.”
He noted that a contractor for Lot 14 had been hired for over six months and the earliest he could get started was in February.
“Lot one is not quite that far yet,” he said.
The council then unanimously voted to engage the city attorney to put together contracts for the two lots. The contracts would also then serve as templates for future sales.
The council also addressed preparatory issues at the meeting during the meeting that would lead to the contract preparations. The first was approval of a Stone Sand quote in the amount of $63,440 to surface the dirt streets involved with the development with a 6-inch milling layer over a 4-inch base of concrete, that would then be topped by a chat seal in the spring under separate bid.
Next, Komarek walked the council through a list of options that would apply the infrastructure costs to the price of each lot, enabling the lots to be purchased without special assessments.
Approximately $180,000 had already been appropriated for infrastructure development, and the approved bid plus the cost of two chat seals would be added together to find a total cost for the 4,995 sq. yds. to be developed. “I took the 180,000 plus the $63,440 and added another $22,000 for the chat seals to come up with a $285,000 price to do the streets,” he said.
There would also be another approximately $20,000 for rental equipment, which was utilized to install the water main, storm sewer and the sanitary sewer. “That’s the cost of the streets and the rental equipment. Cost of materials was borne earlier by the county, and the price excludes city labor.
Komarek then explained that he had calculated a square-footage determiner along with a linear curb and gutter determiner. As a third determiner, half of the square footage and half of the linear feet of curb to come up with a price to be added to the lot.
“The third option is kind of a happier medium between the other two,” he said. He explained that if the street improvements would have been offered as special assessments, a corner lot buyer would be paying double that of the lots with just a single run of curb.
“This is part of my way of thinking,” he said. “Now that we know what the stuff is going to cost us, we can have a better idea on how to add our cost to the price of the lots.”
The council also discussed the possibility of a reduction in interest rates, that would add to the advantage of purchasing the lots with street improvements already intact. Komarek also noted that once a street was finished, having prospective buyers seeing the street in place would add interest to lot purchases.
Following discussion, the council unanimously voted to utilize the split cost option, with an additional $800 added to the lot price to cover contingencies.
Approval of both items then set the stage for the plan to begin drawing up contract documents.
