College Drive Business Park Sewer

Folks have been wondering what is going on at the College Drive Business Park. Last fall, we identified the condition of the existing manholes on the sewer system running along the west side of what will be the new shady lake development. We knew that this is the opportune time to replace the manholes and pipe since there would be about 15 feet of cover over the pipes when the shady lake development work is completed.

The Commission approved going to bid last December and we received a proposal from Midland Construction of Kearney, NE.

Over 600 feet of new sewer line and manholes were installed in the past 7 work days. The weather opportunity has been good to us as well. Since there has been little rain, the condition of the work site allowed the contractor to move quickly.

The City Sewer Crew will run our sewer camera system through the pipe late Monday or Tuesday to check the construction. If everything checks out, the project will be complete Wednesday.

Here is a photo from Monday 2-27-06 theater progress. Brick will cover the face of the metal building across the front and around the sides. The sides will be bricked back about 20 feet at th front and a product that I call Stucco will cover the exposed metal.

We cannot see it yet, but as the brick goes up the front, there will be features added that will simulate window openings like those showing on the building on the right.

Downtown Progress

We are making progress in Downtown. Yesterday was the opening day for the downtown grant process. Kirk Lowell made a presentation at the Commission meeting lastnight (3-1-06) and reported 6 applications were received and another four were in process.

The grant funding comes from a $50,000 allocation from the City which will be matched by a $50,000 low interest loan from Citizens National Bank and owner funds. The funds are divided 45% Grant funds, 45% Loan funds and 10% owner funds. If the property owner didn't want to secure a loan, their share is 55%. In each application, the City's maximum grant ($5,000) and bank loan ($5,000) will be $10,000. Any project where the total cost goes above the grant and loan limits will be covered by the owner.

The theater is progressing as well. The brick is going up on both the theater building and the adjacent Dumbbell's building.

With the progress on the theater and the improvements to our downtown buildings, we will see a vast imporvement to our downtown. It will be a place to be proud of again.

Anonymous Letters

Yogi Berra is quoted “I do not answer anonymous letters.

One of the problems of responding to the large number of anonymous letters that circulated through the community is the anonymity issue.

Folks are just not willing to step up to take on some one’s battle if they are not willing to identify them selves.

White space Solution

The problem is solved, I think. The HTML expert in our family sat down and figured out the problem with the Blog formatting. I couldn’t stand having the Blog articles apart from the sidebar. Not getting Perfection is hard to accept when it comes to seeing your work on the internet. Thanks for your help Brock. Your dear ole dad is proud of you.

White Space Problem

I am still waiting for Blogger to help me correct my blogging problem. As you might be able to tell, I changed the Blog format. Now, instead of white space ahead of the blog, all the information that was at the left is WAY DOWN the page. I lost the ability for folks to subscribe to the Blog too. That will be a relatively easy thing to get back when the family technical writer is available. He helped me get it right in the first place.

I have been working on the City Commission’s Strategic Planning work session notes. If I didn’t say it in the last post, it is interesting to see the commonality among the Commissioners. It is also interesting to see the variety of issues they presented to one another. We will be discussing these at the work session next week. After we work the list over, I will post it here. Right now it is a 3 page list.

Several months ago, I helped the City of Minneapolis begin this process. I talked to Mayor Bob Hudson this week and it appears they are moving ahead “on their own.” That was the plan when we started. Barry Hodges had just been hired as their City Administrator. Working together with the Minneapolis governing body and the community has given Barry an opportunity to gain a picture of what needs done in Minneapolis. Getting a clear picture is always a benefit when you take over a new job.

Weird

Yes, I think it is weird that there is this great white space at the beginning of the Blog. I look at it as an analogy for the potential in all of us that is not being used. That is fairly pithy for 8 PM!

A week ago Saturday, the City Commission met to work on strategic planning. They each came to the meeting with a laundry list of projects they would like to see done. I am in the process of gathering them into a document that they can prioritize and then set me on a course of “getting things done.” There were a number of very good ideas.

If you didn’t have a chance to go to the CloudCorp Meeting and hear writer Denis Boyles speak, you ought to read (or reread) the article in the Blade-Empire. Here is the URL http://www.bladeempire.com/web/isite.dll?1138650418000. This quote from the story is one I really like:

One of those characteristics that he (Boyles) touched on was demographics. “People who live far away from here think most of the communities are dying, that it’s just a matter of time,” Boyles said. While depopulation is a fact of life along the Republican River, it does not have to define communities.

The problem with depopulation, he said, is that “it breeds a terrible disease–pessimism. In talking to a professor from the University of Kansas, who was in Concordia this past summer, he found a definition of pessimism. “Pessimism is the embrace of what you fear will not be possible,” he explained.

In visiting towns along the Republican River, he said he could see examples of this everywhere he went–where some towns were dying, and others were thriving.

“The difference between pessimism and realism is that pessimism excludes the possible,” Boyles said. “Since Americans are taught to dream to be all they can be, not all they can’t possibly be, pessimism is downright anti-American.”

Sunday night at our church was a Kansas Day celebration (for those out of state, it is the celebration of Kansas being admitted to the Union). Our concluding activity was to sing our State Song, Home on the Range. I think we ought to sing it more often and take to heart the phrase “where seldom is heard, a discouraging word….”

When tied to the message from Denis Boyles heard the night before, encouraging words are what build cities and also what build relationships.

Thinking

Thinking

"Third-rate minds are only happy when they’re thinking with the majority; second-rate minds are only happy when they’re thinking with the minority; and, first-rate minds are only happy when they’re thinking."
 
--British author A.A. Milne (the creator of “Winnie the Pooh”). 

Sales Tax revisited

I saw Wal*Mart Store Manager Roy Reif downtown this afternoon. He mentioned the comments I made at the Chamber Coffee Tuesday morning about the sales tax revenue.

We talked about what the sales tax means in real dollar sales. You might notice I changed I made to yesterday's blog as a result. I said something like the $1,496,869 revenue came from $20.5 million in retail sales. (Divide the $1,496,869 by the sales tax rate of7.30% and you get $20,505,055.)

If you looked at my numbers yesterday, you might have known I was wrong. Our sales tax revenue is a 1% city tax and a 1/2% county-wide tax. The two generally split $1 million for the 1% tax and $500,000 for the county-wide tax. The retail sales that would generate $1,000,000 of city sales would be ($1,000,000/.01) $100,000,000. One hundred million dollars of retail sales. The same caluclation goes for the county-wide sales tax ($500,000/.005 = $100,000,000.

That amount is still some serious change!

2005 Sales Tax hits

Even with gas prices above the $2.00 level Sales Tax revenues reached another milestone.

During the 2006 Budget process, we projected income at $1,500,000 for 2005. The Department of Revenue distribution to Concordia came in last month at $1,496,869.75. That is just $3,130.25 short of the prediction. It is not quite like Ivory Soap since it was 99.8% of the projection.

I mentioned this at the morning Chamber Coffee because it reflects in the health of our community. In 1995, the City Sales Tax revenue was $794,400. That is quite a jump in 10 years and reflects on the growth of our business community. Congratulations folks!

Using a Good Idea

It is interesting how a good idea, applied well, can end up profitable.  Earlier this year, the Commission and I attended the annual conference of the League of Kansas Municipalities.  While we were “networking,” Commissioner Joe Strecker met a lady he went to high school.  She was one of the vendors – actually helping her son with his company.

His company is called Purple Wave.  It is headquartered in Manhattan, KS. (The non Kansas readers should understand the school color of Kansas State University is Purple and KSU is in Manhattan.)  Purple Wave is a company that auctions equipment using an e-bay model.

Last month, new Fire Chief Larry Eubanks identified two vehicles that were surplus and needed to be disposed of.  They were an old rescue truck and an old Pumper truck.

During the League conference, Joe said to me “you need to check out that company.”  After returning to work, I saw the value of the contact.  When Eubanks told me of the condition of the two vehicles, remembering the contact spurred action.  I found the vendor brochure and had Eubanks call Purple Wave.  They put the vehicles on their web site and the bidding began.

Our expectation was that we would get some amount more money that we have in local bidding.  Earlier this summer, we were asked to find potential bidders for the old ambulance slated for trade in.  We ran several want-ads in major city markets and received no bids.  We ended up trading it in for $2,000.  Now that we know about Purple Wave, we can expect a better equipment disposal record.

Well, the best part is this.  The sales price for the rescue was $9,600.  The sale price for the old Pumper was $2,500.  The bids from Monday morning rose from $3,500 to $9,600 by the Tuesday at 10:00 am closing.  Needles to say, we are very happy with the result.

Getting back to writing again

It is time to get back into the swing of doing Blogs again.  It is tough to just sit down and write.  It gives me an appreciation for the editorial journalists that do this for a living.

I have a couple of items to write about today – both related to fire equipment.

Earlier this spring/summer we ordered a new ambulance.  It was delivered today!

It doesn’t look too much different than the one the Department is using now.  That is intentional.  Having the two ambulances outfitted nearly the same will help the EMT’s find things quickly since the two units are manufactured by the same vendor – MedTech.

As I said above, it arrived today.  Within minutes, firefighters and EMT’s started arriving to look the “new beauty over.”  It was interesting to watch the folks touch the various cabinets and doors, check out new head-sets, and test out the horn and siren.  There was a sense of watching sailors bring a ship to life.  There was a display of reverence as they considered the work they would be doing together.

The new ambulance is coming to life.  Thursday night, the Fire Department staff will be putting things in their place, loading cabinets with the various tools and supplies that will help keep someone alive.

This new ambulance is the product of a number of a number of people.  What is remarkable is the time it took the Fire Department staff to prepare bid specifications.  Our policy is to have the Commission review them prior to bid approval.  The Commission has a chance to ask “why this?” for the various specifications before they approve letting us go out for bids.  We then send the specifications to a number of vendors who prepare a cost estimate for us.

Before the Commission awarded bids, several vendors brought their demonstrators to Concordia.  Commissioners came and viewed the ambulance demonstrator vehicles and crawled all over them with the EMT’s to get their views of what was good and what was better.  In the end, this conversation between the EMT’s and the Commissioners produced a level of confidence ending in a purchase decision for the vehicle delivered today.  Each group – the EMT’s and the Commission - had the confidence the best vehicle was being purchased for the community.

The EMT’s had a say in what the City purchased.  That reverence I saw today reflected pride in their role in the purchase decision.  They actually OWN the new ambulance.

Police Chief Recruitment Progresses

Police Chief Recruitment Progresses

One of the things that has kept me busy the past few weeks has been the Police Chief Recruitment.  Friday, I interviewed three candidates – two from Kansas and one from Missouri.

Normally, job interviews are 30 to 60 minutes.  The team of interviewers and I spent about 2 hours asking questions.  I feel I have enough information now to make an offer.  I see the end of the process leading to hiring a new Police Chief.  We can then move toward making the necessary changes to change us from “Good to Great.”

By the way, “Good to Great” is the name of a great book by Jim Collins.  I recommend reading it.

Things to be thankful for!

Things have been quite busy at home and work the past few weeks.  It has been busy enough to “think about” writing the next blog but that is about it.  With Thanksgiving week before me, there is a break – Thankfully.

With that in mind, there is much to be thankful for.  In his letter to the editor Friday, Jerry Burgess pointed out a number of good things about Concordia.  You can’t list them all. However, Jerry did a very commendable job of reminding us of the value of this special place.

The past couple of weeks, my wife Susan has been involved in promoting a mission’s ministry of Samaritan’s Purse and Operation Christmas Child.  Susan and several others organized the local church memberships to prepare a Christmas present for children of Third World countries.  Folks put a number of toys, hygiene necessities and school supplies in shoe boxes that will be sent to children, some who have never received a present before.  Today, we took 701 shoe boxes to the Salina “relay point” from our area.  The boxes will be shipped to Minneapolis, MN and processed to be sent overseas.

One of the things to add to Jerry’s list is our generosity.

Police Shooting Report

Well, it is time to write about the Police shooting experience. Now that the County Attorney has issued his findings, we can express our feelings and opinions about the situation.

I remember the night of September 22. The back door was open and I could hear sirens – one after another. After hearing what seemed like four different series of sirens, I thought I ought to call dispatch and ask what was going on. As I moved to get out of my chair, I heard another siren. I knew that dispatch was still busy and I would be hearing from someone soon. I was right.

Detective Mike Copple called a few minutes later with the news that there had been an “officer involved shooting.” I am not sure whether I verbalized my thought or not but the first questions was the safety of our officers. At that point hundreds of crisis management questions begin to kick in.

My first action was calling Mayor Joe Jindra. I think one of the first rules of any city manager is that no matter how bad the situation, call the Mayor first and alert him/her to what is happening. There is nothing worse than finding out from someone else about a problem. As I called Joe, he was hearing about the event from his son who was listening on a scanner.

The next step was to pack up my laptop and head to the Police Station. I knew I would be in the Public Information Officer role as well as the City Manager role. Mike and I went to the scene. I didn’t see anything except for a large number of people standing about the police lines that were set up. After conferring with the other Sheriff Deputies we brought our officers back to the station. What I saw impressed me regarding the professionalism of these men.

The attention to detail that I heard and learned about in the military was evident. The weapons were cleared and placed in evidence cases. KBI was present, interviewed each officer and secured the weapons.

As we sat waiting for the KBI agent to arrive, we talked. Some of it was small talk other times it related to some of the cases they were working on. What was obvious was we didn’t talk about. As I watched and gathered my own impressions, I couldn’t help but wonder what was going on in the minds of these two guys. Moments earlier a gun was in their face, they responded as they had been trained, a man dying at the hospital.

After they were interviewed by KBI, the officers were taken home. They, more than likely, hugged their wife and kids a little tighter and wondered how the world would treat them when the sun came up.

I asked questions about their care in the next few days. We had been talking about it all night but now that the officers were on their way home, it was time to be frank. In these situations, crisis teams are brought in to work with the officers. We requested the State Highway Patrol team to come and assist.

In my next posting, I will talk about the press relations side of this event.

Before I sign off here, I did want to reflect upon an observation about the police profession. I think every officer joins a department with that vision of making a difference in the community where he or she works. From before they fill out their job application, through their time at the police academy and after they get out on the street, there is this understanding that someday they might have to use their firearm in a combat situation. I don’t think they want to use it. However, being trained and prepared is part of the toolkit.

Having to fire your weapon is a situation that all of us who are not in the law enforcement business will not understand. It is something you plan for but you hope never happens. Our Police Department puts their life on the line every day to protect our community. We need to pause and reflect upon that responsibility for awhile. I am pleased our department has people who are willing to put themselves in harms way as a means of providing community protection. Our thanks need to go out to those who provide our safety. If you are inclined, pray for their continued safety as they insure ours.

Fun with Blogging

Fun with Blogging

Last week, I attended the annual conference of the League of Kansas Municipalities. I was asked to be a presenter for one of the Sunday Roundtable discussions concerning my Blog. It was fun sharing what I have learned and the local benefits of getting out a story that the local press cannot cover the way I can in the Blog setting.

In the three sessions (30 minutes each), I talked to governing body members, City Clerks and City Managers. During the second session, I was urging the group to begin their own Blog and out of the blue, I said if they did that would make me a “Blog-father!” (My favorite type of humor is expressed in that last line.)

My friends at the League office have given me another opportunity to promote Concordia. Telling them the cost of doing promotion like this is well within the budget of the smallest community was enjoyable too. By the way, it is free. Most of the time, I write these while I am at home (all but three).

Boomtown Blog Recognition

You all need to go to the BoomTown USA Blog. http://boomtownusa.blogspot.com/ Concordia received what Mayor Jindra calls “National Attention.” As I was looking at the list of subscribers, I found the email address for Boomtown USA author Jack Schultz. I was amazed to see his address there.

I took the time to write a thank you. I also took the time to write about the good things happening in Concordia. (Part of the City Manager’s job is to promote his community!) I shared information about our Tuesday Morning Chamber Coffee and the entrepreneurial activity that I call “signs of life.”

He responded last week and said he would be writing about us.

Readers interested in economic development need to subscribe to Jack’s Blog and also read his book. I know there are several copies circulating in the community.

Thanks Jack for highlighting Concordia!

Police Chief Search Narrows

October 5th came and went. October 5th was the deadline for applications for Police Chief. 25 individuals expressed interest in the position. 17 filed both a resume and the City’s application form. It reminds me of the birthday boy sitting in the horse barn sifting straw saying “there’s got to be a pony in here somewhere!” In the list of 17 there is a new Police Chief. I do not know his/her name yet but I am confident the result will be positive.

The group included 8 from Kansas, Colorado (2), Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, New Jersey, Oregon and Pennsylvania (2). Some of the out of state candidates have worked in Kansas before. The qualifications are impressive.

The next step in the selection process is to review the resumes and applications in detail and develop a “short list.” For this step, I asked several people to help me. I have two police chiefs and two from the community reviewing the documents. I found the last time I selected a chief when I was employed in Baldwin City, having a law enforcement executive at the table was priceless. Being able to get a community perspective is just as valuable.

Once the “short list” is developed, we will be conducting interviews here in Concordia. I have tentatively set October 21st or October 24th for the interviews. Getting all the schedules coordinated will be the final factor there.

Following the interview will be the selection and negotiation phase. I am hoping to be finished by the end of the month. As usual, there will probably be something to change the schedule. The key point is to find an exceptional individual that is the perfect fit for Concordia. I am confident in the outcome.

In the last posting C. Morrison wrote “Larry, what do you mean we have places we do not want to acknowledge? I would think the city police chief would only be concerned with places that are a source of criminal activity. Of Course, the Chief of Police is really interested in the entire community. However, there are places that we are not proud to take visitors but I did anyway. A chief needs to see the good, the bad, and the ugly. The point was being made by my back seat driver that I shouldn’t be showing this part of the town as a means of impressing the spouse. A new Chief has to see all of it (and we didn’t show all of it due to the lack of time).

Over the weekend, I will be making a presentation to the League of Kansas Municipalities about Blogs. If you have any impressions, add them to the comments area for other Kansas community leaders to see.

Police Chief Update

Among all the activities of the past week, I have tried to focus on the process of finding a new Police Chief. Joe Strecker has a favorite saying that applies here. A dog that chases two rabbits catches neither one!

So, what does that have to do with the Police Chief? Everything!

As I mentioned in the last Blog posting, I had a number of outlets for finding the new chief. Even during the shooting incident, I had to focus on the process of getting a new Chief. Yes, it would have been easy to refocus on the officers and their plight but finding their leader is my responsibility.

The application process concludes Wednesday afternoon. There are a number of people who have expressed interest from all over the United States. This weekend, I played host to a visitor who wanted to see our community before submitting a resume/application.

It was an interesting tour around town. Susan accompanied me on the tour with our guest and spouse. Susan was amazed at the places I have not shown her in Concordia but are important for a Police Chief candidate to see. Even here, there are places we do not want to acknowledge. At the end of the tour, I received the resume/application as if to say we passed the test.

The next step in our chief selection process is a written assignment. It will give me an opportunity to see how the candidates can write – if you can’t write, you can’t teach an officer how to prepare a good police report. The other part of the task is to see how they think. This part will be the first indication of how the candidates will fit in our community.

My plan is to have interviews mid month and a selection before the end of October.

Police Chief Recruitment

The past few weeks have been frustrating as I attempt to secure a new Police Chief.

I had been trying to woo the Baldwin City Police Chief to Concordia. I hired Mike McKenna four months before I moved to Concordia. I recognized his professional caliber. I want that level of competence as I replace Chief Maley. For several weeks, we negotiated and I finally lost out to Baldwin City as they increased their contract with Mike. He had been in charge of the early BTK investigation. You might remember, law enforcement officials credited the early efforts and the preservation of evidence as one of the keys to capturing BTK. I watched his investigative methods secure a confession to an internal theft situation of one of the local businesses.

There has been a complete turnover in officers in Baldwin City since I moved from Baldwin City to here. It is a direct result of raising the bar – expecting police officers to do police work at the highest level. There is a difference in the quality of officers here compared to the department Mike McKenna assumed in Baldwin City. The fellows here are competent, honest, and professional. Yes, I do know there are folks that criticize our Police force. Our fellows do need fresh leadership and this is a good time to find that leadership.

Now that Mike McKenna is not a candidate, I do have a major problem related to expectations. I have those same high expectations for the individual we eventually hire. The pressure will be on both the candidates and the City Manager to bring out the best candidate.

I am doing a “national” search now. Using the International Association of Chiefs of Police website, I have placed a recruiting ad looking for a new chief. It is one of the tools I used when I found McKenna. One nice thing is that it was free. In comparison, the cost of recruiting within Kansas is not free.

I will be mailing an announcement to every chief in every community this week. Included with the announcement will be a tri-fold brochure I prepared. If anyone wants a copy, send me an email (citymanager@concordiaks.org) and I will forward a PDF version that you can read, print or send to a friend. (A comment won't work since some of you use an email alias.) I even added a reference to this Blog so potential candidates can see what I focus on here.

While I am recruiting, I am still looking for an Interim Chief. I am using the Kansas Police Chiefs Association, the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center, the KBI, the Kansas Highway Patrol, and referrals from people I know in the Police world. It seems like I am asking everyone I know if they know someone in the police community that might be interested in an interim position.

Finding an interim chief has been one of the frustrating elements I mentioned in the lead paragraph. I am looking for someone that has had “command” experience from being a Lieutenant, Captain, Deputy Chief or Chief. Usually, those folks do not want to get back into police work. Trying to get them back into law enforcement and the stress it produces is one reason they shy away from returning.

On the bright side, however, I have been able to secure administrative help in managing the Police Department. Former City Clerk/Commissioner Verna Ferguson will be watching the flock for me. Her many years of experience with the city provide her the skill to manage the administrative functions and it gives me peace of mind that someone who knows our system and is watching over things. (It really hasn’t changed that much in the 10 years since she retired.)