The Geary City Council voted Thursday to vacate the town’s economic development board and install its current city clerk to revitalize the flagging entity.
Clerk Amanda Wood, who narrowly lost reelection last week to Paula Reding, will join the Geary Economic Development Association, on which Mayor Bobby Allen will also serve. The decision was necessary, councilmembers agreed, because the association wasn’t effective as things stood.
“It’s just been sitting stagnant for so long,” Wood said, adding that she knows of several locals who would like to join.
The city council also discussed Geary’s proposed new animal shelter, the Canadian Rivers Museum, troubled city finances, nearby windmills, a baseball field mishap, and more during a jam-packed and well-attended meeting at Geary City Hall.
“In a year, I want to have more businesses and I want to have more houses here (in Geary),” Wood said of her plans for GEDA. “There is a program with the USDA — the housing authority program, that works with local economic development associations — that I’ve already talked to, and Geary is prime on their list.
“I can (pursue) grants through GEDA that I don’t have time to do as the city clerk,” she said.
The city’s need for new economic development was apparent earlier in the meeting, as consultant Linda Bourn warned the council that budget cuts will be necessary next year in light of sales tax revenues that far underperformed projections.
“We are far under what we had forecasted,” Bourn told the council, saying both the city and the Geary Utility Authority will need to “tighten the belt” next year. The city had budgeted for sales tax revenues between $50,000 and $60,000 per month when its actual collections were between $30,000 and $40,000.
“I don’t want to be the Debbie Downer here, or Linda Downer,” Bourn said. “But we need to be realistic to stay within our means.”
Bourn also said that cash is “very low” in the city’s general fund — “probably the lowest level” she’d seen in “a long time,” she said. The council voted to transfer extra money into the general fund from elsewhere to shore it up for the month.
‘We can’t just go spending’
Frustrations bubbled to the surface Thursday when the council discussed efforts to build its animal shelter, which were stalled last month when the council voted not to accept any bids to install plumbing in the under-construction facility. Allen moved forward with the plumbing project anyway, using his authority as mayor to spend up to $25,000 without council approval, and said the building is now ready for a floor.
“The (Steele) Foundation is waiting on us to do something,” Allen told the council. “If we don’t get started pretty soon, they’re going to want their money back.”
“I understand that,” shot back Councilwoman Tabbitha Kiener, “but they have to be patient, too, and know that we can’t come up with money, and you can’t make bids be under a budget. If the bids were for triple (the budget) and they gave us $50,000, where do they expect that extra money to come from?”
The Steele Foundation had donated $50,000 to aid in the construction of a shelter, Allen said, of which so far just over $10,000 has been committed. Allen said the foundation is prepared to provide more money if necessary.
Geary Police Chief Cecil Harrall said completing the shelter is important. “The weather’s getting warmer,” Harrall said. “We’re having more dogs that are getting picked up, and we have nowhere to go with them other than a rescue.”
Allen, frustrated with the council’s hesitance, said he was “just about finished with the whole thing.”
“I’ve been working on this for two years,” he said.
“We all have,” Councilwoman Cozetta Johnson replied. “But we can’t just go spending, and nobody’s going to be responsible for it.”
The council ultimately agreed to have Councilman Cody Wright look into pouring a foundation for the building.
During the meeting, the council also:
• Tabled a discussion on the Canadian Rivers Historical Museum, whose board wants the city to assume operation of the facility.
• Hired lifeguards and managers for the Geary Swimming Pool, which is expected to reopen over Memorial Day weekend after staying closed throughout summer 2020.
• Discussed a “lack of communication” in which Geary schools poured a concrete batting cage on city-owned park property; the city council had previously denied the request, concerned that the cage would impede access to electricity lines in the park. School board president Jason Bernhardt said the district will aim to improve communication in the future, especially after the hire of a new Geary superintendent.
• Adjusted vacation policy so that a limited amount of unused vacation time can roll over from one year to the next for city employees.
At the beginning of the meeting, Harrall presented Ana Cleveland, a Geary 8thgrader, with a badge and certificate designating her an honorary member of the Geary Police Department. Cleveland was recognized as part of National Autism Awareness Month.