Courtland Hotel owners to receive first city grant for facade upgrades

Thursday, October 4, 2007

The Fort Scott City Commission Tuesday approved the first application for the city's downtown facade improvement program.

Frank and Cheryl Adamson, owners of the Courtland Hotel and Day Spa, applied for the grant on Sept. 20 for limited assistance to improve the look of the front of their building at 121 E. First St.

The city will provide $500 of the estimated $2,700 needed for the improvements. The $500 is the maximum amount building owners can receive.

Work on the building will include scraping peeling paint, priming and painting the west, south and east facing exterior walls of the building, according to the application. The work will be completed by Nov. 1.

At their last meeting Sept. 18, commissioners approved a motion to set aside $2,500 for the program this year and another $2,500 for 2008.

Building owners can obtain a maximum of $500 per project, which would be 20 percent of their project total, to primarily paint their building facades. The owner must fill out an application with the city that's available at City Hall, 1 E. Third St.

The Phoenix Committee has discussed the program as a way to encourage property owners and renters in the downtown area to improve their facades.

Also on Tuesday, commissioners conducted the following city business:

* Approved the establishment of camping regulations at Lake Fort Scott. The rules establish a $5 fee per night for each campsite. Campers must register and obtain a permit, which holds them to observance of a list of rules.

* Approved a $7,650 bid from Modern Copy Systems for the purchase of a copier. It was $3,080 more than the low bid but has more features than the low bid copier, city staff said.

* Approved two bids for separate infrastructure repair work. The first is a $3,240 bid by Rogers and Sons, Fort Scott, is to install a concrete sidewalk on the north side of Third Street in the middle of the block between Clark and Hill streets. The second bid, for $36,367, submitted by Jim Radell Construction, of Pittsburg, is to repair a clay tile sewer main that runs east to west from 15th and Eddy to Circle Drive and Horton Street on the south side of Circle Drive.

* Approved two resolutions for the repair or removal of two properties deemed dangerous and unsafe. The first is at 1802 S. Holbrook St. and the other is 612 Couch St.

* Entered into an agreement with the USD 234 Recreation Commission concerning management at Buck Run Community Center. The city will pay $10,000 this year for the commission to hire a manager to operate the facility. The city owns the center and will continue to own, maintain and operate it for recreational activities.

* Heard a presentation by Mike Waller, a senior airport planner for BWR of Kansas City, Mo., about an update of the Fort Scott Municipal Airport Master Plan. He said there's no indication that activity or business at the airport will decline in the coming years. It will have to make upgrades like lengthening the runway and more infrastructure.

* Agreed to authorize city staff to enter into discussions about a possible agreement between the city and officials at the Milken Education Center to purchase the open plot of land at Wall and Main streets. They also made a commitment to show support for these types of projects by committing to possible site work for the new building.

Currently, the Milken Education Center is located at 4 S. Main St. Should the center grow as anticipated, a new, larger facility that would contain a 1,000-square-foot exhibit area, much larger than the center's current space, would help accommodate that growth, said Norm Conard, the center's executive director.