$400K housing rehab grant discussed

The future of the former Kansas National Guard Armory building was not the only item on the agenda Tuesday night for the Fort Scott City Commission.

Laura Moore, of the Southeast Kansas Regional Planning Commission, was at the meeting to get the city's approval of the agreement with the Kansas Department of Commerce regarding a grant which would provide $400,000 for housing rehabilitation in Fort Scott.

Moore said of the homes in the six-square block area within Barbee Street on the west, Caldwell Street on the east, Pine Street on the north and Wall Street on the south, only one home will be demolished. She said it is a voluntery domolition.

According to Moore, a series of environmental testing will take place in the next couple of months and hopes the first round of improvements would begin in August or September.

Other business conducted included:

* Approved the following closures for the Fort Scott High School Alumni Reunion: Main Street from Wall Street to Skubitz Plaza from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. on June 25; Main Street from Third Street to Skubitz Plaza from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. on June 26; Main Street from Eight to Ninth streets from 4-9 p.m. and Main Street from Wall Street to Skubitz Plaza from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. on June 27.

* Approved an agreement for the City of Fort Scott to accept waste from the Fort Scott Lake sewer system.

* Held the first reading of an ordinance which would raise municipal court costs to $70.

* Approved a contract with the Fort Scott Jamboree for the use of Memorial Hall. The contract is the same as the previous contract and will be in effect for one year. The only change to the contract is the blocking of the use of Memorial Hall for the dance recital which is put on every two years.