Turner resigns as city manager

Effective August 27, Joe Turner will no longer be the city manager for the City of Fort Scott.

After coming out of an executive session at the end of Tuesday's meeting of the Fort Scott City Commission, it was announced that the commission had accepted Turner's resignation, as Commissioner Sam Mason said, "with reluctance."

In his resignation letter, Turner said the reason for his departure was to spend more time with his grandchildren.

"Lyn (Turner's wife) and I would like to start spending more time with our family," he said in the letter. "Our grandkids are starting to do more functions in school and we would like to attend as many as we can."

Turner, who has served as the city manager for the past two years, said he and his wife are very thankful for the support of the city, the commission, and the community.

"Thank you for the opportunities and support you have provided me over the last two years," the letter read. "Lyn and I also appreciated the support the community of Fort Scott has given us.

There have been no details released at this time as to how the transition will take place.

Other business conducted during the meeting included:

* Approved the closure of Ninth Street from Main to Scott streets for the Relay for Life. The street will be closed from 7 a.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Saturday.

* Approved licenses to sell cereal malt beverages for the Bourbon County Shrine Club Beer Garden, to be located in Skubitz Plaza, and the Scottish Rite Beer Garden, to be located at Third and Main streets. The two beer gardens will be open June 25-26 for the Fort Scott High School All-School Reunion. The commission also approved the use of city-owned parking for the Scottish Rite Beer Garden.

* Approved the certificates of appropriateness for the placement of a downtown street clock at Heritage Park; the removal and replacement of the cornice above The Fort Scott Tribune building; the demolition of the Palmentere Brothers Building at 702 E. Wall St.; the addition of a new entryway cover over the front door of the Ellis Foundation at 20 S. State St. as well as the painting of a sign on the east side of the building which will be externally illuminated by fluorescent lighting.

* Approved a payment of $151,764 to Kansas Heavy Equipment for the 2010 Street and Sidewalk Improvement Program.

* Approved the local bids from Shepherd Team Auto Plaza for the purchase of two half-ton pickup trucks, one for the Fort Scott Police Department's Animal Control unit and one for the Fort Scott Public Works Department, and a three-quarter-ton pickup truck for the Fort Scott Public Works Department. (See sidebar)

* Approved the bid from Cutler Services, of Fort Scott, for the demolition of the structure at 226 N. Cameron for $1,440, and the structure at 102 W. Oak for $2,830. The commission also approved the bid from SKC Excavating, of Humboldt, for the demolition of the structure at 112 W. 2nd St. for $2,350.

* Passed an emergency amendment to the city's fireworks ordinance which states that all firework stands must be build at least 100 feet from a habitable structure. The amendment decreases the distance to the state minimum of 50 feet.

* Approved at 60-day extension for Harold Connolly, owner of the structures located at 412 S. Little. Connolly said the electric wiring is up to code and he is working to bring the rest up to code. He added he will demolish the garage on his own. Fort Scott City Codes Manager Kent Hamlin said he is willing to work with Connolly as long as he shows progress.

Keeping it local

Despite the fact they were not the lowest bid, the Fort Scott City Commission decided to keep it local on four purchases during Tuesday evening's meeting.

According to Fort Scott Mayor Dick Hedges, former commissions have gone by the rule that if a local company is within five percent of the low bid, then the city would go with the low bid.

The city commission was presented with bid to purchase two half-ton pickup trucks and one three-quarter-ton pickup truck. The bids for the trucks were awarded to Shepherd Team Auto Plaza over Shawnee Mission Ford, of Shawnee.

For each of the half-ton pickup trucks, the bids were $14,750 from Shawnee Mission Ford, and $15,420 from Shepherd Team Auto Plaza, a difference of 4.5 percent. The battle for the three-quarter-ton pickup truck was between the same two dealerships, with Shawnee Mission Ford bidding $18,289 and Shepherd Team Auto Plaza bidding $17,748, a difference of three percent.

All three bids were accepted following a 3-0 vote by the commission with commissioners Sam Mason and Jean Parker abstaining.

In addition to the trucks, the city also kept it local when they accepted the bid from R-II Construction for the installation of a concrete walking trail around Nelson Park. R-II Construction's bid of $8,387 was second to the bid from Schmidt Construction, of Harwood, Mo., of $8.021. The difference in bids is 4.5 percent.