The Hutchinson City Council learned Tuesday that the city manager has targeted April 1 as the date to reopen city hall, and that patrols of city parks are stepping up.
The council also appeared to support the city remaining a member of the Regional Economic Area Partnership for about $10,000 per year but it rejected an idea to use idle economic development funds to create a low-interest revolving loan program to support moving small businesses into vacant buildings around town.
The issues were among a range of topics touched on Tuesday not on the council’s agenda but were brought up after the board finished its few agenda items in less than 15 minutes.
A pair of bids separated by less than 1% for the city’s annual summer street mill and overlay project sparked a brief debate by the Hutchinson City Council on Tuesday about granting a preference to local bidders.
Ultimately, the council awarded the $1.139 million project to the low bidder, Pearson Construction LLC of Wichita, but several council members asked that the board revisit the city’s bid policy.
Mayor Steve Garza first raised the local preference issue on the paving bid, saying he’d received a lot of phone calls about the No. 2 bidder, APAC-Kansas Shears Division, being a local company with lots of employees in Hutchinson.
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The Hutchinson City Council unanimously voted this week to rezone vacant land behind the Dillons Marketplace for the development of a dozen duplexes to serve the elderly and disabled.
The council first amended the city’s comprehensive plan to allow the zoning change and then rezoned the 3 ½ acres south of 34th Avenue and Jewell Street from R-3, moderate density residential, to R-5, high density.
Several residents near the property submitted objections to the rezoning when it was considered by the city planning commission last month. That board also unanimously approved the requests and forwarded them to the city.
Issues raised before the planning board included concerns of increased traffic and potential impact on property values.
Hutchinson city leaders learned this week that revenue shortfalls projected because of the novel coronavirus pandemic have not played out.
In fact, in part because staff cut nearly $1 million in planned spending from the city’s 2020 budget, it appears the agency will end the year with $2.36 million more in carryover than it started with.
Finance director Angela Richard presented the numbers to the council on Tuesday.
“In early 2020 we were told by some reliable sources we needed to prepare for a revenue decrease,” she said. “They said to start with what you saw in the 2008-2009 recession and you need to double that. That’s what we prepared for.”