Allen Dinkel, City Manager
There is no doubt that “winter” weather has arrived. The snow earlier in the week and now the frigid temperatures are going to take a toll on all of us. I have been in the “City” business for a number of years and “winter weather” is always a great challenge. Naturally we all want to be the top priority, but of course that is not the case. Regardless how much work City crews do, someone will always have other thoughts and opinions.
Last week I wrote about how everyone wants less in taxes, but yet wants the City to deliver more goods and services. From the beginning of the snow the Public Works crews went to work and stayed at it to address the road conditions. There were 4 different crews covering various portions of the City addressing the streets and moving snow and using salt as needed. Like most cities they begin on the arterial and collector streets and move out to other areas as time permits. With the blowing conditions some of the passes made by each unit had to be repeated a time or two as the wind kept blowing snow back on the streets. A large amount of salt was used and more has been ordered for future needs so that there is an adequate amount on hand. With just the arterial and collector streets there are about 144 lane miles of streets that are addressed. Public Works Director Ray Ibarra also rotates crews so that no one is working more than 12 hours, Yes some will say the employees need to be “out there” longer, but it is important to limit fatigue and the workers can be productive and also remain safe and lower the chance of accidents. These employees are citizens too and we want to ensure that they can go home to their families.
One solution of course would be to have more equipment and more employees, but that would mean more expense. Those expenses are then tied to the taxes we all pay.
The City offices were open each day. I have always felt the office needs to remain open as our job is to serve the public. To allow that to occur, member of the parks crews address the sidewalks and the concrete around the City buildings, so it is safe for the employees to get to work and also for anyone coming to the office. Ok, someone will say these employees could be out on the streets, but there were other duties that had to be done as well. I believe the employees did a great job and did so in a professional and responsible manner.
The cold temperatures are causing problems with some water meters and as normal in this type of weather, that will have to be dealt with. Again, I am proud of the employees as they work in less-than-ideal conditions.
We have had questions about what many call “Special Taxes” this week. Of course, these are Special Assessments and not a tax. A tax is levied by the governing body, but a Special Assessment is the result of an agreement between the City and the property owner at the time the Special Benefit District was approved. When the property sells, the assessment goes with it and to the buyer. Most of the Specials are 20 years in length and in a couple of years many of those in Junction City will be completed. Some buyers are surprised there are Specials on a property, but they all are recorded at the Register of Deeds office are discoverable during a title search.
The new City Planning Commission had their first meeting with hearings on zoning issues this week. This group was formed by the City Commission after the Metropolitan Planning Commission (MPC) was discontinued by Geary County. These 5 newly appointed commissioners did a great job dealing with the 7 different hearings.
Speaking of zoning, the City Planning Commission only deals with issues inside of the City limits as the City of Junction City doed not have any extra-territorial zoning. Any area outside of the City is handled by the Geary County Planning Commission as the County is zoned.
In checking out the forecast for the next week, it looks like we may get a break from the bitter cold, but still temps are well below average. Simply we all have to have to work though the issues, delays, cancellation and postponements. We will have a bit larger natural gas or electric bills, but we live with the fact that spring is around the corner.