HUMBOLDT — Gary McIntosh, an avid animal-lover, informed Humboldt Council members Monday evening that Nov. 28 is known as the National Day of Giving and proposed the council consider a gift to the Allen County Animal Rescue Facility.
The benefit of waiting until Nov. 28 is that Your Community Foundation, a local foundation, will match the city’s gift, “up to $70,000,” he said with a smile.
McIntosh reminded Humboldt leaders that many community and county bodies regularly support animal shelters and noted their many services, such as rescuing abandoned pets and preventing the spread of diseases.
“Franklin County, for instance, gives $3,500 a month to its animal rescue place,” McIntosh said. “But whatever you can give, would be much appreciated, and by partnering with Your Community Foundation, that’s a powerful way to help.”
IN OTHER business, council members approved the city’s 2024 budget, which keeps the same property tax rate — estimated at about 93 mills — as used for the 2023 budget.
Members approved a payment of $119,785 to BG Consultants for the engineering work required to overhaul the city’s water distribution system. The $13 million project is being financed by a loan through the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
“This is the year of engineering,” Cole Herder, city administrator, said.
Herder also mentioned news of the new Bilateral Infrastructure Law that will distribute an estimated $1.2 billion across the next 10 years and that he has scheduled a meeting with Thrive Allen County to discuss whether the city qualifies to tap those funds to help pay for the new water system.
A $592,763 project, including a recent $21,695 change order, to repair several streets throughout town is ongoing. The extensive reclamation work requires several steps including a 20-day wait period before a second layer of chip and seal can be applied.
Streets affected include 12th, Charles, Second and Pecan.
Herder went into a detailed discussion about some hiccoughs with the project, including the discovery of a concrete base below two blocks of Pecan Street between Ninth and 11th Streets, but said the issues had been resolved and things remain on track.
The city is also preparing streets to be chip and sealed with the county’s help, but a hitch in the delivery of oil may hold things up, Herder said.
The Oct. 9 meeting of city council will begin at 7 p.m. to allow several members to return from a conference.
