R-9 Update, Electric Scooter Discussion and Fair Update Part of Tuesday's City Council Meeting

On Tuesday, July 1, the Russell City Council held their usual meeting at 4:30 pm at the City Hall. Items discussed included the R-9 Water Supply project, electric scooter usage and a look at the Russell County Free Fair.

The first item of business was the recognition of Firefighter of the Year and Officer of the Year. These two men had already been recognized at the annual Russell Fire Department banquet, but Chief Dylan Reidel wanted to recognize them in front of the board. The Firefighter of the Year was awarded to Isaac Cherry, and the Officer of the Year was awarded to Tanner Krug.

The next order of business included a water supply update from water utilities director Randy Baker. He said that everything looks great, flowing correctly and the month of June was a great month for the water supply with rainfall.

After that, Baker provided an update on the R-9 water supply project. He mentioned they are still designing the project, but it is going smoothly. They anticipate about 60% of the project to be designed by August. The budget for the project was also mentioned where, as it stands right now, it would be at $13.5 million. A grant that was applied for has yet to be approved. A majority of those funds will come from the approved sales tax which will bring in about $500,000 annually.

The next discussion regarded electric scooter usage by kids. There has been lots of concerns about kids using electric scooters unsafely, like riding them on the highways, riding without helmets, or riding at night and others not being able to see them. The board discussed many options regarding restrictions or laws aimed towards keeping kids safe while riding. Different restrictions that were brought up included age restrictions regarding wearing a helmet, curfew restrictions referring to age, headlights and taillights being needed, and speed restrictions. No action was taken, but at the next meeting, Police Chief Jordan Harrison will have a draft of a new ordinance or law taking into mind these ideas. 

Baker was up again, this time introducing two quotes from two companies for the water line infrastructure at South Main Street. A motion was made to accept the quote for $21,531.25 from Core and Main out of McPherson. This passed unanimously.

Next was a Russell County Free Fair update from board member Sherry Stoppel. The first thing she was quick to mention was the great news that the carnival is returning to the fair. She also mentioned they are renovating the poultry barn and show arena for the fair using grants they received. Then, she went through each day and the events or activities. Tuesday's events include frog and turtle races and a cornhole tournament. On Wednesday, there will be a BB gun shoot and hot dog feed. On Thursday, there will be a watermelon feed, ranch rodeo with free admission and bingo from 7:30 to 9 PM. Friday's events include the farmers market starting at 5 PM, FFA Alumni dinner, branding ceremony, 4-H awards and an ice-cream social after the livestock sale. A motion was then made to accept the Free Fair's special event application and to wave any additional fees from the city in the amount of $530. This was passed unanimously.

City of Russell Fire Chief Dylan Reidel discussed fire hydrant testing done recently. With new technology, he had two firefighters over the course of eight days check 350 public hydrants. The only hydrants they have not tested are eight private hydrants at PureField Ingredients. 

The last items came from City Manager Kayla Schneider. She reminded all city offices will be closed on Friday, July 4, which includes sanitation and landfill. The rental regulations committee has been progressing with a couple different things, including an inspection checklist with tenants and landlords before utilities can get turned over and a less restrictive complaint process. She also mentioned the piles of trees and branches in the community that have not been picked up. The tractor used needs repairs. So as soon as it is fixed, they will get them picked up. The last thing was working with the Hays City Council about setting a date for a joint council meeting.