City Commissioners unanimously approved an application for a CDBG grant during Monday’s regular meeting that would replace sidewalks and street crossings along north-south routes just west of Atchison Middle School.
Called the AMS West Sidewalks Project: Phase II, it would supplement a previous CDBG grant-funded project that was completed in 2018 that allowed for new east-west sidewalks from 6th to 12th streets and from Santa Fe to Laramie streets. The grant would fund $370,000 of the estimated $741,000 project, with the city paying for about $282,000 in costs and contributing another $89,000 of in-kind work for design and inspection.
The approval came by resolution and followed a required public hearing, which is standard for the CDBG grant application process.
In other action Monday, commissioners approved an agreement with the Atchison Area Chamber of Commerce and the BMW Motorcycle Club of Kansas City that would allow the club to hold a rally event at Warnock Lake, June 2-5, 2022. The club has held rallies at the lake in five of the previous six years, with only 2020 being canceled because of the COVID pandemic.
Commissioners also approved the adoption of the 2021 Uniform Public Offense Code and the 2021 Standard Traffic Ordinance, which are updates to existing standard statewide municipal misdemeanor offenses as set forth by the League of Kansas Municipalities. New UPOC and STO books are published yearly by the League, with a recommendation that cities adopt and update every few years. Atchison last updated the code in 2017.
Commissioners also tabled a rezoning application for property at 2100 Forest Park, which is currently zoned B-2 (business) with applicants asking for MHC (Mobile Home Community) designation. The property has been operating as a non-compliant B-2 with some mobile homes on the premises since it was annexed in the 1980s. The Atchison Planning and Zoning Commission recommended denial of the application during its Sept. 1 regular meeting. City commissioners can now either agree with the denial, send it back to the Planning and Zoning Commission for further consideration, or override the Planning and Zoning Commission. To override, by statute, the city commission would need a 2/3 majority. That item will be reconsidered during the next city commission meeting.
The next regular city commission meeting is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 4, in the commission room.