 Holden R-III
School District superintendent Scott Slava answered critics of
the district’s request for the passage of a
bond issue to build additional classrooms and renovate the existing
high school at the regular meeting of the board held Monday night
at the intermediate school library.
“In recent days, I have been misquoted as saying that I felt the high school
is antiquated,” the superintendent stated. “This is just not
true. If I felt that way, I would be asking for 20 to 25 million to tear
it down and build a new school. As a matter of fact, I was quoted correctly
in the June 8 edition of the Holden Image as saying ‘Our building is in
great shape now, so tearing the building down completely would be a waste of
money.’”
Slava continued, “What I do feel is that the building, which was built
for 350 students, is inadequate in size to house the nearly 500 students we have
been getting and will continue to receive if the current trend continues.”
Answering allegations that a sizeable amount of the money will be spent on parking
and sports and sports-related activities, he explained, “Actually
a very small part of the funds will be spent in that manner. Only four
percent of the entire project will be earmarked for additional parking lots and
a very small amount will be used for sports-related activities. One activities
classroom is called for due to lack of space for physical education curriculum,
cheerleading, wrestling and other activities. Expansion of locker room
space will happen only if everything else is accomplished first.”
The superintendent stated that he just wanted to set the record straight, “By
far, the bulk of funds will be spent on additional classrooms, new cafeteria
and kitchen, science lab, expanded library to come in line with MSIP standards,
and general upgrade to the 43 year-old building.”
After a review of the renovation plans and rationale, the board unanimously passed
the resolution calling for a special school bond election to be held on election
day November 7, 2006.
By Steve Sullins
Editor
The Holden
City Council approved the hiring of
Joe Willerth and his firm, Kapke and Willerth, L.L.C., as the
new city attorney at their regular meeting held at City
Hall last Tuesday night.
“We can't allow this to drag out another 30 days,” Mayor
Mike Wakeman explained, referring to the law that allows an ordinance to be
read publicly twice and approved in the same meeting if the situation is looked
upon as an emergency.
The Willerth appointment was made in the abbreviated ordinance
reading period because Wakeman characterized the situation to
be an emergency due to the large amount of business the city
had to undertake in the coming weeks. He also stressed
that under normal circumstances, the two readings would not be
in the same meeting, but a month apart, with time for citizens
to read the proposition before voting.
Holden’s new city attorney will come at a price of $150
per hour. Wakeman expressed the growing necessity of a city attorney, “ We
have a lot of issues on the table right now that need to be addressed
by a city attorney.”
In other business, Police Chief Ed Bone presented Jerry Owens with the
Top Gun award. The award is given to an officer who scores 100 percent on the
qualification test during firearms training. Chief Bone praised Owens, the
department’s top shooter; “This is very rare and it expresses our
continuing effort to improve our department.”
The council also approved a request to close Market Street on
Saturday, July 15 from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. upon request from
Farmers & Commercial Bank. The bank will be celebrating
their 125th anniversary and the request was made to protect participants
of games and activities that are expected to draw large crowds.
Police will barricade the corner between the bank and the Community
Activity Center.
The council unanimously approved the Holden Sports Association’s
request for a permit to sell fireworks within city limits. The
fireworks will be sold in a tent at West Chestnut Field
to raise funds for a new ballpark. The council waived its right
to a percentage of the proceeds and decided to return the
associations $100 permit fee once the fundraiser is complete.
In other business, a 1999 Ford F-150 pickup will be purchased
by the city from Rick Davidson for $5,200. The Ford truck’s
purpose will be to fulfill the animal patrol needs. The current
vehicle has very high mileage plus significant hail damage. The
vehicle will be paid for by insurance proceeds from the hail
damage.
Also, new stop signs could be erected southbound and northbound
on Grand Street at the intersection of Grand Chestnut Street
as a first-reading of an ordinance calling for the placement
was read at the meeting.
“There’s a lot of traffic through there now,” stated councilman
Chad Manford.
He added, a near accident at that intersection showed cause for
change in the area to better coordinate traffic. The two roads
have been host to more and more activity the past few years due
to children and ballparks.
“My kids rode through there last year for ball - that’s not good,” added
councilman Jim Robison. An ordinance will be read in July for approval
of the sign.
A collapsed sidewalk on the northeast corner of Fourth and Market
Street will be condemned according to a council vote. The sidewalk
was deemed a “safety hazard” by Mayor Wakeman at
last month’s meeting and the council unanimously approved
the condemnation of the walkway.
Eight liquor licenses were reinstated as of Tuesday night. Those
establishments include Pettigrews, Galle’s Smokehouse,
MFA Oil (Breaktime), Cowboy Inn, Godfather’s Pizza, Lloyd’s
Foods, Casey’s General Store and Holden Package Store.
The potential absence of Mayor Wakeman for next month’s
meeting led the council to reschedule the meeting to Tuesday
July 18. Also attending the meeting will be a professional grant
writer and an economic development representative.
“It’s important to introduce ourselves and let us know what we
can do,” commented Wakeman, ”Hopefully this opens up a good channel
of communication and allows us to pursue grants in the future.” He went
on to state that the meeting would help people to better understand the limitation
and abilities to develop the community. The grant writer will help find funding
for projects.
The City Council will meet next Tuesday, July 18 at city hall.
By Brandon Foster
News Staff
Holden businessman
Scotty Walker was elected as president of the Trails Regional
Library Board of Trustees in their meeting held last Thursday
in Warrensburg.
The owner of Walker’s Variety on Second Street in downtown Holden, he will
preside over the board which controls eight librairies in Johnson and Lafayette
counties. The librairies are located in Concordia, Corder, Holden, Knob
Noster, Lexington, Odessa, Warrensburg and Waverly.
Walker was the driving force in raising funds for the new Holden Library which
has shown steady growth since moving into its new building.
In his views of the future of the Trails Regional Library system, Walker said, “I
want to continue the improvements we’ve been making the last couple of
years and also to rebuild our reserves.
“I’d also like to see the libraires get more publicity. We need to
make the public more aware of what our librairies have to offer.”
Lastly, Walker stated the need for local librairies to purchase more goods and
services from their local business communities.
By Steve Sullins
Editor
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Meeting in
regular session Monday night, the Holden School
Board agreed to allow students to participate in two sports during
one season. In a handbook revision presented by district
activities director Kelli Spies it states that a student may choose
to run cross-country and play either football or volleyball in
the fall and run track and either play baseball or softball in
the spring. It was felt that the dual-sports concept would
not work in the winter season.
The revision also calls for the students to pick a primary sport after participating
in the first contest of each sport in meeting with their coaches and parents. The
primary sport needs to be selected in cases of conflicts with game or meet schedules.
Reports were also presented on extracurricular activities, federal programs,
safety, facilities, auxiliary services.
In new business, the board passed the superintendent’s recommendation to
expand the school resource officers time in attendance at the schools from three
to five days in 2006-2007. The district will pay two-thirds of the police
officer’s salary, while the city will pick up the remaining one-third. According
to Slava, he and the police chief are in agreement with the plan. The chief
will now have to seek approval from the city council before the new schedule
can be implemented.
In the executive session, there were several employments and extra-duty employments
approved.
Those hired for employment were Patty Iott, eighth-grade science teacher; Travis
Williams, middle school and high school band teacher; Stacey McCune, summer school
teacher and Lisa Baker, summer school librarian.
Extra-duty employments approved were: Anita Anderson, HHS head track coach;
Spencer Gudde, HHS assistant track coach; Jim Harvey, HHS assistant track coach;
Rich Johnson, HHS assistant track coach; Amy Morrison, HMS head track coach and
HMS head boys’ basketball coach; Steve Garnier, HMS assistant track coach;
David Riley HHS head baseball coach; Charlie Castle, HHS assistant baseball coach;
Allison Edwards, HHS assistant spring softball coach; Joan Stout, HMS student
council; Gerry Pierce, GED coordinator and summer bridge assistant; and Danielle
Nagel, HMS head girls’ basketball coach.
The board accepted the resignation of Emily Stone, HHS social studies and National
Honor Society sponsor.
By Steve Sullins
Editor
The Neighborhood
Assistance Program (NAP) application for 2007 was completed and
mailed to proper state officials, executive director John Roberts
told the HOPE board at their regular meeting Monday night.
“The application essentially asks for tax credit funding of our current
programs, plus our additional job referral, health clinic, screening and wellness
programs,” added Roberts.
Roberts went on to say that by the end of June or first of July,
they should know if their application has been approved and, if
so, for how much and at what tax credit level, 50 percent or 70
percent.
In other financial business, Roberts told the board that HOPE received
two audits. The first was to determine if they were compliant
with their NAP project from the period of July 1, 2001 to June
31, 2003. According to Roberts, the audit went extremely
well due to the extensive work done by staff member Crystal Harper
and board member Dorothy Salsman.
The second audit, Roberts added, was a full examination of HOPE
for the fiscal year 2004 by the CPA firm Westbrook & Company. Some
follow-up information was requested and they expect something definitive
later this month or early next month. “While we do
anticipate some recommendations regarding our day-to-day procedures,
we feel good about the big picture in that all monies have tied
back to appropriate sources. Again, Crystal and Dorothy
deserve a great deal of credit for making this and the previous
audit go as smoothly as they did,” Roberts stated.
In new business, Roberts requested permission from the board to
attend Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) administrative
training in Jefferson City June 14-15. The reason for the
request is to learn more about CDBG so that HOPE may apply for
such a grant in the near future and, as an organization, move toward
self-sufficiency. Among other things, he added, a move from
dependency will require a consolidation of resources. Having
one building instead of two would be a huge step in that direction,
he added.
In other new business, Roberts informed the board that the insurance
for the Community Activity Center (CAC) is due July 10. This
includes the building, liability for activities and liability against
child molestation. HOPE’s present insurance carrier
is currently contacting companies through her independent agency
to find the lowest and best quotes.
In other financial business, the board was reminded by Roberts
that membership dues for the HOPE board of director members are
due. The fees are $20 per family (all ages 16 and over can
vote) or $10 per individual. Board member Donna LaHue suggested
that reminder letters to board members and other HOPE members be
sent. The board agreed this was a good idea and it will
be adopted.
In other CAC business, primary elections will be held Tuesday,
August 8 at the CAC. “Everything went smoothly at
the first election in April and we expect it to go similarly this
time as well. Johnson County Clerk Gilbert Powers and an
associate recently visited the facility to get exact dimensions
for a “to-scale” layout of voting booths and tables
for the upcoming election. They both expressed their pleasure
at how well the election in April had gone,” said Roberts.
In old CAC business, it was reported by Roberts that a 60-inch
culvert has been installed and the grass has been sterilized in
the rear of the CAC in preparation for the hauling and placement
of gravel on the lot. The culvert, purchased from the city,
cost $283, but was installed free of charge. The gravel and
hauling will be paid for by an anonymous donor. Roberts stated, “Our
sincere appreciation goes out to the donor.”
In new CAC business, the board was told that E & Q Heating
and Cooling serviced and repaired the air conditioning units last
Thursday. The total bill was estimated at $600. Approximately
$200 of that was for two service calls and the cleaning of filters. The
remainder of the bill was to straighten cooling fins, which had
been damaged by recent hail storms.
In other financial business, Roberts told the board that according
to the IRS, HOPE is exempt from filing form 940 (federal unemployment
tax). HOPE had filed that for the fiscal year 2005 in the
amount of $263.06. They received a check for that amount
as a refund.
In community service business, Roberts said, “A tentative
meeting between counselors in the Holden School District has been
set up for August. The meeting will be a general discussion
on how HOPE can become a GED outlet to young people who drop out
of school and how they can be assisted with some of the other social
services we offer. The ultimate goal is to keep young people
on an education track and help them get on their feet.”
In other community service business, the board learned that HOPE
will soon be teaming with Johnson County Community Health Services
to provide services such as immunization, clinics, health screenings
and wellness fairs. More details will be available at the
next meeting, according to Roberts.
In other NAP business, Roberts told the board that several months
ago it was feared that HOPE might have to place some of its NAP
funds in escrow. This was due to the thought that they would
have excess funds left over from their current NAP project which
technically expires at the end of this month. “This
now appears not to be the case,” said Roberts. “Many
of our past bills were paid from the general fund because no NAP
funds were available. Now that there are, HOPE can reimburse
the general fund and shrink the NAP account. Again, some
fine work by Crystal and Dorothy has cleared up a potentially troubling
matter.”
In other CAC business, Roberts discussed the placement of railroad
ties on the side of the CAC facing the alley to protect against
vehicles backing into the building. Due to the fact the back
parking lot will be graveled soon, it’s Roberts’ thought
this area should be protected as well. Approximately 36
railroad ties will be sought.
The regular meeting of the HOPE Coalition board was closed to reopen
next month.
By Dana Neubert
News Staff
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