Upcoming municipal meetings

MCPHERSON, Kan. — The McPherson City Commission on Tuesday will consider entering into a consent order with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to resolve Clean Water Act violations identified during a 2024 audit of the city’s wastewater pretreatment program. The items of concern have had no impact on public safety, the water supply or the WWTF (Wastewater Treatment Facility). The proposed Administrative Order on Consent requires the city to correct several deficiencies, specifically a failure to monitor major industrial user Pfizer for solvents including methylene chloride and ethyl acetate over a five-year period, as well as a lack of designated staffing for the pretreatment program. While the order alleges the city failed to enforce necessary local limits, city documents indicate the agreement is voluntary with no admission of liability, noting that updated sampling and staffing plans are already underway. In other business, commissioners are scheduled to vote on a $629,124 payment to McPherson County for shared Law Enforcement Center and 911 dispatch operations—an 8.19% increase over the previous year attributed to higher personnel costs and new server equipment—and will likely authorize the final $158,596 payment for a new Fire Department brush truck scheduled for delivery later this month.

Local concerns over state highway plans will headline the McPherson City Commission’s study session on Tuesday, as leaders consider formally opposing a proposal to cut off a key access point to the city. McPherson County Public Works Director Dave Bohnenblust is scheduled to ask city officials to sign a letter objecting to the Kansas Department of Transportation’s option to close Limestone Road at U.S. 56, a move part of the state's corridor expansion project that local officials argue would divert heavy traffic onto 17th Avenue. The commission will also address lingering impacts from the Sept. 3, 2025, hailstorm by voting on $31,377 in repairs for the McPherson Water Park to replace damaged speakers and shade structures. Additionally, the agenda includes a request to update the police fleet with two 2026 Dodge Durangos for a net cost of $62,794 and a discussion on selling city-owned land in the Eagle's Wings Estates development for $65,000.

There is no County Commission meeting this week

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