By Roger McKinney
rmckinney@joplinglobe.com
GALENA, Kan. — The Galena City Council on Monday night approved seeking bids for a sidewalk along Schermerhorn Road leading to Seventh Street.
Mayor Dale Oglesby said people in wheelchairs often use the route, and they have to either wheel through the dirt or on a cemetery property.
Police Chief Larry Delmont said the situation is dangerous.
“They have to drive on the highway, because there’s no shoulder for them to get on,” Delmont said.
Gwain January, an advocate for people with disabilities for the Southeast Kansas Independent Living Resource Center, was on the agenda to address the council, but he wasn’t there.
“Of all the things we can do for ADA compliance, I think that’s one of the most pressing,” Oglesby said in reference to the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Oglesby said a plan by the city Economic Development Committee to make improvements to Main Street from Sixth Street north will address curb cuts for wheelchair access.
In other business Monday night, the council:
n Paid bills and payroll totaling $256,809.
“That’s extraordinarily high because we had to pay the waterline extension,” Oglesby said, referring to the project for Orthopaedic Specialists of the Four States. The city received grant money for the project.
n Set March 1 for condemnation hearings for houses at 1817 Galena Ave., 1206 Elm St., 1102 Short St., 1217 Harvard St. and 1213 Madison St.
Police hire
Galena police Chief Larry Delmont reported to the City Council that he hired former Columbus police officer Pat Collins as a patrol officer. Delmont said the new officer is not the Pat Collins who is a Cherokee County commissioner and former sheriff.
