Fairland annexes the city cemetery and Round-Up Club property

After months of discussion, the Fairland Town Board voted to annex the city cemetery as well as the Lutheran cemetery into the city limits. The issue centered around the lack of police jurisdiction in the cemetery without it being within the city limits.

Police Chief Dan Cook said he had no jurisdiction inside the cemetery. The Ottawa County Sheriff had jurisdiction of the cemetery before its annexation, which Cook said made it difficult to investigate vandalism.

The board also learned the Lutheran Cemetery Association voted to increase their mowing contribution to the city to $3,000 a year from the previous $1,700.

The Lutheran cemetery was annexed as well.

The town is also annexing the Round-Up Club's rodeo grounds so it will have jurisdiction over that property.

Turtle Stop purchased the property formerly known as the Stagecoach Bar behind their current service station. The town board agreed to abandon the easement on the alley behind the station so a building could be designed to extend cattycornered across the property. The Wyandotte Nation had already purchased the former bail bonds property on the corner of West Connor Avenue and Highway 125. Apparently the tribe intends to build a new expanded station as well as add additional pumps on the property.

The town may change auditors since the current auditor has not been able to provide the town with audited financial statements for 2020. The town is behind on auditing its financials, which is required every year State statutes state: "The governing body of each municipality with an income of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000.00) or more to its general fund during a fiscal year shall cause to be prepared, by an independent licensed public accountant or a certified public accountant, an annual financial statement audit. Such audit shall be ordered within thirty (30) days of the close of each fiscal year. Copies shall be filed with the State Auditor and Inspector within six (6) months after the close of the fiscal year" According to City Treasurer Joy Bryant, audits were conducted from 2015 to 2019, but have not been filed with the State Auditor. The current board is attempting to become current on audits because it is one of the requirements for most grants.

She is recommending hiring an auditor in Stilwell who specializes in municipal audits.

The board directed Bryant to seek a price for audits from the Michael Green CPA firm.

The board also authorized the mayor to apply for a grant from T-Mobile for some type of improvement work.

Two matters were tabled until the City Attorney Kay Lyn Beauchamp can look into the correct way to word the resolution. One concerns a motel and hotel tax for including VRBOs and RV parks. The cutoff date for placing items on the November election is Aug. 21. The town board agreed to have a special meeting when she has the correct wording for an election.

Also, there was a question raised about using mobile homes as storage buildings. Two travel trailers are being considered as storage buildings in the town.

Any restriction must consider travel trailers which are parked in resident's yards as well. The city attorney will consider what can be done since they are similar to storage containers which are prohibited by town ordinance to be used as storage in the town.

The board did pass spending $3,000 for a new city hall sign from Allen Sign in Miami.

They also approved a small sign for a cost of $225 that will list city council members as well as emergency numbers for the police, fire, and public works departments.

The board approved paying for renovations at the new city hall at $20 an hour to Police Chief Dan Cook, his son Kendryck Cook, and police officer Sammy Pinion.

According to Cook, the three worked on renovations, including walls and doors, for about 77 hours for the Cooks and nearly 26 hours for Pinion. The cost would be about $3,600 compared to a telephone bid of $7,700 which included plumbing and electrical work. The electrical and plumbing work is being done by a licensed company.