by James Jordan, Sumner Newscow – Some Wellington City Council members were having second thoughts about paying the state league of municipalities nearly $6,000 to run a search for a new city manager. A representative from the league came to the work session Tuesday to answer concerns.

The council seems likely to pass accepting the contract at its next meeting, but there was question as to whether they really needed to.

Council member Jan Korte also questioned the wording of the contract, which stated the league could cancel the contract at any time. It also said the city would still have to pay the full amount if they reject all the candidates the league sends their way.

Council member Vince Wetta also questioned the need for spending the money, but he said he believes it is for the good of the city to go through the process. He said he was having second thoughts about that. He favors hiring Shane Shields who is the current interim city manager and has been in the city’s administration for several years.

Council members said they just want to go through the process and find out who is out there.

Kip Etter said he just wants to make sure they make the right decision and he believes going through the process is a good idea.

Bill Butts agreed saying it would not hurt to see who else is out there, and it would not hurt to have the information.

After the meeting Jim Valentine said he is not for spending the money.

There seemed to be agreement that, whoever they hire, they need to do all they can to set that person up for success, and most of the council members feel that going through the process of taking applications would be a move in that direction.

Mayor Shelly Hansel said going through the process would be good for the city. She said the person who his hired should be able to have confidence that the council chose them for good reasons.

Once the contract is signed, council members will fill out surveys to get detailed information about what they want in a city manager. The league can then advertise for the position. The league will rank candidates, picking a top 10 – or whatever number the council wants. They will also make all applications available to the council members.

From there the normal process would be followed, with the league running the search and the council doing final approval.

The council also discussed its budget, and is putting the finishing touches on. Interim City Manager Shane Shields – who is also the finance director – said there would be no need for a change in the tax mill levy.

The council discussed cutting funding for some groups like the Chisholm Trail Museum, the Historical and Geneaological Society and some others. Council member Korte wants the city to eventually stop funding them because there are several other groups in the city that the city does not fund.

It is not a lot of money. The decision the council wrestled with was whether to give the museum $6,000 or $5,200. The council had earlier agreed to cut all agencies like that by 25 percent.

The council will have a public hearing on its budget, and will likely pass the budget at its second meeting in August.

The city is also considering giving the Humane Society $25,000 to help hire a director. The facility is still years from being built, so it could be a few years before the money is used. The county has also been asked for $25,000 but no action has been taken.

The money will be in the budget, but may not be spent for some time.

The budget includes a contingency fund of $772,600.

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The council also briefly talked about the building at Lincoln and Washington, which has been closed and roped off for about two weeks. Shields said the city is still waiting on an engineer’s report and the city is talking with the owner. The fate of the building is not yet known, but it is believed to have some serious structural problems.

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Cowley College and other local officials will have a meeting on Monday, 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., at the Wellington High School Auditorium to talk about the possibility of the college opening a campus in Wellington. Cowley needs a half cent sales tax to make that happen. The county commissioners have to decide on whether to put it on the ballot in November, hold a special election, or keep it off entirely. Cowley officials want it to be held later as a special election.

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