by Devin McCue, Sumner Newscow — There’s good news on the horizon for nine local Wellington businesses.

Wellington’s CDBG-CV3 Grant application was approved for $136,000 and is set to be distributed evenly amongst the applicants.  The grant distribution occurred at Wellington’s City Council meeting held Tuesday meeting. The grant was part of the American Rescue Act of 2021 and Wellington is one of the thousands of Kansas communities receiving funds.

The nine local businesses include:

1. Chew Plumbing
2. Vince Erwin Glass
3. Beauty by Colenna AKA Studio K
4. LB’s School of Self Defense
5. Fraiser’s
6. AB Construction
7. Meadow Lanes
8. Brian Ast Instillation
9. Kansas Therapeutics

The businesses will receive just over $15,000 in the coming weeks.

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In other business: 

•On October 30, Ash Street, from Harvey to Lincoln, will close from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. for the VFW “Toy Run.” Rather than Lincoln Logs and water guns, the toys on this run will be extravagant motorcycles. If you’re a gearhead or just like the look of the bikes, make sure to mark your calendar and make it out there.

•The Council heard an ordinance to change the zoning of the former Hawks Shelly funeral home from an “R-2” Two-Family Dwelling District to “R-3” Multiple-Family Dwelling District.

The change will convert the space from a business/residential hybrid location to a house meant for multiple residents. The city advised the change and the current owner already received unanimous approval from the Planning Commission in late September. The Council followed their lead.

•The council approved the first of three resolutions that will write off .04% of ambulance charges from 2020. Every year, a certain amount of emergency transport debt can’t be collected due to a lack of insurance or other outstanding circumstances, so the City Auditor recommends writing that debt off rather than spending more money pursuing collection.

The final 2020 uncollected amount was just under $40k, which is a drop in the (very large) bucket considering EMS charged $1,053,981.50 in 2020.

•The second resolution brought the months-long journey to demolish three convicted properties to a close.

The council have been debating what to do with properties at 1317 E Lincoln Ave., 1321 E Lincoln Ave., and 1501 N B Street at no fewer than four City Council meetings. And on Tuesday, Council finally approved a $25,850 contract with an Oklahoman contractor to do the demolition and debris removal.

They passed the resolution unanimously.

•The final resolution of the evening approved the resignation of the former head of the Wellington Housing Authority and appointed her interim replacement.

Alois Hutchison held the position for a number of years and recently gave notice she was moving to Wichita to live with family. After a brief search, the Authority found Geraldine McEachern was the only applicant to replace her.

The Council approved unanimously and wished Ms. McEachern good luck.

The meeting adjourned after an hour and three minutes.