by James Jordan, Sumner Newscow — By a 4-2 vote, the Wellington City Council approved a design study for roads and infrastructure for the new Cowley College facility to be built in east Wellington.

The design study costs about $84,000. But who pays for it – whether it be the city of Wellington or Cowley College – has yet to be determined.

This is a rather unusual order to facilitate the process. Normally, the financing of specific parts of the project is ironed out before the resolution was made. However, timing appears to be a factor, and Cowley wants to get the facility built as quickly as possible.

The conventional wisdom is who will pay for what, and that should be resolved in a couple of weeks.

Council member Kelley Hawley, though, wasn’t buying it – and she and council member Jim Valentine voted against the proposal.

Hawley said the city should wait until after payment agreement is settled. She said she supports the college, but wanted to “due diligence,” in the funding of the operation.

Valentine said he is voting against the measure, because he is looking out for people and their tax dollars.

Mayor Shelley Hansel said getting the college in Wellington is a great opportunity for development.

“This isn’t just to help Cowley College,” she said. “This is for development of the area.”

Hansel said while there is concern over the city shrinking in population, it is things like this that can reverse that trend.

There will be a bond issue, but payments will not start until 2019, and there could be a small tax increase involved. There has been talk of combining this with other projects for the bond issue later on to save money.

Council member Kip Etter said he sees it as sending a positive message to other potential developers, that the city is willing to work with people to get projects started.

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Financial report good

The city of Wellington received a good financial report from Wellington Auditor Lonnie Cooper, who presented the audited report to the council Tuesday night. Each year the city has to, as per state law, pay for an independent audit of its books. The current report can be seen here.

He found “no exceptions and it was a clean opinion,” he said, which means there were no glaring problems.

Cooper said the utility funds have reversed themselves in recent years, heading towards the black after running in the red for years. “The Utility funds reversed a significant negative trend” Cooper said.

Water and sewer broke even, and the electric made some money, which can be used to pay off debt.

The city currently has a good bit of debt, but it is not excessive.

He said as long as the city makes its payments on its bonds, it seems to be in good financial condition.

Council member Vince Wetta questioned whether the city was over extending itself with all the projects it has going.

Cooper said at the current rate the city is staying even. He said the city’s financial condition is better than it was a year ago. The only issue is the increased amount being paid for employees medical as the city is self insured, and that was a topic during recent budget discussions.

There were some minor details that were suggested, such as keeping track of revenues at offsite locations such as the golf course or the lake. City officials said they have software that takes care of this for the most part. But Cooper also said sometimes the city needs to consider if it is cost effective when considering whether to make changes that are suggested. One example is the segregating billing and record keeping in the clerks office.

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Tax levy increase lowered

The council approved the budget hearing notice, meaning the budget will now be published. The council can reduce the budget from this point, but not increase it.

The tax levy increase was 2.479, which was slightly lower than what had been anticipated last week. That will result in a $28.51 increase on a $100,000 house.

On August 22, a special meeting will be held to hold a public hearing on the budget.

The council may pass it at that time or at a later date, but it has to be done by September.

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Offense codes passed

The city passed the annual changes to the public offense code, and the traffic offense codes as required by law.

This is passing a group of laws that makes it consistent with the rest of the state. There were few changes to the existing ordinances.

The fine for not wearing a seatbelt will increase from $10 to $30. Also, bicyclists will have to have a light or a reflector on their bicycle if they are riding at night.

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In other matters:

•Jane Cole was appointed to the board of zoning appeals;

•The council agreed to purchase a 2018 Chevrolet ¾ ton truck from Countryside Motors for $35,065. The city had budgeted $50,000 for the purchase this year.

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