City pays for dog, elves, `melted’ oven

Reimbursement for a resident’s “melted” oven, candy for a canceled parade, elf costumes, and training for a police dog that has switched from city to county and back again were among $93,400.69 in claims approved without question Monday by Marion City Council.

Included were:

• The $500 deductible from an insurance claim paid to Josh and Alison Tajchman, who complained to the council but filed no claim after food spoiled during a power failure Aug. 5 at their food truck. This time, they didn’t complain to the council but did file a claim after an oven “melted” after a power failure Oct. 10 at their home.
• Five payments totaling $1,036 for interim Police Chief Zach Hudlin to attend leadership workshops.
• An additional $50.32 to Hudlin for candy, presumably for the canceled Holly Jolly Christmas parade.
• A total of $168.17 to Megan Jones of Bill and Essie’s barbecue for material and labor to make three elf costumes, also apparently for Holly Jolly Christmas.
• A total of $100 to Gene Winkler for providing music during the Christmas event.
• A total of $949.79 to reimburse the sheriff’s office for training of police dog Blue, purchased by the city in 2019, sold to the county in 2022 after officer Aaron Slater quit the force, and then repurchased by the city this year when Slater returned.
• A total of $525 for 13 consultations with the city attorney between Nov. 14 and 29 and $53.30 to Mayor David Mayfield to reimburse him for driving to McPherson, presumably to visit the attorney.
• A total of $999.52 to Verizon Wireless for 35 separate cell phone bills.

Two weeks earlier, the city approved $173,723.51 in bills including:

• A total of $2,660 to Great Plains Computers and Networking for seven items labeled “security request,” for sending out security documents, for setting up email for council member Zach Collett and the sewer and police departments, transferring data, for copying data, for clearing a photocopier, for a technical planning discussion, and for monthly audits of police/city computer gateways.
• An additional $6,679.01 to actually purchase police dog Blue from the sheriff’s department.
• Mileage reimbursement of $91.70 for Mayfield to go to Wichita, presumably to speak with the city’s insurance company attorney about actual and potential lawsuits against the city arising from police raids Aug. 11.

Some editions of the newspaper incorrectly reported that Tajchman's claim was for the spoiled food in the first power failure.