Council meets with lawyers for lawsuit

By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

Lawyers representing the city spent an hour Tuesday in executive session discussing a lawsuit against Hillsboro Community Hospital with city council members.

The city is one of 11 codefendants in a mortgage foreclosure filed by Bank of Hays.

J.T. Klaus and Tyler Heffron, of Triplett Woolf Garretson law firm in Wichita, were the first item on the council agenda, but no decisions were made when the meeting returned to open session.

Other items taken up at the meeting were a laundry list of routine matters.

Engineer Michael Younger, of EBH and Associates, told city council members that unanticipated surprises in the city’s water lines meant higher costs for the work to update the city’s water system. The council approved a $20,485 change order for the contractor and an $84,989 payment request for funds from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment revolving loan fund.

The east side of town is completely finished except for surface work, Younger said. Soon pipe in the city’s large water tower will be replaced.

Council members approved a cereal malt beverage ordinance to comply with recent changes in state law.

A 2019 Ford Explorer will replace a 2006 Dodge Magnum in the police department fleet. The Explorer will be purchased from Hillsboro Ford for $30,700.

Council members heard that a parcel of land being sold to Cooperative Grain and Supply is slightly smaller than originally estimated, which will reduce the total amount the city is paid for the land.