Last meeting

My last City Council meeting will be on April 17th. The existing Council will convene to finish old business, new Council Members will be sworn in, and a new meeting will convene to cover new business. I appreciate everyones ideas and input over the last 8 years, and appreciate your support. I has been a truly great experience. After the 17th, I will be closing my webpage as well as my Twitter and Facebook pages. Thanks again. Wellington has some truly great people living here. Best of luck to all in the future.

Construction on U.S. 160 scheduled to start

Mill and overlay of U.S. 160 from Washington Ave to Woodlawn Ave is scheduled to start Monday. Crews will be grinding down the surface of the highway, which is 15th Street west of the Roundabout and 16th Street east of the Roundabout, and then applying a new 2" layer of asphalt. Traffic will be allowed during the construction, however flagmen will be present to direct traffic through the area. When finished, 160 will be completely refinished from Pizza Hut to Penny's Diner.

Auidtorium receives grant

The Memorial Auditorium recently received a Community Development Block Grant for nearly $400,000. The grant monies, which will be matched equally with funds from the Horton Trust Fund bequeathed by Mr. and Mrs. Frank Horton, will be used to make ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) improvements to the building. New handicapped accessible restrooms, stair and wheel chair lifts will be installed, and an elevator to the 2nd Floor will be constructed. Making the building ADA Accessible will allow more activities to be held at the Auditorium such as concerts, banquets, and other events.

Thanks to Gus Collins, Jeremy Jones, and the Auditorium Board for their work on this project.

The Auditorium has applied for a second grant which will be awarded this month. If successful, this grant will replace windows and doors which are currently in disrepair.

City welcomes Economic Development Director

From City Manager Gus Collins: City Manager Gus Collins announced today that Mr. Cody Sims has been selected as the new Economic Development/Grant Writer for the City of Wellington. Mr. Sims will begin his duties at the end of February 2012. Mr. Sims was selected from over fifty applicants to serve in this position.

Currently, Mr. Sims is serving as a Structural Designer for Airbus-Wichita. Mr. Sims has also completed a year-long Internship with the City of Bel Aire, serving in the various Municipal capacities, including Assistant to the City Manager, with the emphasis on Grant Writing for the City of Bel Aire. He was also instrumental in the management for Economic Development projects through his affiliation with Bel Aire.

He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business from Southwestern and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Wichita State University. He and his wife & daughter currently live in Wichita and will be relocating to Wellington very soon.

We are very excited to have such a very capable and enthusiastic candidate as Mr. Sims. We look forward to having him in the Community.

Filing deadline has passed; ten candidates file

The filing deadline was at noon today. Ten candidates filed for office including;

Ward 1 – James Shawn, John Brand.
Ward 2 – Chase Weber, Bronson Campbell.
Ward 3 – Jon Holmes, Lannon Taylor.
Ward 4 – Paula Mortimer, Christopher Bruster, Jan Korte, Jerry Sears.

Fourth Ward only will see a primary. The General election is in April.

"Light Up Wellington" informational meeting held

A "Light Up Wellington" informational meeting was held this evening at the Memorial Auditorium. The "Light Up Wellington" committee is trying to raise funding to string lights atop the downtown buildings which would illuminate the buildings in the evening. Caldwell, Anthony, and Kingman have all undertaken the project to some extent, and the lights are a beautiful addition to the downtown area. If funding allows, the committee would like to continue to pursue funding for light replacement, and even to replace the existing Christmas decorations that are hung downtown each Christmas season. The lights are expected to last 8 years, with LED bulbs lasting 5 years. Because the lights are LED, the energy cost to light up downtown for about six hours each night will be approximately $6 per month.

If you would like to donate to this project, and help beautify downtown Wellington, you can make checks payable to the Wellington Community Foundation, c/o Marlene Flickinger, 711 North Poplar, Wellington. Make sure to note on your check you are directing the donation to the "Light Up Wellington" project. Donations are tax deductible.

For more information, contact Shelly Hansel at the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, or Gus Collins at the City of Wellington. Sunni Bales and Cliff Zens also serve on the "Light Up Wellington" committee.

Tracy will not seek another term

In the Spring of 2010, I was part of a committee that recommended changes to restructure City Government. These recommendations resulted in the passage of Charter Ordinance 25 in the Sumner of 2010. There are many changes as a result of this, however one major change is the addition of term limits: elected City Officials will be limited to two 4 year terms at any one time. Even though term limi...ts will not go into effect until 2013, I feel it is my duty to comply with the "intent" of CO25, and since this is my eighth year on the City Council, I will not be seeking another term in April.

The reason I am making this announcement is to give others time to seriously considering running for the open seat in 3rd Ward. There are both pros and cons to being a City Councilmember, however I believe the pros far outweigh the cons. I have thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to serve for the last 8 years. Did I accomplish everything I sought? Definitely not...I lost more battles than I won. But some of the battles I won made some much needed changes in the way City Government serves you. And you can make changes too...you just have to try.

I ask that if you've ever been remotely interested in serving as a City Councilmember, if you are genuinly concerned about the future of our community, or if you have ideas that will make Wellington a better place in which to live, I urge you to consider running for office. I've posted an article from the Wellington Daily News on my Facebook page that details the filing requirements as well as the filing deadline.

So am I done with politics? Time will tell. Probably after a break, I would consider running for public office again because it truly has been a rewarding experience...if I would be lucky enough to get elected again. So please...we need good people at the helm. It is difficult finding candidates...of my four terms, two were unopposed. Throw your name in the hat, and see what you can accomplish!