There was good news and bad news to share during Monday night’s regular Ellsworth City council meeting.

The good — water terminations for unpaid water bills for November will be moved back until Monday, Nov. 29. The typical disconnect day is the 24th of the month, however, with Thanksgiving on Thursday, Nov. 25, a hardship would be created if a resident couldn’t get into the city office by 3 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 24 to pay to have the water turned back on. With the city offices closed Nov. 25-28, those affected would be without water for the holiday weekend. Moving the water termination date will avoid that problem.

The bad — there is asbestos, a lot of asbestos, at the old Ellsworth hospital. Earlier this year, an environmental study was completed with the results showing there was no asbestos found in the places the study checked.

That information, however, is incorrect. Mayor Mark Kennedy, city administrator Rusty Varnado and city attorney Patrick Hoffman toured the building recently with a representative from the National Catastrophic Restoration Company. NCRC also reviewed the documents from the environmental study provided by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Justin Maxson with NCRC said the asbestos in the building is much worse than expected. Samples for the environmental study were completed on a few places in the floor and the roof. No testing was done on any of the walls or the rooms. It is probable the entire building does contain asbestos.

Hoffman reminded the council the building is not owned by the city. The city is involved because the building is falling apart and is structurally unsafe. Hoffman said he has been in the building three times and would not recommend anyone go inside that building due to the safety issues.

There were no answers presented at the meeting but discussion included fencing off the building as well as putting signs designating no trespassing and noting the building is unsafe. Maxson said asbestos abatement is different than a basic demolition and will be much more involved. Maxson will draw up a proposal with options and dollar amounts to present to the council at the Nov. 22 meeting.

In other business:

· Approval was given to move into the next phase of the water meter installation at a cost not to exceed $90,000.

· Approved was given to proceed with the Kansas Municipal Insurance Trust (KMIT) for health insurance for 2022. Utilizing KMIT will allow the city and employees to save money on health insurance. The plan will remain with Blue Cross/Blue Shield. For 2022, dental and vision plans will remain as they are now.

· The Ellsworth Area Chamber of Commerce has voted to remove their organization from the 4th of July and Cowtown celebrations. According to Varnado, the events do not meet the Chamber’s Mission. If these events are to continue, the city needs to assume ownership. Varnado and staff members felt the 4th of July celebration could be done away with since there are other celebrations in the area, however, Cowtown is an important part of the history of the city and for the businesses in town.

Council member Jessica Kootz doesn’t think the city should take over Cowtown and instead if it were to continue, a committee with a member of the city staff serving on the committee would be the better way to go. Paying city employees to work on this project instead of other needed city work doesn’t make sense. The rest of the council agreed deciding by consensus it is not prudent for the city to take this on.

· Resident Karen Shriner asked again for the street in her area be maintained. Varnado and street superintendent Delvin Bettenbrock visited the area and noted the city’s grader is too heavy for that road and there is difficulty with turning the grader around. Using the grader to grade the rock would degrade the base underneath. Shriner doesn’t want a tractor sitting out there, however, Bettenbrock noted the tractor is the only way the city can work on that road. It was decided the road will continue to be monitored and gravel will be added as needed. Currently, the road is smooth and doesn’t need anything added. Shriner questioned why the grader can’t be used to maintain the road when it is used in the winter to clear the snow. Bettenbrock noted when clearing snow, the grader is not put down all the way to the rock clearing the snow as it would be if the grader was moving rock.

The next regular city council meeting is at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 22 at city hall.