The owners of 304 N. Douglas Ave. in downtown Ellsworth have been given an extension to Dec. 31 to complete the demolition/ reconstruction of the back of the building.

The Ellsworth City Council approved that motion at their meeting Monday.

According to City Building Inspector Delvin Bettenbrock, at the Feb. 10 council meeting, owners of the building, Rick and Tina Davis, were given until the first council meeting in September to complete the work. Since then, a garage that was at the rear of the building was torn down, but an addition between the Ellsworth County Independent-Reporter office and the garage also needs to be demolished.

Part of the addition houses a bathroom. Bettenbrock noted the breaker box is located on the outside wall of the bathroom, and the lines going to the meter are connected to the outside wall.

There is also a drainage problem which needs to be addressed to divert water away from the building and the building to the south of it.

A catwalk above the addition, which goes from the rear door of the upstairs apartment the Davises rent out to the steps to get to ground level, will be demolished.

I-R Editor/Publisher Karen Bonar said a concern she has is the plumbing on the back of the building. She asked if there were a way to tighten up the timeline so the back portion of the building can be finished sooner, rather than later, so she doesn’t have to be concerned about broken water pipes and flooding issues once freezing temperatures arrive.

“We did have water come in our back door just this morning,” Bonar said. “Coming into our building from the back area.”

Bonar said she has made repeated efforts to contact the Davises, but the response has been minimal.

She noted Shannon Mog of Reliant Roofing, the contractor for the project, has assured her things will be done before freezing weather arrives.

Mog, who was at the meeting, said he is in regular contact with the Davises and that he understands Bonar’s concerns. He pledged he will make every effort to complete the project as soon as possible.

“We are ready to get the final stage going,” Mog said. “Ducks are in a row to commence to resolve this issue and we are still committed to seeing its satisfactory conclusion.”

In other business:

• Mayor Dan Finnegan appointed, and the council approved, Russell B. Allen to fill the term of Aaron Johnson on the city council. Johnson recently submitted his resignation from the council. Allen will be sworn in at the Sept. 22 council meeting. His term will end in four months on Jan. 12.

• City Attorney Patrick Hoffman said the city received a letter from the Kansas Attorney General’s office regarding a city email sent out months ago dealing with parking lot across the street from city hall, to which a couple of council members accidently responded. He noted the city administrator at the time, Dustin Stambaugh, told the council members to stop doing so because it was probably in violation of the Kansas Open Meetings Act.

Finnegan filed a complaint in February with the attorney general’s office.

Hoffman said technically, it was a KOMA violation and suggested a training session be scheduled as soon as possible on KOMA. Hoffman noted one was scheduled in February, but it was canceled due to snow and was never rescheduled.

“We need to schedule that training,” Hoffman said.

Interim City Administrator Allen Dinkel said the matter was handled perfectly in his mind, but reminded council members they must not talk about any city business outside council chambers.

Finnegan said he respectfully disagreed with Hoffman and Dinkel’s comments because he didn’t think that was the entire story. He also said the attorney general’s investigation did not go far enough.

“I wanted it to go much further,” he said, acknowledging they did not have the authority to do so.

Finnegan said he was very happy and appreciative of the attorney general’s office and the work they did.

“They really looked at it,” he said.

The discussion ended there, with Finnegan saying he wants the council to move forward in a positive way.

• Approval was given to apply for a grant with Smoky Hills Community Foundation for inside speakers and sounding boards for the Ellsworth Health and Recreation Center.

• Approval was given to approve the National Opioids Settlements with Alvogen, Amneal, Apotex, Hikma, Indivior, Mylan, Sun and Zydus, and to give City Clerk Louise Blanding the power and authorization to execute the participation and release form on behalf of the City of Ellsworth.

• Approval was given declaring 310 W. 3rd St. unfit for occupancy. It will be placarded as such until violations are corrected. Council authorized the mayor and city clerk to sign Resolution No. 2025-32.

• Councilman Dan Moon and Council President Jessica Kootz will sit in on an interview committee organized by Dinkel to interview the 15-20 applicants for Ellsworth Police Chief.

• No action was taken on a request from the owner at 1126 Hwy. 14 to adjust their water bill due to an underground leak. The owner of the property had a large water use in the last billing period of 297,000 gallons. The leak was discovered by a hydrant or hose bib located in the yard of the large property.

Councilman Tyler Renard said the city council has never cut a water bill in the entire time he has been on the council.

“They used it,” he said. Moon noted the city ordinance dealing specifically with matters such as this is 25 years old.

Renard suggested the city complete its citywide installation of Advanced Metering Infrastructure meters as soon as possible.

• Approval was given to adopt Ordinance No. 3177, dissolving a Community Development District and terminating a 1 percent Community Development District sales tax on Jan. 1.

• City Water Plant Operator Dave Buchholz said a water well has gone down.

• Fire Chief Ralph Doubrava said reports that a swift water rescue team had been dispatched to Ellsworth County Monday were false.

“We did not have a swift water rescue event, nor did we call in for assistance on that,” Doubrava said.

• Approval was given to move the Sept. 22 meeting to Sept. 15 with the budget hearing. The council will have just one meeting in December on Dec. 8, and will cancel the Dec. 22 meeting due to the holidays.

The next regular meeting of the Ellsworth City Council will be at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 15 at city hall.