WILSON — Children in Wilson have reason to smile. At Monday’s meeting of the Wilson City Council, Gary Everett and Larry Ptacek, representing the Wilson Foundation, proposed pursuing a grant to purchase new playground equipment for Jellison Park.

“We’d like to move quickly on this and find out if we can get funds or not,” Everett said.

If the foundation gets the grant, Everett said it could work with the city on an overall plan for the park.

“I definitely have no problem with it whatsoever,” Mayor Mike Peschka said. “And I really appreciate you guys trying to help us.”

Everett said the Wilson Foundation is looking at applying for grants from the Smoky Hills Charitable Foundation and the Dane G. Hansen Foundation.

“Playground equipment is like gold,” Ptacek said.

Ptacek also suggested planting some new trees in Jellison Park to add shade.

In other business:

• No action was taken after a 20 minute executive session with city attorney Theresa Staudinger for matters pertaining to attorney-client privilege to discuss the legal ramifications of a proposed abandoned property ordinance.

• The council discussed the possibility of applying for a Kansas Department of Commerce housing rehabilitation and demolition grant through the North Central Regional Planning Commission in Beloit. Peschka said that grant would provide funds for low to mid income homeowners to rehabilitate their homes. He said the deadline for applying for the grant is in August.

City clerk Susan Kriley said a pre-application meeting is planned for April 5 in the Wilson School commons for everyone interested in taking part.

“This date is not set in stone yet,” she added.

Kriley said from that meeting, the city should be able to get an idea of what part of Wilson has the most interest in the grant.

And then anyone in that area, once we get the grant, can apply for it,” she said. “It’s all up to the individual, so there’s no city cost in it.”

• Approval was given to a request by council member Ryan Stoppel to install two stop signs on both sides of 23rd Street and Ave. G.

The next meeting of the Wilson City Council will be at 7 p.m. Monday, March 16, at Wilson City Hall.