Former city council member Don Panzer had a very direct recommendation for the Ellsworth City Council Monday.

Panzer, a member of the Krizek Park Advisory Committee, said the report giving recommendations to start repairing the problem with the south drainage pond came back from BG Consultants at over $708,000.

“The situation is worse than we imagined,” he said.

Panzer said the consultant asked why a water study wasn’t done on the area before the project ever started.

“My problem is — not pointing fingers — we’ve got a bill for over $700,000 if we do this,” he said. “It’s time to go after the bonding company and the parties involved.”

Panzer said he realizes that to do so would raise hard feelings.

“I won’t mention any names, but there are two parties,” he said. “We all know what they are. I recommend the city file suit against the bond companies and get what we can for this project. We don’t have $700,000. Let’s get some balls and let’s get it taken care of.”

Panzer asked if the council decides it doesn’t want to file suit, could it then give him a reason why not?

“Every company is bonded for this situation,” he said. “That’s what protects the city from this type of activity. It’s time to go after the bonding companies.”

Mayor Dan Finnegan admitted it is a complicated matter.

“Turn it over to the bonding company,” Panzer replied. “Leave the city out of it.”

“Well, I can tell you once you get elected, we’ll go into executive and you’ll see exactly why,” Finnegan said.

“OK, that’s a bunch of BS right there,” Panzer said, “because the general public wants to know what’s going on with our tax dollars.”

Panzer said he wants the notes from the executive session the city had on the matter made public so the public knows why the city will not do that.

“And if I end up on the council, I will continue pushing the issue,” he said. “But even if I am not on the council, we deserve the right to know that. If you check the bylaws, I’m correct.”

City Attorney Melisssa Miller said the executive session was for attorneyclient privilege in preparation for or deciding whether to have further potential litigation.

She said if the council told Panzer what they discussed in that executive session, they would be breaking the attorney/ client privilege. In other business:

• Clint Rogers, chief executive officer of Cashco, Inc., said he believed the comments reported during the July 27 city council meeting regarding Cashco’s efforts to remediate groundwater contamination were not in the spirit of the original request that Cashco wanted from the city.

Rogers said he reached out to City Administator Dustin Stambaugh and Mayor Dan Finnegan to have a meeting to discuss, inform and update them on Cashco’s remediation efforts. Similiar meetings were conducted in the past with former City Administrator Rusty Varnado and Mayor Mark Kennedy.

Rogers said Cashco has provided city officials with a history of the contamination and identified the building and equipment at the water department, which is owned and maintained by Cashco.

He said Cashco has worked together with the city to get a remediation plan in place in order to be good stewards.

Rogers said all Cashco is asking for is a letter of understanding that the city wasn’t going to take the air stripper that it uses to remediate iron bacteria offline.

That letter would then be presented to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment once the additional remediation was complete. The letter would be coupled with a request to KDHE from Cashco to allow Cashco to remove its own equipment (a small air stripper) that had been taken offline in 2009 when the city brought online a large air stripper to remediate all wells of iron bacteria. Once KDHE allows Cashco to do so, it is the intention of Cashco to turn the building over to the city so it can be used free of charge for the city’s purposes.

He said as Cashco continues to see contamination levels decline, it is looking to push for additional remediation to comply with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s requirements so the case can be resolved.

“We’re trying to be good stewards,” Rogers said. “We’re not walking away. We’re not asking the city to take over responsibilities like it was stated in the paper.”

• Approval was given to a request from Ronnie Tenbrink on behalf of the senior class at Ellsworth Jr./Sr. High School to waive the fee so the students can paint the street Sept. 24 for a homecoming street dance from 10th Street to Kansas Street.

• Approval was given to allow Police Chief Emil Halfhill authority to issue a special permit to Gene’s Heartland Foods to allow air rifle shooting and crossbow shooting in the parking lot there on Saturday, Sept. 9, for a special Youth Outdoors Day to introduce youngsters to the outdoors. A variety of youth-centered activities are planned.

• After getting an update from Duane Urban regarding the ongoing situation with his home, the city will contact his bank directly to discuss the matter.

• Approval was given to an ordinance establishing a clear boundary for weed control on curbs.

According to Stambaugh, the city will take care of the bottom half of the curb while the property owner is responsible for the top half of the curb.

• Approval was given to amend Section 7 (insurance) in the city’s street closure ordinance to grant the city administrator discretion to waive the insurance requirement on a case-by-case basis for street closures associated with non-commercial, community-oriented events as outlined.

• Approval was given to a request by the Smoky Hill Daughters of the American Revolution in McPherson to declare the week of Sept. 17-23 as Constitution Week in Ellsworth.

• Approval was given to a grant application in the amount of $49,987 from the Kansas Housing Rental Assistance Program to assist local residents in need with rental assistance.

• No action was taken after a 10-minute executive session to discuss matters pertaining to attorney/client privilege (further guidance on the Cashco matter).

• No action was taken after a 10-minute executive session to discuss non-elected personnel (staffing).

The next meeting of the City of Ellsworth will be at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 11, at city hall.