WILSON — A long-serving, part-time officer with the Wilson Police Department, Jonathan Lawrence, submitted his resignation Monday to the Wilson City Council after seven years of service.

The resignation, which was accepted by the council, became effective Feb. 25.

Council member Jeremy Hlad asked Mayor Dan Taylor what the next step would be regarding the possibility of hiring another part-time police officer to replace Lawrence, and Taylor said“we’ll see how it goes. It’s something we will discuss in the future.”

In other business:

• After briefly discussing the subject of electric scooters in town and what, if any, action to take about them, the council chose to give the matter some thought and revisit it in the future.

“It’s something you might want to consider,” Taylor said.“If we don’t want to do anything at all, that’s fine — we don’t have to — but we also don’t want to leave it as an agenda item for weeks on end without doing anything about it either.”

Taylor said McPherson has an ordinance regulating the scooters.

“The question we have to ask ourselves is how far do we want to go with this,” Taylor asked.“I am concerned with the kids’ safety.”

“It really falls back on James (Reagan, Wilson Police Chief) and your take on it,” Hlad said.

Reagan said electric scooters fall under the same category as bicycles and must follow the same traffic laws.

“Maybe a little bit of education with the kids, who probably don’t know,” he said.“A lot of parents don’t even know.”

• City Clerk Susan Kriley said the city only has three volunteer drivers of the Wilson City bus now and is seeking more drivers. She said the Kansas Department of Transportation plans to conduct a driver training program in July in Wilson for those interested in driving the bus. Those interested should call Kriley at the city office at (785) 658-2272. Volunteers don’t have to live within Wilson city limits to drive the bus.

• Approval was given to remove 2309 Ave. D from the city board of health violations list since those violations have now been taken care of.

• Approval was given to close the violations of the inoperable vehicle ordinance involving two vehicles at 616 24th St. because the owner of the cars took care of the matter.

“Everything is good to go,” Taylor told the owner of the cars, Frank Fuller.“I appreciate you doing that.”

• A resolution was approved regarding action on the three vehicles at 710 26th St. found in violation of the inoperable vehicle ordinance. The owner of the vehicles, who did not request a hearing on the matter with the council, now must comply with the resolution.

• Taylor noted that former Wilson City Council member Aubrey Ptacek has chosen to remain as the city’s representative to the Grow Ellsworth County board.

• Approval was given to purchase 5,000 utility billing cards from Advantage Jayhawk software for $580.

• City Superintendent Joe Soukup said he would like to hire three people for summer help. Two will work in town and one will work at the Wilson City Cemetery.

• Approval was given to pay a $588.08 bill from Mike’s Plumbing to repair the heater at the Wilson Fire Department.

• Soukup said he is working with Circle C representatives on a chip and seal quote to do the northeast part of town plus 25th and 26th Streets on the west side of town.

• The Wilson City burn pile will reopen from 5-7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 13.

• Taylor said March 18 is National Transient Driver Appreciation Day and he thanked all those who do drive.

“We do appreciate what they do,” he said.

• Taylor asked the council to consider going to one regular council meeting per month, especially during the months of June, July and August to see if it works. He noted special council meetings might need to be conducted as well during that time, depending on the circumstances.

The next meeting of the Wilson City Council will be at 6 p.m. Monday, March 18, at city hall.