Joint facility study to take place w/regard to Walnut School Bldg.
April 3rd, 2015 by Ric Hanson
The Walnut City Council, Thursday evening, resumed discussion about the possible acquisition of the Walnut Community School Building. City Clerk Terri Abel said no decision was made, but the Council is moving forward with the matter. She says they will conduct a joint facility study with the school, to give an overview of the condition of the building and possible use of the building.
In February, the City was offered the chance by Walnut Superintendent Jesse Ulrich to acquire the building. At that time, a decision was then made to form a committee to decide what they want the facility to become. They also discussed the possibility of hiring a consultant or an architect to conduct a feasibility study and facility study on the building.
The Council, yesterday (Thursday) also heard about improvements being made to Veterans Memorial Park. Abel says Rick Blum was present to discuss ideas about tree planting, signage and other ways to improve the park. Abel says the Walnut City Council also approved the Fire Department’s recommendation of Justen Tooley to serve as Fire Chief for two-years, and they discussed amendments to the FY 2014-15 budgets by $1,000 in the program of Debt Service, and $10,000 in the Program of Culture and Recreation, with a Public Hearing being set for May 7th at 5-p.m. Abel says unanticipated repairs to the Library’s roof took up the majority of the amendments.
And with regard to the State Auditor’s report over concerns about Walnut’s documentation of financial reports, funds, debts so on, Abel says she has some questions about the report. She says the report was just received Thursday, so the Council had not seen it. There were comments on the report she says, that she doesn’t understand, and a call to clarify those statements is in order.
Terri reminds Walnut residents the annual Easter Egg Hunt, sponsored by the Walnut Fire Department, takes place 10-a.m. Saturday in the Walnut City Park, for kids pre-school through elementary. The kids will be divided up by age group, so younger kids aren’t competing against older kids for the eggs.