The Howard City Council meets bimonthly on the first and third Mondays of the month. The following report was generated from the official minutes of the Jan. 5 meeting, which were approved during a recent meeting.
Mayor Richard Clark called the Jan. 5 Howard City Council meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. at the Howard City Office with Councilmembers Martin Hunter, Shilo Crupper, Derek Cookson, Gary Harrod and Jerrad Pope present. Also present were Brad Baumgartel, Nick Miller, Susan Galvan and City Clerk Joanna Hunter.
The council approved the Dec. 15 meeting minutes; payment of bills, totaling $118,574.57; passed the annual GAAP resolution regarding Cash Basis Accounting; and to distribute $2,975.48 from the Library fund to the Howard City Library. This is the amount of funds received over their 2025 budgeted amount.
The council held an executive session for personnel matters. After returning to open session, the council approved to increase wages for employees Aaron Kokesch, Clay Hunter, Sarah Evans, and J. Hunter each by $0.80 per hour, effective with the January 2026 payroll. The council also set the City Mileage Reimbursement at $0.70 per mile and set the City Per Diem rate to $60 per day.
The February meeting was rescheduled to Wednesday, Feb. 18, in observance of Presidents Day.
The council also approved to pay KMU membership dues for 2026 at $845; for Clerk J. Hunter to attend the clerkâs conference in March; her scheduled vacation days; two employees to attend KRWA conference in March; to obtain a city credit card for Kokesch to use for approved City purchases; adding to the City policies that employees who are also volunteer firefighters and are called to attend a city fire while on scheduled city work time will be paid regular city wage while on the call, that payment to be limited to normal work hours for the employee; and approved two employees attend an 811 class in Chanute in February.
Other discussion included: Intent to make a priority list of the next streets to be considered for resurfacing and repair; Property cleanup should be moving forward with court dates for non-compliance in the near future; The 2024 City audit was reviewed as presented; The alley behind the water tower should be opened by next week; A load of riprap will be ordered for the Street Dept.; Work on curbs in business area was started; Christmas lights will be removed; Large tree debris was removed from Jackson Park, final cleanup and rut repair is scheduled; Several unused gas risers in a business alley are to be removed; Swings at West Park and at the Lake will get new chains and hardware; The boat dock repairs will be priced and addressed soon; A replacement play structure for Jackson Park is being researched.
Mayor Clark suggested the council put out a call for some group to come together with a fundraising plan to replace the park play structure since it is beyond the Park budget to get anything similar at this time; and to add and replace trees in all the parks where age and storm damage have caused many to need removal.
Mayor Clark also spoke about the work the Howard City Council has accomplished over the nearly 37 years he has been a part of the Governing Body. He spoke of working through many late night meetings on various important issues including trash service in the city which was a controversial issue at the time; Sewer pipe lining which resolved and prevented intense sewer issues; Pool fundraising and extensive restoration; New water lines throughout the city which helped resolve constant breaks and leaks as well as gaining compliance with many new state and federal water regulations regarding clean drinking water; and the work that continues to be done to improve streets. He noted his hope that the council continues work on improving parks and play areas for residents; and on code compliance for cleaning up the neighborhoods.
Mayor Clark welcomed the newly elected Governing Body members, Mayor Baumgartel, Councilmember Miller and Councilmember Galvan who will take their positions at the Jan. 19, meeting joining Councilmembers Harrod, Cookson and Crupper. Members leaving the Governing body are current Mayor Clark who has been on Council since 1989 and Mayor 1999-2026, Councilmember M. Hunter 2011-2015 and 2016-2026, and Councilmember Pope 2022-2026.
The meeting adjourned at 8:08 p.m.
The council also met on Jan. 19.
Their next scheduled meeting is Feb. 2, at 7:30 p.m.
