Survey proposed on Fort Scott aquatic center

FORT SCOTT, Kan. --The Fort Scott City Commission, fresh off the Labor Day weekend on Tuesday, will consider a proposal for the Kansas Small Business Development Center to conduct a survey asking residents how they feel about a future aquatic center.

The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m., Tuesday, at City Hall, 1 E. Third St.

The development center, located at Pittsburg State University, will create the survey. It will be based on previously gathered information from the Aqua Vision Committee, a group that promoted and pushed for a 1-cent sales tax to be passed to fund a $6.5 million aquatic center in June. Voters turned down the measure.

The committee distributed a survey months before the vote that asked Fort Scott residents their positions toward a new pool. Residents conveyed their approval for an indoor/outdoor aquatic center.

City staff recommends that commissioners approve the new survey.

The development center will prepare, receive, and analyze the surveys. Then they'll prepare a written report detailing the findings.

The project would include a survey of each household in Fort Scott based on utility records. They will be sent in September, with the results given to the commission by November. The cost is estimated at $2,500.

Other items on the agenda include the following:

* Consideration of an agreement between the Kansas Department of Transportation and the city to bring a program called "Kansas Safe Routes to Schools" to town. The program will allot $14,999 to the city and USD 234 to create engineering plans for the improvement of physical infrastructure near schools to ensure the safety of children walking or bicycling to school.

* Consideration of a proposal by Scwab-Eaton, a non-local engineering company, to offer sewer service for residents at Lake Fort Scott at the same rate as that paid by customers living within the city limits. Lake residents and the Bourbon County Commission have been working on establishing a sanitary sewer system for homes surrounding the lake. The sewer system would replace individual holding tanks, of which some have been confirmed to leak.

* Consideration of campground regulations at the lake that would require campers to obtain permits before camping. A fee would be assessed for each permit.