A DELEGATION OF STOCKTON BUSINESS PEOPLE traveled to Topeka for meetings with various state officials February 18 and 19, with an itinerary planned by lobbyists who represent the interests of western Kansas counties and cities. Attending the meetings were, back row, from left: Audrey Rahjes, Senior Vice President, Solutions North Bank; Amanda Atkisson, Administrator, Solomon Valley Manor; Roger Hrabe, Director, Rooks County Economic Development; Bob Becker, Stockton City Commissioner; front row: Courtney Flower, Stockton City Manager/Clerk; Sandi Rogers, Mayor and Stockton City Commissioner; Governor Laura Kelly; Kayla Hilbrink, Deputy Clerk, City of Stockton, and Mark Lowry, President of Heritage Insurance Group. Among those who met with the delegation during the two days were secretary Brad Loveless of the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks & Tourism; Ryan Vincent, executive director of Kansas Housing Resources Corp.; Jeff Zmuda and Joel Hrabe with the Kansas Department of Corrections; Connie Hubbell, director of Government Affairs for Aging and Disability Services; secretary Mike Beam of the Kansas Department of Agriculture; and representatives from the Kansas Department of Transportation, the House Committee on Rural Revitalization, and the Kansas Department of Commerce. They also met Speaker of the House Ron Ryckman, Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning, House Minority Leader Tom Sawyer, several senators and representatives, Attorney General Derek Schmidt, and Governor Laura Kelly.

At the regular meeting of the Stockton City Commission, held on Thursday, February 20th, the commissioners met with two property owners who have PODs on their land. Don and Diane Maddy were present and stated they had asked to talk with the commissioners after they received a letter about the City’s POD ordinance. Don Maddy, who lives in a commercial zone, stated that they did come to the City to get approval to place a POD on their land. He said they had received city manager Keith Schlaegel’s approval for the placement five years ago, and now they have been notified through a letter from the City that they are not in compliance with the ordinance, which had gone into effect in 2012. He asked what they were supposed to do. Also, Mike Williams stated that he had received approval from the city manager on where he could place his storage container, though he did not receive any paperwork. Neither of the two parties had received a building permit, though it was noted that PODs don’t need to have a building permit. Williams noted that he is in a residential area and asked if there was a way to mitigate a compromise with the City. Both parties stated that they would not have spent the time and money on the PODS if there was any way down the road that they would not be in compliance. It was asked if their PODS could be grandfathered in.