City Commission Honors Finance Director, Welcomes New Fire Chief and Tackles Key Community Issues

During the regular commissioner meeting, the Concordia City Commission discussed multiple vital topics this week, covering a wide range of issues concerning Concordia's citizens and visitors.

Beginning at the top, commissioners Ashley Hutchinson, Amy Jackson, Christy Hasch, Marsha Wentz and Concordia Mayor Chuck Lambertz moved past the regular call to order items, approved the agenda without any amendments and went on to honor Finance Director Amber Farha for 15 years of dedicated service to the city.

Concordia City Manager Amy Lange presented the award to Farha and the commissioners.

Once commissioners recognized her for her service, they jumped into a lengthy discussion about the local Senior Center and its request for further funding to aid in its programs after separating from the North Central-Flint Hills Area Agency on Aging (NC-FH AAA) last December.

The center asked commissioners for $20,000 instead of the previously allocated $10,000. Still, the city added an extra $5,000 to its budget during the budget study session earlier this year dedicated to the senior center if they had further needs.

Lange provided an overview of the discussion topic but then turned over the presentation to Concordia Senior Center Treasurer Richard Hubert.

According to Hubert, after the senior center separated from NC-FH AAA, the area agency took all of the staff and equipment it provided for the senior center, alongside the food purchases it offered for the center's programs.

This created a sharp increase in spending for the senior center's management. According to Hubert, in 2023, the senior center spent $18,000 on employee wages. By October 2024, the center had already spent $35,605 in wages alone, alongside a food bill of almost $30,000.

Hubert said the center averages about 40 meals daily, the break-even rate covering food costs. In October this year, the center sold more than 1,200 meals, marking the first time since the split from NC-FH AAA that they reached pre-separation numbers.

With the Senior Center's reported success and apparent need, commissioners approved the additional $5,000 allocated for the center, bringing the total for its programs to $15,000 at the end of the meeting.

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Action Agenda

Once commissioners finished the lengthy discussion, they then discussed the day's action items. Although the agenda listed nine items for commissioners to discuss, they quickly moved through most of them, only hovering on a few for discussion.

After quickly approving the minutes of the previous meeting, Appropriation Ordinance 21 and a bid to replace the carpet flooring in parts of City Hall, they landed on discussing farm leases for the area surrounding the airport, where they approved both bids for the local farmers.

Commissioners tabled the discussion around changes to the city's employee handbook and moved on to approve the yearly review of the Cereal Malt Beverage (CMB) licenses in Concordia.

City Clerk Stacey Smith presented the following topic: the reappointment of Melissa Loeffler to the Housing Authority Board.

Commissioner Hasch had one question about the legality of someone serving on the board without a within-city-limits address, but Smith said there were no regulations on that for Concordia.

Commissioners unanimously approved Leoffler's reappointment.

The following two items, Resolution 2024-2181 (renamed to 2024-2180 due to commissioners tabling the employee handbook discussion) - Classified and Non-Classified Payscales and an Audit Engagement Letter—moved quickly, with commissioners unanimously approving both.

Staff Reports

Lange's report detailed a few city events, alongside officially welcoming John Christensen, the city's new Fire Chief, back to Concordia to begin his new position with the department.

Concordia Chief of Police Brent Gering also informed commissioners that the animal shelter was overflowing with animals due to a few recent cases that required Concordia Police Department (CPD) officers to remove pets from multiple homes.

Commissioners then went into executive session, where they took no action. The meeting adjourned at 7:06 p.m.