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Despite continued protests from a few city residents attending the most recent Edwardsville City Council meeting, council members decided to show its support of the annual AutumnFest event in the form of a $6,000 contribution.

The unanimous decision to offer $6,000 in funding to the AutumnFest event came after tabling the issue at the May 10 meeting until a full report could be given by City Administrator Michael Webb, who was absent at the time.

“Basically each year we budget funds in the budget (for an AutumnFest contribution),” Webb said. “It’s budgeted for this year and will go to pay a portion of the cost of the festival … We did reduce the amount last year, from $6,000 to $4,000 because of our financial situation. But we’re stable. We’re pretty well on track with the budget overall.”

Council member Craig Crider asked city clerk Phyllis Freeman, who is also on the AutumnFest committee, the total cost of the festival, to which she replied $10,000 to $15,000.

“I look at it as a kid growing up we had these (festivals) in my hometown,” Crider said, pointing out the city’s contribution doesn’t even cover half of the festival’s cost. “It brings the community together. It gets people talking that maybe haven’t been able to talk in some time. Plus, I like to see the kids’ faces when we throw candy out to them (during the parade).”

Council member John Eickhoff followed with a question about funding for Project Graduation, which is a party organized to keep seniors of Bonner Springs High School safe on graduation night. The city, like in years past, had budgeted $1,000 for the cause, but Webb said no request was made by the Project Graduation committee for the money this year.

“So we have $1,000 sitting there then,” Eickhoff pointed out.

AutumnFest is organized by the Bonner Springs-Edwardsville Area Chamber of Commerce. This year’s event will be Sept. 17-18.

In other business, the council:

• Discussed the possibility of offering curbside recycling to the city’s garbage contract with Deffenbaugh Industries. Council members voted, 5-0, not to take action on the recycling proposal at this time and to not discuss the subject again for a minimum of 12 months.

Webb brought the council the results of a survey that was sent out with the city’s utility bill asking if residents were in favor of or against adding curbside recycling at the cost of $2 a month.

The city received 378 returned surveys, of which 138 or 37 percent said they were in favor of recycling, 192 or 51 percent said they were against it and 48 or 13 percent said they were neutral on the subject.

“More than anything we’re dealing with a bad timing issue,” said council member Chuck Adams before making the motion to take no action on curbside recycling. “At this point in time we should encourage people to take a proactive stance as a steward to the environment we live in (and recycle on their own) … but I don’t think the citizenry has it in their taste right now (to pay for curbside recycling) whether it’s 50 cents or $50, it’s just not there. I think it was a landslide for the nos.”

• Heard council members Chuck Adams and Mark Bishop express their condolences to the family and friends of John Glaser, the first Shawnee firefighter to be killed in the line of duty. Glaser was killed Saturday while searching a burning home.

• Approved, 5-0, an ordinance adopting the Codification of Ordinances of the City of Edwardsville. The codification process, which updates the city’s code of ordinances, was started in December 2008. The city contracted with Franklin Legal Publishing to pay $8,495 for three bound copies of the code book, conversion of the code on CD-ROM, and a FolioView search and retrieval software that will allow the public to access the code online through the city’s website, edwardsvilleks.org.

From here out, the city will pay a $300 fee for Franklin Legal Publishing to keep the code available online.

• Approved, 5-0, a fireworks sales application for the Edwardsville Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #42. The fireworks stand is the only one to apply at the city so far and will be located at 11401 Kaw Drive.

• Heard a presentation from Darrell Murphy, the Kansas City Wizards’ executive marketing manager. Murphy said the new Wizards soccer complex, currently being built at the Legends at Village West in Kansas City, Kan., was expected to be completed by the beginning of summer 2011.

He told council members that the locations of other smaller soccer fields, to be used for practice and youth games, have yet to be chosen. He encouraged city staff to get in touch with him to suggest possible field locations in Edwardsville that could be considered.

• Approved, 5-0, payment of bills totaling $71,971.28.

• Approved, 5-0, minutes from the May 10 meeting.

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