Was Enough Time Given for Marion Police Station Bond?

Last Thursday's Marion City Council meeting set off an odd controversy.

That day, the Marion City Council voted 7-0 to approve a lease agreement for up to $12 million for a new police station. Marion City Manager Lon Pluckhahn said the city gets affordable payments now that will increase as Marion's population grows.

However, residents that showed up at the meeting bemoaned a lack of public input and Marion Mayor Allen "Snooks" Bouska, told the Gazette that he was not aware of the vote until the day of the meeting.

"We were all appalled," Bouska told The Gazette. "We need a lot better communication with the public."

What do you think of the new plans for the Marion police station? Comment below.

Later, in an interview with Marion Patch, Bouska said he was aware of the bond proposal well in advance. It had been discussed in prior city council training meetings weeks before.

He said his main issue with the agenda item was that it was not well enough addressed in the aforementioned city council training meetings. He said that the prior council was more privy to the details of the plans than the new council.

Cody Crawford, a new city council member, disagreed with the notion that the process was rushed and that the new council was not well informed.

"The lease agreement came up in November and December," he said. "It was well explained — they went through it in the [city council] work session, so I think it was handled very well."

Pluckhahn said the council held a public hearing at last Tuesday's work session, in addition, the agenda for the public hearing on Jan. 3, was posted on the City of Marion's website over a week before the meeting took place.

Here is a article about discussions for a new police station.

Bouska, who voted for the lease agreement, said that he is confident that the plans for the police station will be well handled as it moves from concept to building.

He said he's still new to getting things done in local government, which, for now, is a bit of a learning process.

"We’ll just work our way though it and everything will be fine," he said. "This is strange for anyone getting into politics. It's like reading a new book — holy cow, there is a whole lot here."