A Coffeyville resident expressed concerns Tuesday about the lack of information begin made available to him about possible bomb-making activities at a neighboring property.
Dustin Foust, 1403 S. Maple, alerted city commissioners into an investigation into a neighboring property last weekend. Foust was alerted to the investigation at 3 a.m., when a law enforcement officer awakened Foust and asked he and his family to evacuate the home until the investigation was completed.
Later that day, the investigation was apparently completed when caution tape was removed from the neighboring property at 1401 S. Maple, Foust said. He was not told of any other information by the Coffeyville Police Department, which, he said, left him unsettled. He said he asked the local police for more information in an attempt to settle his nerves.
“My question is this: as a neighbor, should I worry about living next door to a home that was investigated for making bombs,” Foust asked the commission. “All I was told by the police was that the property was released back to the tenants.
“As a neighbor, don’t I have a right to know what is going on there?”
Foust also said the property had been the site of multiple animal violations. The animal control officer had hauled away as many as six animals, one of which was a cat infested with maggots. One of the animals bit Foust’s step-daughter. He asked commissioners for some relief in dealing with the high volume of animals at the neighboring property.
Commissioners and city manager Jeff Morris seemed unaware of the matter. Morris said he would check into the situation and contact Foust later with an explanation about the investigation.
After the meeting, it was learned that Coffeyville Police Department did conduct an investigation at the home into possible bomb production, but the investigation did not reveal anything. A piece of pipe with caps on the ends — making an appearance like a pipe bomb — was discovered but was determined not to be an actual pipe bomb.
On a related note, Foust alerted commissioners to a city-owned property in the 1400 block of South Maple that had grass and weeds in violation of city ordinance. The grass and weeds were more than four feet high, he said.
Morris also said he would check into the status of having city crews mow the property as quickly possible.
Coffeyville city commissioners met Tuesday and:
• voted 3-2 to have video cameras placed in the city commission chambers and have commission meetings videotaped for broadcast on a public access channel. Chris Felix, the City of Coffeyville’s information technology manager, will present a cost proposal for the commission’s consideration at a later meeting.
Voting in favor of allowing video cameras were commissioners David George and Jim Taylor, Sr., and Mayor Alec Hendryx. Commissioners Pam Jones and Richard Gonzales voted against the measure.
• appointed Carol Mangan, 405 Westwood Drive, to the Coffeyville Housing Authority Board.
• awarded a bid from DNA Construction for the renovation of a home at 110 N. Buckeye. DNA Construction submitted a bid of $32,127. On a related note, the commission awarded bid from Nancy Construction of Galesburg, Kan. for the renovation of the home at 608 N. Maple.
Both homes have been purchased by the City of Coffeyville and will be renovated through the Neighborhood Stabilization Grant Program.
• approved participation in the Neighborhood Stabilization Program at a cost of $218,000. All costs associated with the purchase and renovation of properties is reimbursable to the City of Coffeyville.
• approved the purchase of flood insurance valued at $53,835 from American Bankers Insurance Company for city-owned property, including sewage treatment facilities at 503 E. CR 1400, water treatment plant at 1702 River Road, public service department warehouse at 1106 River Road, a sewage lift station at 1605 S. Salnut and a similar sewage life station at 801 N. Penn.
• approved a $34,120 bid from Kabe Dozer Service, LLC, of Skiatook, Okla., for development of a sanitary sewer system in the Mansion Estates No. 2 subdivision. Installation of the system will allow for sewer connections to 24 lots in the subdivision.
• agreed to purchase $22,067.87 in fiber optic cable from Peak Uptime of Overland Park, Kan., that will allow the public service and water treatment facilities to be connected for wireless internet service.
• approved the purchase of property insurance valued at $181,638 from Coffeyville Insurance Associaties. The property insurance will cover the electric utility system, boiler and related machinery.
The commission rejected the option of purchasing terrorism insurance valued at $11,028. Claims for terrorism require a declaration by the President of the United States certifying an act of foreign terrorism with damage of at least $25 million.
Commissioners said the likelihood of foreign terrorists inflicting $25 million in damages on the city’s electrical system was “a stretch.”
