(Published in the Salina Journal, Salina311, and Salina-ks.gov on December 31, 2023 and January 7, 2024)
Republication of Charter Ordinance No. 43 to correct an error in the previously published but yet-to-be-determined effective date
Effective _____________ ___, 2024
CHARTER ORDINANCE NUMBER 43
A CHARTER ORDINANCE EXEMPTING THE CITY OF SALINA FROM PARTS OF THE PROVISIONS OF CHAPTER 308 (SENATE BILL 508) OF THE SESSION LAWS OF 1937, AS AMENDED BY CHAPTER 250 (SENATE BILL 341) OF THE SESSION LAWS OF 1939, AN ACT AUTHORIZING CERTAIN CITIES OF THE FIRST CLASS TO CONVEY CERTAIN PROPERTY TO THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF SUCH CITY.
BE IT ORDAINED by the Governing Body of the City of Salina, Kansas:
Section One. Findings. The Governing Body makes the following findings:
A. Chapter 308 of the Session Laws of 1937, as amended by chapter 250 of the Session Laws of 1939, (collectively, the “Enactment”), while never codified, is applicable to the City of Salina, Kansas (the “City”).
B. The 1937 Kansas Legislature enacted Senate Bill No. 508, an Act authorizing certain cities of the first class to convey certain property to the board of education of such city, published as chapter 308 of the Session Laws of 1937, which reads as follows:
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:
SECTION 1. This act shall apply to any city of the first class having a population of not more than 21,000 and not less than 19,000 and located in a county having a population of not more than 27,500.
SECTION 2. Any city of the class defined in Section 1 of this act in which is located any real estate which prior to the year 1871 was conveyed by the owner thereof to said city or to the town or city which was the predecessor thereof, or to the trustees of any such town while organized under the towns and villages act then in effect, and prior to its organization as a city under the laws of this state then applicable, where the deed of conveyance of any such real estate granted the same to such trustees, in trust for such town, to be reserved, kept and maintained by said town as a public park, is hereby authorized to convey any such land to the board of education or to the school district of such city, to be used for school purposes only, and the governing body of such city is hereby declared to be the legal successor to the trustees of any such town, and as such shall have authority to authorize the execution of any such deed as herein provided for by the mayor and city clerk of any such city, for and on behalf of and as the act of such city: Provided, however, That any land when so conveyed shall be used by the board of education or school district of any such city for school purposes only, and upon the failure of such board of education or school district to use the same for such purpose, the title to such land shall revert to such city.
C. The 1939 Kansas Legislature enacted Senate Bill No. 341, an Act authorizing certain cities of the first class to convey certain property to the board of education of such city, amending section 1 of chapter 308 of the Session Laws of 1937, and repealing said original section, published as chapter 250 of the Session Laws of 1939, which reads as follows:
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:
SECTION 1. Section 1 of chapter 308 of the Session Laws of 1937 is hereby amended to read as follows: Sec. 1. This act shall apply to any city of the first class having a population of not more than 23,000 and not less than 19,000 and located in a county having a population of not more than 33,000 and not less than 27,500, and which city has adopted and is being operated under the commission-manager act.
SECTION 2. Section 1 of chapter 308 of the Session Laws of 1937 is hereby repealed.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its publication in the official state paper.
D. The Enactment provided the pre-home rule legislative authorization for a conveyance by the City to The Board of Education of the City of Salina, Kansas (the “Board of Education”) of the following described real estate located in Saline County, Kansas:
All of that certain tract of ground known and designated as South Park and which is located in the original Town of Salina according to the recorded plat thereof, in the block which is bounded by Second Street and Third Street and by Walnut Street and Mulberry Street and which is sometimes also known and designated as “City Park”, being all of said block above described, except Lots One (1), Two (2), Three (3), Four (4) and Five (5) at the north end thereof, facing on Walnut Street, and Lots Six (6), Seven (7), Eight (8), Nine (9) and (10) at the South end thereof, facing on Mulberry Street (the “Land”);
by deed recorded February 13, 1946, at Volume 147 of Deeds, pages 346-347, of the records of the Saline County Register of Deeds, which deed included the terms and conditions required by the Enactment that the Land so conveyed shall be used by The Board of Education for school purposes only, and upon its failure to use the Land for such purpose, the title to the Land shall revert to the City. Unified School District No. 305 (the “District”) is the successor to the Board of Education in ownership of the Land.
E. The Enactment is not uniformly applicable to all Kansas cities; and is, therefore, subject to exemption by the City from the whole or any part of the Enactment by charter ordinance pursuant to article 12, section 5, of the Constitution of the State of Kansas.
Section Two. Election to Exempt in Part. With the intent that the current or a future governing body of the City shall have the discretion to release the District from the deed covenant limiting use of the Land to school purposes only and the reversionary provision to which the Land is currently subject, the City, by virtue of the powers vested in it by Article 12, Section 5, of the Constitution of the State of Kansas, hereby elects to exempt itself from and make inapplicable to it both that part of section 2 of the Enactment which limits the use of any land conveyed by any city of the first class to the board of education or to the school district of such city “for school purposes only” and that part of section 2 of the Enactment which provides: “That any land so conveyed shall be used by the board of education or school district of any such city for school purposes only, and upon the failure of such board of education or school district to use the same for such purpose, the title to such land shall revert to such city.”
Section Three. Publication of Ordinance. This Charter Ordinance shall be published in its entirety once each week for two (2) consecutive weeks in the official City newspaper.
Section Four. Effective Date. This Charter Ordinance shall take effect 61 days after final publication unless a sufficient petition for a referendum is filed and a referendum held on the Charter Ordinance as provided in Article 12, Section 5, subsection (c)(3) of the Constitution of the State of Kansas, in which case this Charter Ordinance shall become effective if approved by a majority of the electors voting thereon.
Section Five. Records. Upon its effective date, this Charter Ordinance shall be recorded by the Salina City Clerk in a book maintained for charter ordinances of the City and a certified copy shall be filed with the Kansas Secretary of State.
Passed by the Governing Body, not less than two-thirds of the members-elect voting in favor thereof.
Introduced: November 13, 2023
Passed: November 20, 2023, by a vote of
5 yes; 0 no; 0 abstain
Michael L. Hoppock, Mayor
[SEAL]
ATTEST:
Nikki Goding, City Clerk