City salary increases and the hiring of an at-risk manager for the Flint Hills Discovery Center brought heated debate to the Manhattan City Commission meeting Tuesday night.

On the consent agenda, commissioners argued whether city salary raises were warranted during a time when other businesses and government agencies around the area were cutting back.

"It's not that it's a big pool of money," Mayor Bob Strawn said. "It's the message we are sending. While others are struggling, the city is giving raises."

Commissioner Loren Peppard agreed with Strawn on the issue of city salaries.

Another item on the agenda concerned transferring land, which has been returned to the city to satisfy a debt by Farrar Corporation, to the Manhattan Day Care.

The consent agenda passed five to zero with exceptions. The salary and land transfer items passed with a vote of three-to-two. Two other items only passed four-to-zero due to conflicts of interests. Peppard had a conflict of interest concerning construction of a building, and Strawn had a conflict of interest concerning the issuance of Industrial Revenue Bonds to GTM Sportswear.

Lauren Palmer, assistant city manager, said the at-risk manager would help the city with design and construction of the center and help keep the project within the $12.3 million budget in her presentation to the commission. The manager would send out bids for sub-contractors to build specific portions of the building. The savings incurred through this process would be shared by the city and the at-risk manager.

Strawn said the city's hiring of a manager versus the project sent out for general bids hampered the city's ability to get the best price for the lowest bid. If the city portioned out the contracts rather than the at-risk manager, the city would save 100 percent of the money and not need to share it.

"It's going to be just like the swimming pool," said Peppard. "We have "X" amount of dollars to spend, and that's what we are going to spend on it. We aren't going to save any money."

Commissioner James Sherow and Commissioner Bruce Snead, both members of the steering committee for the Discovery Center, disagreed with Strawn. Snead said this was the best choice for the city due to the different nature of the building. He said using the at-risk manager would help the city spend its limited funds wisely and get the most out of it.

"I think this way makes the best project possible," said Commissioner Jayme Morris-Hardeman. "I think this project is unique enough that we need that guiding force to steer us in the right direction."

The commission passed the resolution to hire McCownGordon Construction as construction manager at-risk for the design and construction of the Discovery Center with a vote of three-to-two, with Strawn and Peppard against the decision.

The last item on the agenda, joining the Flint Hills Planning Commission and applying for the grants necessary to get the commission off the ground, was one topic all commissioners agreed. The city voted five-to-zero to apply for the grant and join the planning commission.

Karen Davis, director of community development, said the city needed to apply for the grant because there is no planning commission at this time and the application for the grant is due by the end of November.

The committee that has been working on designing an operation manual, the organization's by-laws and membership agreement is scheduled to meet Friday to finalize the necessary documents to create the commission.

Ron Fehr, city manager, said Fort Riley will provide office space for the commission free of charge. While Fort Riley will not provide any direct funding, they will have a nonvoting member on the board.

"This is not another level of government," Sherow said, "but rather, a committee that can help local governments better serve the community on a regional scale."