(KAIR)--The Atchison City Commission's decision to not permanently keep in place stop signs near the Atchison Middle School draws controversy, which leads to a push for public voices to speak out against the decision.

On June 18, the Commission voted to remove the four-way stops at the intersections of 5th and Santa Fe and 6th and Santa Fe.

The stop signs had been put in place at the start of the year on a trial basis.

An event, labeled “Keep Our Kids Safe” is added to Facebook, with the event description saying, “it's time to pack the house” to ask the City Commission to keep the stop signs in place.

Organizing the event is Live Well Live Atchison, which works to promote healthy living within Atchison County.

The event was created by Live Well Executive Director Andrea Clements. “We hope to get any citizens who have concerns about the safety of the children, or pedestrians in general, in the community to express those concerns to the City Commissioners,” Clements told MSC News. “I think the City Commissioners are open, and want to hear that from the community. It's time for the community to stand up and make themselves heard.”

According to the event description, one of the primary goals of the organization “is to create safe walking and biking environments for our children and all pedestrians and bicyclists,” and says that those who also believe it's important to keep kids safe should consider attending the July 2 City Commission meeting to address the issue.

Clements says that she's open to alternatives to the four-way stops, so long as they provide the necessary safety. “We want to come up with something that's more safe for [the students] who are some of the most vulnerable population within our community. We want that intersection around the middle school specifically to be more safe. We are open to working on anything that can be developed that would increase safety for those kids in that area. We also want to be mindful of any costs that any of these measures might take, so it's a balancing act between making sure we're frugal with taxpayer money and keeping our children safe in the community.”

The decision to remove the two four-way stops came when the Commission considered a resolution to keep them in place.

Despite a motion to approve the resolution made by Commissioner Shawn Rizza, no second could be found and the motion failed.

The four-way stops are expected to be removed within 30 to 40 days.