Commission commended for Flush Rd. improvements

By Annie Wolfe/Times of Pott County

Westmoreland resident Michelle Campbell stepped forward during public comments at Monday’s Pottawatomie County Commission meeting to commend the county on work done to Flush Rd.

“Nobody has commented on Flush Rd since the bridge approaches have been done. It is wonderful. What a smooth approach to all those bridges,” said Campbell. “Kudos to you guys. Thank you for approving to get that done. Thank you for your leadership as County Commissioners, and thank you to the county employees. You make this county a better place to live.”

Firefighter Stipend

Fire Supervisor Jared Barnes is working on creating a stipend program for volunteer firefighters with Consolidated Fire. “I think it is something that needs to be done and as soon as I get it finalized, I will bring it to you guys in a work session,” Barnes told commissioners. “We are trying to give some incentive and some payback. It would be nice to have some gas money.”

Barnes also noted the Fire Marshall’s Office did find some illegal fireworks during its fireworks stand inspections. “Not anything on the people selling. Some of the Missouri shipments ended up coming to Kansas,” explained Barnes. “So, we found some bottle rockets, and things like that.”

Otherwise, it was a calm fourth of July with few issues. “It was wet enough, so we didn’t have a lot of issues,” said Barnes.

Cell Tower

County Commissioners approved a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) for a cell tower located near the corner of Norman Rd and Booth Creek Rd in the Olsburg area. The Planning Commission had recommended approval of the CUP with a vote of 4-0, with one member abstaining.

The commission also approved of amending a CUP for an event venue owned by Steve Swoyer. The venue is located at 9965 Loux Rd. Originally the operation hours of the venue were limited to Thursday through Sunday from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. Swoyer asked to expand those hours to include Monday through Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Thursday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.

“One neighboring property owner showed up (to the Planning Commission meeting). They wanted to voice very strong support for this,” explained County Planner Bridget Snow. “They said when the initial application went through, they were one of the ones opposed to it. But now that they’ve been open and operating, they have had no issues with it. And they are very strongly in support of their neighbors being able to get this amendment.”

Property Disposal

Public Works Director Tim Eisenbarth received approval to dispose of personal property that was damaged during the tornado that swept through Westmoreland. Three trucks and five recycle trailers will be turned over to the insurer and removed from county inventory. Additional items such as a cargo trailer, spray trailers, and fuel tanks will be sold to Wamego Salvage.

Bridge Bid Opening

The bridge project on Louisville Rd drew a significant amount of interest from bidders. Five bids were received by the deadline on Monday, with the lowest bid of $1,968,189.60 coming from Bridges, Inc.

The engineers cost estimate for the project was $2,113,667.00.

County staff will review the bids for accuracy before a final decision is made by the commission. The county will receive $560,000 through the KDOT Cost Share Program to help fund the project.

Gateway Plan

Mike Kerwood, a county resident, shared a packet with county commissioners detailing his concerns regarding the East Manhattan Gateway Plan. The plan includes the undeveloped green fields surrounding existing developments in the Green Valley area.

Kerwood said he met with Manhattan’s Senior Planner Barry Beagle and Long-Range Planner Ben Chmiel.

“I had a little time and I went over to the city’s office in Manhattan there,” said Kerwood. “I talked with them about a few things, about them taking over the 13 square miles of the eastern part of Manhattan there.”

He also had concerns with Manhattan’s budget problems and how that could affect Pottawatomie Co.