By Allen Dinkel
Junction City Manager
The other day a local resident came by the office to visit me. This gentleman was a native of the area when he was younger, but recently moved to Junction City to enjoy his retirement. I know when he shows up he has many questions, but he comes with the attitude to understand more as he truly wants to understand the operation of the City. I enjoy his questions and discussions as he truly wants to know more, and he tries to bring his point of view for us to consider.
At the last City Commission meeting a bid of $1,582,282.25 for the 2024 Street Maintenance project was approved. For the most part this is a mill and overlay but will include other repair to curb, handicapped curb cuts, etc. This is the similar amount of funds that have been allocated each year for the last few years, but that is about ½ million dollars more than it used to be and 10 years ago only about 500K was spent per year.
Each year, the project varies as far as which street are selected. Last year, it was primarily residential as the entire Indian Hills area was addressed, however this year the project will be on 6th Street from Washington street to Eisenhower Street and then Clay Street from 6th Street to 14th Street. Naturally the cost for 6th Street is higher per block as these are wide 4-lane streets and less total blocks are covered even though the number of square yards is nearly the same.
So, as the resident asked me on Friday, how are the street picked each year? No there is not a map at the City Office where we throw darts to determine which areas to choose nor is there just an arbitrary selection. Public works with our consulting engineer and ranks the street conditions. Yes, they try to group blocks together as they don’t want to do a block here and a block there as that increases the costs. This gentleman wondered if there were other streets that could have been included this year instead. I don’t necessarily disagree that there is other streets, but as I told him, has the City ever did mill and overlay or another improvement where it wasn’t needed? Yes more needs to be done, that would increase costs and then we would have a debate about taxes.
To remind everyone, the roundabout on South Washington Street will be replaced this year. This project is being done by the same contractor that was chosen by KDOT for the interstate work. KDOT is coordinating the project and has control of the time table.
Work is being done on Soth Spring Valley Road on an area near the Geary County Fairgrounds. This project was bid, and a contract was awarded to a local contractor and is on the “radar”. One delay is that one adjacent property owner has been difficult for Public Works to deal with to gain a temporary easement. City staff will continue to focus on that. Also, KDOT will be bidding work to install a sidewalk on the west side of the street from Liberty Hall Road to Valley Drive. Again, there is a battle to obtain a temporary easement.
I see that some ask why they are charged a Storm Water fee each month. I don’t know what everyone was told when the storm water fee was first put in place, but these funds are used to address issues involving drainage and storm water. A large project was done on Price’s Ravine last year on North Jackson Street as erosion was a real issue. Another upcoming project will be Rimrock Dam at Homer’s Pond. This dam was named as a “High Risk Dam” by the Kansas Department of Agriculture a number of years ago. We have argued that this is not a “Risk”, but we never have won that battle and a project costing more than $700,000 will be needed. Again, I don’t see the need, but we don’t have the power to change that.
I enjoy visiting with those who want to know about City projects. They don’t argue or complain, but they simply want to understand and learn more. And yes, we do get another option to consider. The list of projects seems to never end, but simply the City continues to address and move ahead. Maybe everyone does not agree, but attempts continue to make progress.
Oh yes, we are all waiting when the Bridge on East 6th Street will be done. This is not a City project but affects all of us. The City will work with KDOT to get funding to repair streets that have been used as this project was underway. Hopefully that leads to more work being done.