Monday’s Riley County Commission Press Conference featured specific changes in rules and regulations regarding planning and development requirements and fees.
County Zoning Enforcement Officer, Steve Higgins came before the commission to share what recent changes have been made. In the event that construction is commenced prior to the issuance of a building permit, the permit fee shall be doubled to compensate for the direct cost and additional staff cost in enforcement activities. Higgins said, “this is somewhat of an incentive, which we have not had in the past and hopefully this incentive will have people looking out and remembering to get a permit”.
A number of items are looked into when someone requests a building permit, such as; sanitary, water lines and dig safe. This list will soon be re-sent to appraisers, insurance companies and realtors. For a full list, log onto rileycountyks.gov or call the office at 785-537-6332.
Lisa Hudson filled in for County Appraiser, Greg McHenry, to share updates on the personal property department at the appraiser’s office. The office has generated approximately 4,640 2013 statements of personal property, which were mailed on December 31st. By law, all tangible personal property subject to taxation must be listed and assessed by January 1st of each year.
Public Works Director, Leon Hobson also provided an update during the meeting. Hobson shared updates on various projects still taking place throughout the county, some of which are listed below:
- maintenance of wind turbines-Ethos will be back in January for final repairs
- generator project at the health department-bids open on January 10th
- Lakeside Heights sewer project-re-designed and re-advertised, bids open on January 3rd
- Plaza East elevator-final plans reviewed, project out to bid soon
- multi-zone HPAC replacement project at LEC-delayed due to no crane, set to be done during January 7th week
- McDowell Creek-soon to select designer for reconstruction
County Park Supervisor, Greg Lund shared an update on the dog park libraries being put into place at Cico Park and Fairmont Park. Lund presented pictures of what the libraries will look like and said “they will be sponsored by donation in the hopes to gain a yearly budget, and if vandalized, they will discuss removal”. Lund also mentioned that the railroad and hand cart at Rocky Ford have been installed. Visitors can actually pump the handle on the cart, but it does not move.
