Downtown Manhattan will be experiencing somewhat of a make over in the near future. The city commission approved the streetscaping plans proposed, and the Riley County commission had a chance to view the plans during Thursday’s commission meeting.
Four different projects make up the entire project. The first project, perhaps the most challenging and time consuming, will be the downtown streetscaping project primarily taking place on Poyntz and 4th street.
The second project involved a water main that will run down Poyntz from Juliette to 3rd street. Right now there is a four inch main, and this would increase it to an eight inch.
The third project will feature new traffic signals at Poyntz and 4th. These signals will be ornamental style and will feature the new intelligent traffic system. This system includes video cameras that can show the amount of traffic on each street, and can adjust the length of the green light accordingly. These cameras will not, however, be used for traffic violations.
The last and final project is an asphalt overlay of Juliette all the way to 3rd street, which will also involve re-painting.
The projected cost for all of these projects combined, is $2,838,524.83.
Discussions of the Riley County Health Department Director position are still moving forward. Human Resource Manager, Cindy Volanti made an appearance during the meeting to share an update and discuss the possibilities of a temporary interim position until the permanent position is filled.
Volanti commented, applications have been submitted from various places throughout the state, none of which are local.
As far as the interim discussion, the decision seemed to be unanimous. Commissioner Robert Boyd said, “I’m not as concerned with an interim position. I think we can manage”.
The commission believed there is no need for an interim and came to a consensus just to move forward with the process for the new director.
County Clerk, Rich Vargo introduced the idea of moving the application deadline up to April 1st, rather than it’s current date-April 30th, in order to move the process along. The commission agreed this was a good decision.
County Appraiser, Greg McHenry shared his annual office report, and mentioned a few upcoming deadlines. Informal appeals are coming in more frequently lately, as the March 18th due date is approaching. The personal property deadline is even before the appeals, on March 15th. McHenry mentioned they have mailed out 4,700 this year, which is fairly standard.
Community Corrections Director, Shelly Williams shared her monthly update. Williams brought forward two reports needing approval. The first was the JCAB Fiscal Year 2014 application, and the second was the Adult Services 2012 End Year Report. The commission unanimously approved both.
The commission also had the chance to view a video of the Geary County Juvenile Facility.
