As the Green Valley area of Pottawatomie County continues to grow and expand, the County Commissioners are spending more time assessing the needs and future plans for the district. Commission Chairman Pat Weixelman said the board spent a large portion of their meeting on Monday, April 27 discussing this issue.
“John Keller with Planning and Zoning gave us kind of a long-term assessment on what we’re going to have to look at in long-range planning for sanitary sewers and storm sewers and how we’re going to plan for more growth in the Green Valley area,” said Weixelman. “That’s the area that we’ve really got to look at controlling and keep on top of because that’s where most of the growth is.”
He added that they also discussed supporting growth through the structure of the sewer systems in those locations.
“We’re also looking at the over-sizing of sanitary sewer lines going in and the enlarging of the old lines,” Weixelman said. “This is for sanitary sewer in some areas where retention ponds could be implemented in these new developments.”
The commissioners heard from County Appraiser Lois Schlegel, who gave a real property scope of work for the county.
“The total number of parcels in the county is approximately 14,800,” Weixelman said. “They have to visibly look at each parcel every six years. This year, they’ll look at approximately 3,900.”
He noted that the number of parcels in the county is continually rising with added growth and construction, and that the current rate is about 150 new parcels each year.
Monday’s meeting also included an update from Assistant Public Works Director Jim Jenkins, who reported on the on-going patching project taking place on the Belvue Bridge. According to Weixelman, the project will require the purchase of even more patching materials in order to finish the bridge in the coming months.
It was reported that the county has hired a new fire supervisor. Jared Barnes from Nixa, Missouri will take over the position on May 11 to help alleviate some of the pressure in the Pottawatomie County Emergency Management Department.
Other items included signing an agreement for the reconstruction of a bridge on Rockingham Road, which will be funded by a grant from the state, and the approval of a site plot for Robert’s Heating and Cooling in the Green Valley Business Park.
