Riley County Commissioners approved $4,000 to help the City of Manhattan pay for fees to Thomas Strategies, a Louisiana firm that specializes in environmental issues.
The City of Manhattan emailed Monty Wedel, the county’s planning and special projects director, that it was seeking Thomas Strategies to help craft their application for the HUD (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) National Disaster Resiliency Competition Grant Competition, which if won, could bring $40 million to the region and address flooding concerns with Wildcat Creek.
The overall bill for Thomas Strategies is $10,000.
Commissioner Robert Boyd attended a Wildcat Creek Resiliency Project meeting at Riley County High School Wednesday night and said people are supportive of the effort.
“We had a fairly good turnout,” he said. “I would say probably about 40 to 50 people were there. Everyone was very cooperative, except for a very, very small group.”
Boyd said the opposition was against the project simply due to the fact the funding came from the federal level. Most people, he said, offered support and ideas.
“The vast majority of people there said this is an opportunity to improve our land and improve Wildcat Creek… why wouldn’t we do it?” he said. “They all had good ideas and wanted to get involved. They all understood the concept of what was going on.”
In other items, Community Corrections Director Shelly Williams asked commissioners to apply previously appropriated funds designated for merits to be applied to COLA (Cost of Living Adjustment) increases.
Commissioners approved the request.
The adjustment saves the county $10,427.96.
