Riley County Commission Chairman Ron Wells said he plans to keep a close eye on the Wildcat Creek Resiliency Project.
The City of Manhattan is seeking $40 million in federal grant dollars to address Wildcat Creek flooding and Wells said during Monday’s commission meeting that he wants to make sure whatever amount of money the project is awarded doesn’t get too tied up in administrative costs.
“I’m going to be extremely watchful and nosy on this project,” he said. “I’d like to see the guidelines once we receive the funds or it’s okay. I’m mistrustful of the state of Kansas, and I’d like to see the lion’s share of that money used to actually do something — not to be hiring all kinds of staff that’s going to have to be laid off in five, six, seven years.
“I want to see if the HUD (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) has some guidelines that limits the amount of money that the state and the City of Manhattan can take out for administrative fees.”
Wells said the money, if awarded, needs to go to the task at hand.
“The money needs to go to paying the engineers and the people doing the design work,” he said. “I’d like to see the money spent exactly on the Wildcat Creek Resiliency Project, as opposed to funding the state of Kansas shortfall.”
Riley County Planning and Urban Development Zoning Enforcement Officer Steve Higgins said no guidelines have been released yet and that another informational meeting on the project is scheduled for Aug. 26 inside the Riley County High School cafeteria in Riley at 7 p.m.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything with the government work so fast,” Higgins said. “This is coming down from the federal (government) through the state and down to us locally. I’m pretty amazed by it.”
In other reports, Riley County Agriculture Extension Agent Greg McClure said crops in the area are looking promising, especially soybeans.
“The best soybeans I’ve ever seen on dry land in Riley County,” he said. “If we get another rain this week, I think it’s going to be amazing what we’re going to have.”
