Pottawatomie County Commissioners approved the final design and specifications for the Public Works Fleet Maintenance Facility during their meeting Monday.
These were brought to the commission last week but weren’t approved due to some concerns about finances and aspects of the design.
“The first one was where does our current CIP (capital improvement plan) Fund sit financially?” Peter Clark, the public works director for Pottawatomie County, said. “How much money do we have? Where will we be at the end of the year in that fund after some of our projected transfers? And the last question was related to some particular points in the design, specifically about how the CMU wall on the exterior would interact with the foundation relative to moisture penetration.”
Clark says these issues were satisfactorily addressed and the project can now move on to the next phase.
The project will be advertised for construction bids on January 6th during the county commission’s weekly meeting.
In other Pottawatomie County Commission news:
Traffic-signal project
The Pottawatomie County Commission discussed the potential construction of a traffic signal at the intersection of US-24 and Columbian Rd. in Wamego.
The Kansas Department of Transportation could potentially cover construction costs with a grant.
Current discussions are centered around how the remaining costs would be split between the county and Wamego.
“Right now, the proposal that’s on the table from the city of Wamego is that we split the design costs 50/50, the county do the inspection and then the city of Wamego take over the long-term maintenance, such as the power for the traffic signal, going forward,” Peter Clark said.
While this project is currently being discussed, it had already been identified as a potential location for a traffic signal.
“It’s been identified in the 2009 US-24 corridor plan as a future traffic-signalized intersection and KDOT did a recent study a year and a half ago that said that the signal is warranted,” Clark said. “It means it has enough traffic there that it should be built in order to facilitate better movement at the intersection.”
For a list of ongoing public works projects in Pottawatomie County, visit pottcounty.org.
Purchase of equipment for fire department
Pottawatomie County Commissioners approved the encumbrance of funds from 2019 for the purchase of equipment for the fire department in 2020.
One of the items will help keep fire crews supplied with air tanks during fires and training.
“The first one was an air trailer,” Jared Barnes, the fire supervisor for Pottawatomie County, said. “It’s a mobile air unit that provides breathing air for our self-contained breathing apparatuses that the fire fighters wear when they’re in an IDLH (immediately dangerous to life or health) environment.”
The other item will replace a piece of equipment that is about 30 years old.
“The second one was a rescue truck for Station 10 St. George which is at Vineyard (Rd.) and (US-) 24 highway,” Barnes said. “The rescue truck that they currently have will move up to Olsburg or another station in north (Pottawatomie) county and that will replace a 1989 GMC Rescue that they have up there.”
Also discussed was the fire departments efforts to recruit and retain volunteer fire fighters for the county.
The next county commission meeting will take place Monday at 8:30 a.m. at the Sunflower Room in Westmoreland.
