Reopening plans
The Pottawatomie County Commission approved adding further restrictions to phase one of Gov. Laura Kelly’s reopening plan with a two to one vote during a meeting Monday.
While Kelly’s plan doesn’t call for capacity restrictions in restaurants, it allows local governments to take extra steps, opening the door for the commission to restrict restaurants in Pottawatomie County to 50 percent seating capacity.
Commissioner Greg Riat opposed the change, saying restaurant owners should be trusted to run their own businesses.
Commissioner Pat Weixelman says the capacity limit will allow people to more easily maintain their distance from each other.
He also compared restaurants only having partial capacity to places that aren’t open at all.
Riley and Geary County also adopted these policies.
Asphalt projects
The Pottawatomie County Commission awarded a contract worth about $1.1 million to a Topeka company for multiple asphalt projects in 2020.
Some of the projects will be funded by developers and the Rural Highway Fund, but most of the projects will be funded by Road and Bridge Fund in the amount of about $800,000.
Public Works Director Peter Clark the amount from the Road and Bridge Fund came in under budget.
Two other companies submitted bids for this project, one of which is located in Manhattan and the other in Perry, KS.
The commission typically awards contracts to the lowest bidder and continued to do so in this case.
Developer Agreement
The county commission will propose a new development agreement to the developer of the Heritage Hills Unit 2 subdivision in Blue Township.
According to the proposal, a second entrance into the subdivision will be allowed to remain open for the duration of construction and about two-thirds of the home construction.
The second entrance exits onto Green Valley Rd., which is gravel. County policies require such entrances to exit onto paved roads.
According to the proposal, the entrance will close after construction and two-thirds of home construction in the subdivision are completed and will be allowed to reopen once Green Valley Rd. is paved.
In 2018, the developer agreed to pay for the paving of Moody Rd. and Junietta Rd. and was exempted from having to pave Green Valley Rd..
