Manhattan city commissioners on Tuesday unanimously agreed to move forward with plans for an installation at the Union Pacific Depot to honor former legislator, city commissioner and retired physician Roger Reitz. Reitz, 93, was a member of the Kansas Senate from 2005 to 2013. He also served in the Kansas House from 2002 to 2005. In addition to his time on the city commission, Reitz served on the Manhattan-Ogden USD 383 school board. Parks and recreation director Aaron Stewart said Reitz was “a significant contributor to the restoration of the depot.” To view the full article visit theMercury.com.
Author: Cole Bertelsen
Manhattan city commissioners decided to push back proposed changes to a parks and rec master plan after giving mixed feedback Tuesday. The city government proposed adding two initiatives — the Riverfront MHK Conceptual Plan and the Flint Hills Discovery Center Sculpture Trail Plan — and updating plans for an indoor aquatic center with the results of a recent community survey. If adopted into the Move MHK! Comprehensive Parks and Recreation Master Plan, officials would add those documents to the city’s website. Adopted in 2024, the master plan is a “living” document of community planning efforts that fall within the city’s…
Manhattan officials broke ground on the city’s upcoming low- to moderate-income senior living center Monday while celebrating completing a long process that led to this point. “When completed, Sunflower Flats will provide 62 ADA accessible senior housing units, creating homes where residents can age in place, in comfort and with dignity,” Mayor Susan Adamchak said. “This achievement has been a long time in the making. … The vision for this project began about five years ago, and public outreach and information sharing began in the summer of 2022. More than three years later, it’s incredibly rewarding to see that vision…
The Manhattan City Commission opened the door Tuesday for the Kansas State University Foundation to pursue public financing tools to develop a complex at Kimball and College avenues that would include condominiums, a hotel, coffee shop, steakhouse, brewery and food truck plaza, among other things. Commissioners unanimously adopted a non-binding resolution expressing support for the project. This is the third phase in the foundation’s broader development plans for K-State’s campus ground along Kimball and nearby areas. “Edge District 3.0” includes Bilbrey Family Event Center, the Agronomy Research and Innovation Center, K-State’s new indoor track, Champions Gate and research facilities. To…
Manhattan city commissioners on Tuesday will decide whether they support further development of Kansas State University’s Edge District. The Kansas State University Foundation is asking that the commission consider using publicly accessible financial tools to help facilitate improvements on the north side of campus. These tools include State Sales Tax Revenue bonds, which are an economic development tool used to facilitate major commercial, entertainment or tourism projects by pledging future state and local sales tax revenue generated within a designated district. To view the full article visit theMercury.com.
The city has no plans to retain parallel parking in Aggieville. City commissioners on Tuesday provided further feedback on proposals for Moro Street’s reconstruction, and all designs showed angled parking only. The commission first considered Moro Street designs during its Jan. 13 meeting. Olsson engineering firm provided four options relative to the 60 feet of right-of-way on Moro Street, based on commissioners’ feedback. To view the full article visit theMercury.com.
Gov. Laura Kelly said she had no prior alert before Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations were conducted in Manhattan. “You’ve been paying attention to what’s going on in Minnesota? Of course they don’t regularly inform the governor — at least in certain states,” Kelly said after speaking Thursday at a Kansas Statehouse event in Topeka, according to The Topeka Capital-Journal. The Riley County Police Department announced on social media that ICE operations had occurred that morning. “(RCPD) has received multiple calls regarding possible Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the Manhattan area this morning,” the statement said. “We can confirm there…
During this week’s Manhattan City Commission retreat, commissioners considered permitting beer sales at concession stands and adopting the riverfront concept to its parks and recreation master plan. Parks and rec director Aaron Stewart proposed serving cereal malt beverages and hard seltzers at the Anneberg Sports Complex and Steel and Pipe Supply facility concessions. Stewart said he’s reached out to other community sporting facilities in the state that sell alcohol, and was told they tend to see more participation with the sales and no increase in rowdiness. Sale of alcoholic beverages would not be permitted during high school events because of…
Manhattan city officials are discussing ceasing the publication of legal notices in The Mercury and instead posting them on the city government’s own website, driving through a loophole in state law. City manager Danielle Dulin proposed the switch during the city commission’s retreat Tuesday, saying that it would save $17,000 to $20,000 per year and streamline workflow. Under Kansas law, cities are required to designate an official newspaper for publishing legal notices, which also go to the newspapers’ websites and a searchable database of similar notices from around the state and nation. A legal notice is an advertisement to notify…
City commissioners on Tuesday chose not to rezone a 0.36-acre portion of the Acacia fraternity’s 2005 Hunting Ave. location after significant pushback from surrounding neighbors. The fraternity applied for the space’s rezoning from low-density residential to residential with university fringe overlay, with the expressed plan of then expanding on the fraternity’s building to make space for 15 more fraternity members and adding a larger parking lot in the 0.36-acre portion of the tract. The Manhattan Urban Area Planning Board held a public hearing Dec. 15 to consider the rezoning and failed to recommend approval after a split 3–3 vote, resulting…