The Riley County Police Department held a town hall meeting Tuesday evening to inform citizens about their crime reduction plan. RCPD Director Brian Peete spoke to the public about future goals he has for the department… Peete also spoke about his five year plan, the new license-reading cameras that are going to implemented, along with crime statistics from 2023. The event was one of three town halls this week across the county. Peete met with residents in Riley Monday. The final town hall will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Ogden Community Center.
Author: Peter Rice
Riley County commissioners decided Monday to table discussions on how to finance the county’s looming facility upgrades. A space study analysis was conducted in 2012 and projected the costs to be around $25 million. Due to inflation, the commissioners now believe that this number could be between $40-$60 million dollars. During their Monday meeting, the commissioners were presented with three ways to pay for facility upgrades. County Clerk Rich Vargo… The first way would be cash, which would come from the capital improvements fund. The second option would be through a bond which would require an election. The final option…
Manhattan city officials say upgrades to CiCo Park have hit a snag due to financial issues. City staff met with the Manhattan City Commission Friday at the Sunset Zoo Nature and Exploration Center to present goals and an outlook at the year ahead. Included in that were deep dives into the city’s strategic plan and a look back at where the city is at in terms of its parks master plan. Concepts and renovations for CiCo Park were approved by voters in 2017, however since then there has been a 50-80% increase in inflation which has caused the park’s projected…
The Riley County Police Department is looking at new technology within local communities in an effort to reduce crime. Director Brian Peete shared information on KMAN’s In Focus this week. Since becoming director last year, Peete says the violent crime has been on a decline of just over 11% from the five year average. Captain Erin Friedline says adding cameras could potentially help lower that number even further. These cameras would not have a live feed, according to RCPD, but would have license plate reading capabilities and would be placed around the community, including in particular the Aggieville area as…
City officials are focused on upgrading their online technology. The city’s enterprise resource planning system, or ERP, serves as the financial operating system for the city, and Assistant Manhattan City Manager Jared Wasinger says it has room for improvement. Improvements will include easier access to building permits, utility billing, and online business with the city. Residents should see the change sometime later this year.
The City of Manhattan is ramping up to do major construction on the intersection of Kimball and Denison. Currently the city is doing lots of utility work on water lines in order to avoid a decreased capacity of water services, especially at K-State. Assistant Manhattan City Manager Jared Wasinger spoke on the project’s current timeline during Monday’s intergovernmental luncheon… The new interchange will feature seven lanes in an effort to increase vehicle accessibility in the north campus corridor. The sunflower showdown is February 5, and closures are expected to begin sometime after that game.
The Manhattan City Commission will hold a work session Tuesday to discuss economic development and housing incentives. The community development staff will also lead a discussion on strategies and funding opportunities for new local work force housing. Assistant City Manager Jared Wasinger previewed the conversation following Monday’s intergovernmental luncheon. The city had previously conducted a housing market analysis that concluded there was not enough housing stock for medium income households. The work session begins at 6 p.m. in City Hall.
It’s been a cold stretch for the Manhattan area and has even rivaled some of the area’s coldest spells on record. Meteorologist Chip Redmond, manager of Kansas Mesonet, revealed that the recent cold stretch has broken a local weather record… He said Thursday that the Manhattan area has had 9 straight days of freezing weather, with Wednesday peaking just shy of 32. Predictions say that the streak will last until Sunday, but pales in comparison to the record 56 straight freezing days in 1979. Rising temperatures will be met with light rain early next week. The coldest temperature reached was -11…
New board members Katie Allen and Greg Hoyt were sworn into the Manhattan-Ogden School Board Wednesday. Allen works for a regional technical assistance center that works with school districts in Kansas, Colorado and Missouri. Kristin Brighton and Curt Herrman were both re-elected. “I’ve always had a passion for improving conditions and opportunities for kids, and I think I have a decent base of knowledge that would be helpful for the school board,” Allen said. Hoyt is a former Manhattan High School principal. “I’m coming from 31 years working in the district so I’m pretty familiar with how it operates, It’s…
Manhattan city officials Tuesday gave an update on how public works crews have navigated the frigid and slick conditions this past week. City manager Ron Fehr: Mayor Wynn Butler says also at play this week has been a delay of trash service to most residents. Local snow removal fleets do not have large numbers so they must focus on main roads and hills first. City officials continue to recommend residents drive carefully and allow extra space between cars when braking. The freeze-thaw cycle also brings with it added potholes in the city. Citizens can report accidents, potholes, and other road…