Riley County and City of Manhattan officials are in very early talks about a new RCPD substation in Aggieville.
Commissioner Kathryn Focke questioned Commission Chair John Ford Monday about a rumor involving the city negotiating with a member of the county.
Ford says there has been some discussion with the city and Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce about using some market tax credits to build a station and entrepreneurial center.
“There’s a security factor that goes along with it, but we don’t know if we can get those tax credits yet so there is not a definitive anything at this time,” says Ford.
Due to the nature of the facility, a security component is required to receive the tax credits.
Ford says if this project works out in their favor, Riley County will be able to construct a substation owned by the county and avoid having to pay rent. Any additional costs could possibly come from the RCPD budget or CIP fund.
More details are likely to be released in June.
Commissioners also approved an amendment for additional funds from CIP for the RCPD firing range project.
The funds will be for the water line installation. Public Works Director John Ellerman says when they started the water line, they thought there was money in the public works account.
Commissioner John Ford says there are still other expenses not yet accounted for such, such as the fencing and vacating costs from the current property.
“We went way, way over estimated costs. The range itself was rather expensive, the building we actually saved a little bit on. But dirt work, accesses, and everything else just adds up,” says Ford.
The new amendment for the project is estimated at $60,000, bringing the total project estimate to $2.86 million. The project was originally estimated at $1.5 million.
