Emporia City Commissioners have approved a contract with BG Consultants for early design work related to what will likely be a multi-year water service improvement project.
The $70,230 contract will see BG design a waterline transmission that will go under Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad tracks. The transmission is planned to extend from 12th Ave. to the Warren Way elevated storage tank to help increase reliability and service to water customers in southern Emporia.
Ubert says Wednesday’s contract approval comes likely a year before the full scope of work on the project will begin as the permitting process with BNSF can be a lengthy one.
In other business, commissioners also approved a water service relocation and mainline abandonment for customers along Road G between US Highway 50 and Road 180. According to Public Works Director Dean Grant the work zone is located in a portion of Rural Water District 2 that was purchased by the city roughly two years ago.
Following that purchase, Grant says Public Works discovered the 2.5 inch main service line located on the west side of properties was both outdated and abnormal making maintenance and regular observation very difficult. The current plan is to take the line out of service and move all customers to a newer existing line on the east side of their properties.
He says this will make future upkeep and maintenance much simpler.
Residents will be responsible for hiring their own plumbers to reconnect them to the private service line, however, they will be reimbursed by the city for associated costs. That reimbursement will be limited to estimates the city received for each property.
A full timeline for the project is currently pending.
In other business, commissioners chose to approve an agreement with Enterprise Fleet Management in St. Louis, MO. Per the agreement, Enterprise will work with the city to provide a “dedicated, local account team that would help to manage and develop” the city’s fleet of vehicles.
City Treasurer Janet Harouff will join KVOE’s Newsmaker Two segment at 8:20 am Tuesday to discuss the partnership in greater detail.
During the commission’s study session Wednesday, Special Projects Coordinator Jim Witt presented a list of local properties for commissioners to consider for future rural housing incentive district status. At this time, the city has six RHIDs in development with two more landowners recently expressing interest in becoming RHID’s in the near future.
According to Witt, the properties are located at West Sixth Ave. and in east Emporia near Mary Street. According to Witt the only major road block currently facing the city when it comes to capitalizing on the number of RHIDs it currently has is the rising cost of construction.
Thankfully, Witt is confident those prices will not last forever, and once they begin to even out, Witt says the city is in a great position to move forward with development.
A resolution for the West Sixth property could come before commissioners during their possible Jul. 6 meeting. If approved, the city would send the property off to the state for RHID eligibility.
The Emporia City Commission will next convene on Wednesday, Jun. 29 at 11 am.
