A one-year contribution from the city of Emporia to Ignite Emporia may see formal approval in early February.
An agreement between the Emporia City Commission and Ignite Emporia to that purpose was discussed at length during the Emporia City Commission’s recent study session Wednesday morning. Ignite Emporia made the original contribution request back in late 2019 seeking a five-year $150,000 contribution.
Instead, commissioners expressed a desire to commit to a one-year contribution wanting to gauge the results of the program before committing to more long term commitments in the future. Emporia Mayor Danny Giefer suggested a contribution of $20,000 stating he felt it “would be a good starter.”
Commissioner John Geitz feels “20 is better than zero,” however, he would be in favor of contributing a higher sum between $25,000 to $30,000.
Commissioners also requested the agreement state the need for an update on the program’s progress on an annual basis. The proposed agreement will be placed onto the city’s Feb. 5 action session agenda and could gain approval at that time.
In other business, commissioners also reviewed the 2020 city street rehab project list and estimates. Six streets are on this year’s list along with two alternates.
According to initial estimates, if the commission approved all six streets and the alternates for repairs the estimated total cost would be $910,000 with the city having budgeted just $900,000 for the project.
Mayor Giefer tells KVOE News he’s confident this would not cause any issues with the proposed scope of work.
The scope of repairs would include milling and overlay work, removal and replacement of deteriorating surfaces and sidewalk replacements amongst other endeavors. The full list of proposed streets includes:
12th Avenue Burlingame Road, 12th AVE (Mary to Whittier) Burlingame (12th Ave to Riley Ave)
South Avenue (East Street to Commercial Street)
Deerbrook Subdivision
Landmark Addition
Park Lane Estates and Dietrich Addition
Westridge Addition,
Alternate Streets – Clark Avenue (East Street) Logan Avenue (Weaver Street)
In addition to these items commissioners also discussed a roof replacement project for the Emporia Public Library and commissioner appointments to city boards for interviewing processes. The Emporia City Commission will next convene for an action session on Feb. 5 at 1:30 pm inside the municipal courtroom at White Auditorium.
