A trio of projects aimed at expanding and improving existing infrastructure across Emporia were given the green light by Emporia City Commissioners Wednesday afternoon.
During the commission’s action meeting, commissioners unanimously approved a request from Simmons Pet Food to submit an application for a Kansas Community Development Block Grant to fund improvements to its parking lot. The plan is to construct several new parking lots to accommodate the growing workforce at Simmons at a cost of $750,000 to be funded through the grant if approved.
City Manager Mark McAnarney says over the past two years Simmons has created roughly 600 new jobs in the local community. The grant, if approved, would bring with it certain parameters regarding job creation.
According to McAnarney Simmons is currently planning to create 150 new jobs in the near future.
Word on when the city will have an update on the application’s status is currently pending.
In other business, commissioners awarded a bid to Greeley Excavating of Greeley, KS, for waterline improvements on 12th Ave. from Grand to Chestnut in front of Newman Regional Health. City Engineer Jim Ubert says the project will see a complete overhaul of the existing infrastructure in the area.
An exact timeline for when the project may begin and end is still up in the air at this time as the city still needs to finalize some logistical matters. Once work commences, Ubert estimates it may take roughly 5-6 months to complete.
Ubert says residents can expect some disruptions to the normal traffic flow once work is underway, however, those details will be released closer to when the project is ready to begin.
The total cost of the project is just over $1.06 million to be funded by a state revolving loan fund through the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
Also Wednesday, commissioners approved an award from the Kansas Department of Transportation for fiscal year 2024 CCLIP projects and appointed delegates to the League of Kansas Municipalities conference Oct. 9-11 in Topeka.
The Emporia City Commission will reconvene next Wednesday at 9 am for a study session inside the Municipal Courtroom at White Auditorium.
