Road improvements are coming to a major trafficway in Emporia following approval of separate yet related motions by the Emporia City Commission on Wednesday morning.
As part of their regular action meeting, commissioners approved awarding a road paving project for Overlander Road, a project set to cost just over $4.1 million. According to City Engineer Jim Ubert, the majority of those dollars are coming from both Federal and state, specifically the Kansas Department of Transportation, with the city’s share roughly coming to about $750,000.
Originally, the city bid the work as an asphalt project; however, it later issued and on Wednesday approved a bid for concrete. Ubert says the concrete option is more expensive than asphalt; however, the city will see less maintenance and upkeep in the “short term,” namely the first 25 to 30 years, with comparable costs to Asphalt upkeep in the long run.
Commissioners approved awarding the project to Killough Construction of Ottawa, before also authorizing the financing of the project. Ubert says work on Overlander is expected to begin within the next 35 to 40 days.
In separate action, commissioners also approved a $650,000 moderate-income housing grant application on behalf of Frontier Development Group for the former Kansas Avenue School building purchased by Frontier from USD 253 Emporia earlier this year. Current plans are to renovate the former school building into a “workforce housing product that honors the historic integrity of the building,” much like Frontier has done in several other communities, including the Cottonwood Falls Lofts in Chase County.
According to Assistant City Manager Tayler Wash, the application will not bring any financial liability to the city of Emporia as this is only an act of support for the venture, not a form of financial backing.
Commissioners also approved the reappointment of Municipal Court Judge Ted Hollembeak to a four-year term. At the tail end of their action meeting, commissioners recognized the recently announced contribution of $1.5 million from Stormont Vail Health for upgrades to the DeBauge Family Sports Complex.
City leadership had mentioned the existence of an anonymous donor for the project for several months before Stormont made the official announcement Tuesday morning. In a statement on the donation Wednesday, Stormont Vail President and CEO Mark Slyter stated that a core belief within their company is that strong communities are born out of strong partnerships.
The $1.5 million Stormont contribution is set to be combined with a $1.5 million commitment from the Emporia Recreation Commission to help support the major update to Debauge, which will include two new turf fields, expanded parking, restrooms, and concessions. Those contributions are contingent on the city receiving a $1.5 million Community Development Block Grant through the Kansas Department of Commerce, which the city applied for back in August.
Following a brief executive session, commissioners moved to their regular study meeting, where, towards the end, they reviewed and approved a contract between the city, Emporia Arts Alliance and Gazette Building Collective for an art installation project in White Park. Like the MIH grant application, Wash says the contract will carry no financial obligations for the city, either for installation or maintenance and upkeep.
Before the contract’s presentation, commissioners held their final review of the city’s 2026 budget. Commissioners are currently proposing a better than $69 million budget with a slightly reduced mill levy rate of 46.015, a less than one mill decrease from 2025.
Commissioners will hold a public hearing on both the budget and revenue-neutral rate ahead of their next regular meeting at 11 am inside the Municipal Courtroom at White Auditorium.
