Negotiations are set to begin on the price and scope of a project in Lyon County that will be fully funded by the Kansas Department of Transportation, following action by Lyon County Commissioners on Thursday.
During their regular action meeting, commissioners voted 2-1 to approve Kirkham Michael and Associates as the engineering firm that will handle an upcoming high-risk rural roads program project, which will include the evaluation of current passing zones on county paved roads as well as potential updates to pavement markings and the replacement of traffic signs in needed areas. Commissioners had four options to choose from, including Kirkham Michael, based out of Cheney, and Emporia’s BG Consultants.
All four of the firms were submitted following an assessment by a committee consisting of engineering experts as required by KDOT, which fully funds the program and states the decision should be made based on individual qualifications rather than cost. Commissioner Doug Peck, who voted against the selection of Kirkham Michael, told KVOE News he felt the selection process, which ranked Kirkham just slightly above BG as one and two, should have included a score for local businesses, an opinion which highly influenced his decision on the matter.
Commissioner Chris Bartel, who along with Commission Chairman Ken Duft, voted in favor of the selection, shared this sentiment, noting he was the first to voice an opinion on the matter.
Duft also stated he feels the county should utilize local businesses when possible, and noted they regularly do; however, in this case, he says not being an expert in engineering means he needed to defer to the input of the selection committee.
Bartel says his vote was made on the same basis.
Duft also stated that all the commission has done to this point is approve the start of negotiations for the contract, adding that should Kirkham and KDOT not be able to reach an agreement, they would go with the second-ranked option, which, again, was BG.
Word on when negotiations may conclude and the project may begin, is currently pending.
Separately Thursday, commissioners received the annual audit report, which showed a clean report with no significant issues regarding the county’s reporting practices. Commissioners also approved a resolution declaring dormant certain uncollected personal property taxes following a report from county counselor Molly Priest.
The Lyon County Commission will reconvene for its regular meeting next Thursday at 9 am.
