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Grant awarded for industrial park improvement
The city of Fort Scott has been awarded a $1.2 million grant from the Kansas Department of Transportation for a project to make access improvements at the Fort Scott Industrial Park.
City Manager Dave Martin told Fort Scott City Commissioners during their Tuesday meeting the grant will fund construction costs for a project to make entrance improvements at the industrial park. The city's portion of the project is $168,990 to pay for design and engineering costs.
Martin said while the grant has been awarded, the city has not yet received the grant funds.
"We will spend city money on planned design and inspection," he said. "We haven't received the funds yet. We have to sign a contract with KDOT."
The project will construct two new turn lanes off U.S. Highway 69 into the industrial park as well as some interior connector roads onto U.S. 69 and Campbell Drive.
The purpose of the project is to improve access to existing and proposed development within the industrial park. The new turn lanes will provide for safe areas for vehicles to decelerate prior to turning movements at the existing entrance. The completion of the roadway within the park will allow for circulation and additional access to existing development and provide for growth, according to a city document.
Proposed improvements include adding a northbound right-turn lane and a southbound left-turn lane at the existing crossover and east side entrance at this location, as well as improving the east side entrance and constructing internal roadways to connect with existing roadways.
Martin said intersection improvements will be made at U.S. 69 and Hickory Road, which runs off the highway between the KDOT office and the Fort Scott Community College truck driving school. He said the plan is to complete Campbell Drive and connect that road to Hickory Road as part of a plan to make safer entrances and exits at the industrial park.
Martin said the process started with previous conversations he had with KDOT officials to discuss various issues, one of those being the city's concerns with entrances to the industrial park due to limited access points and traffic concerns. Heavier traffic in the area is anticipated after completion next month of the LaRoche Baseball Complex.
"Their (KDOT) engineers looked at long-range traffic numbers," he said. "With the addition of the ballpark coming in, they looked at it again."
Initially, the city was looking at having to pay for construction costs for improvements but Martin said after further discussions with KDOT, he was told by KDOT that the city could apply for a grant that would involve KDOT paying for construction costs and the city paying for design and inspection.
In January, Martin informed city commissioners of the proposed access improvement project. He said then that KDOT had approached him about making entrance improvements and the possible availability of state economic development funds to use for the project. Commissioners that month approved sending an application from the city to acquire KDOT funds.
Fort Scott native and Major League Baseball player Adam LaRoche, whom the ballpark is named for, as well as various state and federal lawmakers, have also been involved in the discussion process regarding improvement of entrances at the industrial park.
Martin said he had previously informed Bourbon County Commissioners that the city planned on applying for the grant and would be requesting help from the county once it was known whether the grant had been awarded.
"In previous conversations, we talked about traffic and improving access at (U.S. Highway) 69," he said.
Regarding the industrial park, Martin said the city is in charge of sewer and water while the county maintains the roads in the park with the city helping when needed. Martin said he thinks ideally the design and inspection costs should be split between three entities -- the city, county and Bourbon County Economic Development Council BEDCO -- and plans to speak to the Bourbon County Commission in the near future about the county's possible involvement in the project. He said he plans to ask county commissioners for financial assistance with design and inspection since the project deals with county roads.
Martin said he planned to ask commissioners to "accept the road as a county road to help feed the industrial park and also 'do you have the funds to give $50,000?'" to the project.
"The road will help economic development and provide a better entrance into the industrial park," he said.
Martin said City Attorney Bob Farmer and Bourbon County Attorney Justin Meeks are working on a document that would spell out the responsibilities of the city and county concerning roads in the industrial park.
Existing industries in the industrial park now have one access point at East Hudson Road which is one-half mile north of the proposed improvement. By extending Campbell Drive to the existing entrance south, access for employees, truck transportation and emergency vehicles will be enhanced, the city document said.
The cost for the city's portion of the project is budgeted and will likely come from the city's capital improvement fund, Martin has said. BEDCO, which owns the industrial park, has committed $50,000 toward the project.
The project will be designed and inspected by Professional Engineering Consultants. PEC had previously submitted an engineering agreement for the project with preliminary engineering costs at $87,615 and construction engineering costs at $81,375.
Proposed completion of the design and engineering is expected to be 2015 with construction complete by June 2016, according to the city document.
Other business
* The Commissioners approved appointment of David Sachau and Carson Felt to serve three-year terms on the Airport Advisory Board. The appointments were approved by the Airport Advisory Board on March 13 and sent to city commissioners for consideration. The city accepted letters of interest for two open positions on the board and two letters were received.
* Approved the low bid of $12,792 from Hoidale Co., Inc., of Chanute for a new fuel system to replace an outdated fuel system for the city's public works. The city received two other bids; a $14,661 bid from Petroleum Equipment of Des Moines, Iowa and a $14,932 bid from Broyles Petroleum of Humboldt. Tom Coffman, mechanic supervisor for the city, recommended approval of the low bid.
* Approval was given to the consent agenda, which included appropriation ordinances totaling $761,558 and amendment of a recently-approved ordinance concerning vacation of an alley at 801 E. Third St., due to a typographical error. The amendment will change 16-foot wide alley to 18-foot wide alley in the ordinance.
* During public hearings, the commission approved resolutions directing the repair or removal of alleged unsafe and dangerous structures located at 621 S. Barbee St., and 111 S. Margrave St.
Commissioners also approved a resolution directing the repair or removal of an alleged unsafe and dangerous structure and accessory structure located at 306 N. Ford St. Commissioners approved allowing property owners 30 days to make necessary repairs or remove the structures.
* The city will spend $13,800 to purchase of two new 16-foot-by-16-foot boat docks from Krantz Docks of Climax Springs, Mo., to replace one boat dock at Rock Creek Lake and another at the beach area of Fort Scott Lake. The cost of the new docks is $6,900 each.
Airport and Lakes Manager Kenny Howard said the current docks are "deteriorating and in bad shape." The Lake Fort Scott dock has damage to the metal bracing and the dock at Rock Creek Lake sinks badly as the floaters under it are no longer operational. He said in the past, with old docks, the city has taken sealed bids and sold them. Howard said the new docks would be installed sometime between now and July. Director of Finance Jon Garrison said there is $15,000 budgeted for the purchase.
* Garrison gave an update on the city's recent conversion to new software. He said the city went live with several financial applications about a week ago. He commended city staff for their work during the conversion and adjusting to the new software. Garrison said software applications for other city departments will go live in April and May.
* Martin reported Greg Schick, owner of the property located at 520 E. Wall St., was given 30 additional days to have the debris cleaned up to city codes during the commission's Feb. 17 meeting. As of Tuesday, there is still debris remaining that has not been cleaned up. Martin said he has instructed Paul Ballou, city fire chief and codes manager, to issue a citation to Schick.
"We're getting stronger on codes," Martin said.
At the Feb. 17 meeting, Schick told commissioners he had removed about 95 percent of the debris and he has future plans for the property. Schick also said the weather had caused some delays with cleanup. He estimated at the time he could finish up the work in two to three weeks depending on the weather.
* Commissioners agreed to delay the start of a project to make improvements along a portion of National Avenue to mid-July. The project was originally scheduled to begin in April. Martin said it was brought to the city's attention that two big summer events, the Good Ol' Days street festival and the All-School Reunion, scheduled to take place in June, draw several people to town and may be affected by the project. He received a letter from the reunion committee asking that National Avenue not be torn up while visitors are in town for the reunion. Martin said he talked with KDOT officials and Amino Brothers, the contractor for the project, and KDOT approved delaying the project to no later than July 20. The contractor also agreed to delay the project at no additional cost to the city, Martin said.
The National Avenue project will involve new asphalt paving including curb and gutter, as well as installation of a new 12-inch water line and storm sewer work on National Avenue from Sixth to 13th streets.
Martin also reported the city was recently awarded the United Way Public Division award. Martin thanked city employee Kathi Plain who heads up United Way efforts for the city.