Work to replace a bridge over a channel of the Neosho River south of Humboldt will start Monday.
Bill King, director of Public Works, told county commissioners Tuesday the road would be closed for 130 working days, meaning it likely won’t reopen until late November.
“There’s just no way a detour can be built around the bridge,” to keep the old U.S. 169 open to traffic , King said.
The bridge’s deck tumbled during the flood of 1951 and in recent years has developed problems that have required temporary repairs, including large steel plates to ensure safe use.
COMMISSIONERS agreed to have Joe Hurla of 360 Energy Solutions, Lawrence, apply for a grant to pay for a new roof, cooling tower and retrofitted climate controls at the courthouse and energy-efficiency enhancements at the Allen County Critical Access Center, 410 N. State St.
The grant application to the Kansas Energy Office, a conduit for federal stimulus money, will be for $150,000, which would be matched by $100,000 in county funds. Hurla’s company would do design work, management construction and ensure savings sufficient to repay the county’s portion in less than 30 years, he said.
Hurla said the grants, capped at $150,000, were non-competitive, meaning Allen County could expect grant money in about 30 days. Projects much be completed by the end of 2011. Compensation for Hurla’s company will be about 25 percent of project cost.
SOLID waste carried to the Allen County Landfill from out of county will cost 20 cents more per ton.
King noted tipping fees hadn’t been increased since 2008 and “we just finished a $2 million project,” a new cell that is expected to provide sufficient space for about 10 years. The money came from reserves built up primarily from tipping fees.
A half-cent sales tax supports the landfill, and is the primary reason that Allen Countians aren’t charged to dispose of residential waste at the facility. Commercial haulers pay $9 a ton.
Haulers from area counties, before the 20-cent raise, have paid $25.50 or $26.50 per ton. Other charges are made for specialty waste and occasionally the county agrees to take such things as contaminated soil for a negotiated charge.
DURING Accel Aviation’s Fly Day at Allen County Airport Saturday, a privately owned C-130 military transport plane stopped for fuel.
King said the process — it took an hour and a half to load 2,500 gallons into the plane’s tanks — pointed up that commissioners should consider upgrading fueling facilities.
“With the longer runway, we’re getting bigger planes all the time, which take quite a while to fuel,” King said.
The airport is a popular destination for pilots, he noted, because fuel here is among the cheapest in the nation.
In the next few days agricultural spray planes will arrive at the airport and start flying missions throughout the area, King said.
COMMISSIONERS declined to participate in a tax abatement for a $100,000 house built by Homes for Iola, Inc., an Iola nonprofit, at 216 S. Colborn.
The group failed to apply for inclusion in Iola’s Neighborhood Revitalization Program within the specified time, which prompted the commissioners’ decision.
“It’s incentive to build and improve” neighborhoods, Commissioner Dick Works said of the tax abatement. “The house is already built and sold (commissioners were told), so a tax abatement would be a gift for the buyer with tax dollars.”
Alan Weber, county counselor, advised denying the request.
