$5 million in bonds authorized for roads
Staff writer
Marion County commissioners voted Monday to authorize $5 million in bonds to be issued for work on Indigo, Kanza, 190th, and 290th Rds.
If all goes as planned, the bonds will be issued June 6 and be payable for nine years.
Normally, issuance of bonds requires voter approval. In this case, however, commissioners used a legal provision that allowed them to avoid having an election because no resident successfully petitioned during a 60-day comment period to schedule one.
Dave Arteberry of Stifel, Nicholaus and Co. said counties and cities were allowed to use resolutions rather than elections to issue bonds for secondary arterial highways as long as the bonds did not exceed 2% of the county’s assessed valuation.
Upcoming road work and its estimated cost include:
- Kanza Rd. from US-56 to 180th — $2.2 million.
- 290th Rd. from K-15 to US-56 — $7.250 million.
- 190th Rd. from K-256 to US-56 — $825,000.
- Indigo Rd. from the Harvey County line to Hillsboro — $3.105 million.
The total estimated cost is $7,555,825 more than the bonds would pay for.
Commissioner Jonah Gehring said some of the $5 million would provide matching funds for a state grant the county hopes to get for work on 290th Rd.
“We believe we have enough in capital improvement to cover Indigo and 190th,” Gehring said.
In other business Monday, Empower House Ministries, a sober living organization for women in Emporia, asked commissioners to help pay for their work.
Director Melissa Landis said women from Marion County had been helped by the organization since it opened in February.
“We’ve been having wonderful success,” Landis said.
Women can move in when they are going to begin treatment or after they finish treatment, she said.
Addicts often have access to all kinds of resources, but Empower House fills a need that’s difficult to find, she said.
“We find the piece they are missing is housing,” Landis said.
She said she’s seen women living in houses with no utilities, garages, and other inappropriate conditions.
Clients’ average age is 36, and 40% of the clients are minorities.
Commissioners told her they would consider her request during budget planning.
Commissioners also:
- Purchased two three-year contracts with ChangeFinder pictometry services for $45,143 each.
- Opened bids for work on Indigo Rd. but did not choose a bidder.
- Learned that the city of Marion contacted county engineer Brice Goebel to offer space on the north side of US-56 to build a new county shop.