Staff writer
County commissioner Randy Dallke and engineer Bruce Boettcher of BG consultants presented some options to Peabody City Council members Monday night for moving the Peabody water line adjacent to Nighthawk Rd. where the county is straightening the “correction line.”
“The state has looked at the project and they want the line moved,” Dallke said. “They are concerned about it.”
The line was installed in 2001 and 2002 as part of the process to bring water from Hillsboro to Peabody, spearheaded by Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
At the time the line was laid from Hillsboro to Peabody, no suggestion was made that Nighthawk Rd. would ever be altered.
“I sat there where you council members are sitting now when we got the water project going,” Dallke said. “We didn’t have the money to pay for private right-of-way land all the way down. Our only other option was to put the line on public access land. But we didn’t see this construction in our future either.
“Now we are concerned about accidents on that road as well as problems that emergency vehicles might encounter around those curves in bad weather. The recommendation is to straighten the road and that will mean moving the water line.”
County commissioners are of the opinion that it will be the city’s responsibility to pay for the engineering and construction.
However, he also said the county would do whatever it could to help with some funding or a payment plan the city could live with.
Boettcher indicated about 1350 feet of pipe would need to be moved.
“We would have to put it out for bid to see exactly where we stand on cost,” he said. “But you are probably looking at between $20 and $50 a linear foot.”
After discussion, Dallke and Boettcher agreed to move ahead with a reasonable estimate, get several bids, and have a firm amount to present to council members.
Boettcher said he thought he could have it ready by the June 13 meeting.
In other business:
- Acceptance of a resolution to adopt a 1percent retail sales tax in the city by voters in the primary election in August was tabled until the June 13 meeting. The tax would replace a 1percent sales tax that was approved by voters in 2006 for the purpose of adding money to the special streets and highways account in the city budget. The tax was set by law to “sunset” at the end of 2016. It cannot be extended, but voters can approve a second 1percent tax to go into effect after the first expires. Council members tabled acceptance of the resolution because they felt some of the wording was misleading.
- Council members approved rescinding the directive of an earlier council about sending municipal cases to district court. Except for felony charges and charges against juveniles, most arrests made in Peabody will now be routed through municipal court in an effort to keep more revenue in the city.
- A check for $750 was donated to the city by Peabody Recreation Commission to help defray the cost of free swim nights at Peabody Municipal pool.