By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post
The Ellis County Commission approved right of way acquisition and an environmental assessment on the Northwest Business Corridor at this week’s commission meeting as the project continues to move along.
Buck Driggs from Driggs Design group presented the first amendment to the Northwest Business Corridor contract Monday and gave the commission an update on the project.
The acquisition covers a portion of 31 tracts of land for needs improvements for the road project. The total cost is $119,000.
“These are items we really didn’t know a whole lot about with the original contract,” Driggs said. “We had to get into design before we understood how many tracts of property were really going to be required.”
Information presented to the commission indicated they had originally had planned for an impact to approximately 25 tracts of land.
The acquisitions include temporary construction easements and permanent right of way acquisition.
Driggs told the commission Monday they have submitted 30-percent plans to the Kansas Department of Transportation.
“I think overall we are about three weeks ahead of schedule,” Driggs said. “This will keep us ahead of schedule.”
Driggs said a lot of the environmental review has already been done by KDOT.
Terracon Consultants will begin geotechnical exploration Monday.
The set of plans will be field check plans, according to Driggs, and those will be submitted in August.
In other business, the commission:
- Got an annual mental health annual report from High Plains Mental Health.
- Held a public hearing on a community development block grant for the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Tabled a discussion on purchasing additional security cameras for the Administration Building.
- Continued discussions on the 2021 budget.