Allen County commissioners learned Tuesday from a local contractor who specializes in dirt work filling the hole created by removal of Allen County Hospital — specifically its basement — can be a complicated procedure.
R.J. Helms said compaction requirements required for construction of a new G&W Foods grocery, as well as apartments, should be known precisely to avoid problems down the road.
“Are you building a pad for the store or just filling the hole,” queried Helms, adding that engineers who will hold sway over the store’s construction should be involved.
City Counselor Alan Weber had prepared a cursory request for proposal document that Helms said needed more information, including specifics about the perimeter of the store.
More than 9,000 cubic yards of dirt will be required to fill the basement hole, Helms said, with that number depending on the compaction requirements.
Weber, soaking in Helms’ comments, agreed, saying “we have to get G&W engineers more involved.”
Demolition of the old hospital was completed last week by Remco Demolition, Kansas City. G&W representatives have said work on the new store would start this spring, with completion later in the year. The grocery will be full service and give Iolans an in-town option to Walmart and convenience stores.
COMMISSIONERS delayed until next Tuesday a decision on declaring an official county newspaper for 2016.
The past several years that has been rotated between the Iola Register and Humboldt Union, with some legal notices appearing in both.
Commissioner Tom Williams proposed “we continue on the rotation,” which would have led to the Union being named.
The motion failed to garner a second from either Commissioner Jim Talkington or newly elected Chairman Jerry Williams. Both cited differences between the number of subscribers and days of publication — the Union publishes once a week, said publisher Kim Ralstin, and has about 1,000 subscribers. The Register publishes five days a week, has a website, and has 3,300 subscribers.
Daniels suggested tabling the decision and also said he thought it better to publish notices in each newspaper, regardless which was “official.”
County Clerk Sherrie Riebel will provide costs associated with notices at next Tuesday’s meeting. Without pulling out charges for those published by the courts that aren’t decided by the commissioners, $21,929 was spent in 2014, with the Union receiving $7,473, the Register $14,356; in 2015, with the Register the official newspaper, it received $17,314, the Union $1,954, a total $19,268.
“We’re lucky to have two papers in the county — some counties have none — and we can reach the most people by publishing in both,” Daniels observed.
