LAHARPE LaHarpe is roughly 1,200 miles away from where Hurricane Florence was beginning to pound the East Coast today, but the massive storm still has affected the local electric upgrade project.
Crews in LaHarpe this summer have been dispatched to the Carolinas to assist with the expected electric outages once Florence makes landfall, said Eric Hethcoat of BG Consultants.
The crews are scheduled to be out of LaHarpe for about two weeks, Hethcoat said.
The timing, while unexpected, should not hamper the schedule, Hethcoat explained, because the next step installing new transformers and utility poles was expected to begin around Oct. 1, anyway.
While the city originally was looking at completion by Thanksgiving, it may extend a few days past that, Hethcoat said.
IN MARCH, a group of LaHarpe residents targeted a number of improvements they eyed for the city in what was dubbed a Real LaHarpe talk.
The next step to seeing some of those goals become reality everything from cleaning up properties to better animal control, sidewalks or signage takes place next Thursday with a meet-and-eat session.
The event, sponsored by Thrive Allen County and the Kansas Health Foundation, will cover IOBY (in your own backyard) crowdfunding.
The goal is to dream up ways to raise $10,000 locally for various civic projects, with the hopes of drawing a $10,000 matching grant from KHF.
The event runs from 6 to 8 p.m. at LaHarpe City Hall, and will be catered. The public is invited.
Also on the calendar in the coming weeks is a community wide cleanup effort Oct. 20. A group of students from Kansas State University will be in town to volunteer their efforts. Other locals also are being recruited.
LaHarpe PRIDE members are canvassing neighborhoods to see if residents need items hauled away, or yards otherwise cleaned.
LAHARPES new fitness center is ready for use.
