HUMBOLDT — BG Consultants will recommend how Humboldt should improve 340 blocks of chip-and-seal streets, many showing decay from having gone years without improvements.
At Monday’s city council meeting, City Administrator Cole Herder said BG, with offices in Manhattan, Emporia and Lawrence, had the most attractive bid for examination of city streets. He asked better than 20 firms to bid the work, of which a handful responded.
Herder said estimates for chip-and-seal are $2 million; asphalt overlay $7 million, and replacement of streets with concrete $10 million.
While not precluding BG’s recommendation, Herder said the most likely approach would be chip-and-seal, perhaps with a helping hand from Allen County. The county has aided Humboldt in the past, and does so with smaller town most years.
Two forms of funding are plausible: proceeds from a Community Development Block Grant and a dedicated sales tax of one-half percent.
Humboldt has opportunity to seek a CDBG later this year, after a sewer project that tapped into that funding is complete. As for a sales tax, council members agreed to have City Attorney Fred Works prepare an enabling resolution.
“A resolution doesn’t mean we’d be ready to vote,” Herder explained, but would be in place if that were decided. If a vote were to occur, it would be at the general election in November.
Humboldt’s current sales tax is 9 percent. Of that, a quarter-cent tax raises $50,000 to $60,000 a year to pay for upgrades to the swimming pool. Herder projected a half-cent tax would raise $100,000 to $120,000.
Sales tax receipts have dipped a bit since the closing of Moon’s Hometown Market, but may swing the opposite direction soon.
“Plans are underway to open a new grocery in the old Moon’s building by year’s end,” Herder said. “I expect an announcement soon, but that’s all I can say now. The announcement will be up to the person who wants to reopen the store.”
IN OTHER news, council members:
— Approved payment of $246,817.07 for the current sewer project, which has refurbished with liners many mains and also is in the process of replacing ancient manholes. The project is expected to cost $3.4 million, with $1.15 million remaining to be paid.
— Were told 182 tons of sandy debris that accumulated in the Neosho River Park during May’s flooding had been removed — 26 loads at seven tons each. Allen County soon will learn if it, and property in towns damaged by the high water, will receive funds from the Kansas Department of Emergency Management. The county’s threshold is $54,542.38, which in Herder’s estimation is far less than the cost of the damage to the county’s roads.
— Learned weekly spraying for mosquitoes will start Thursday. Herder urged residents to empty any outdoor containers containing water, which provide an ideal setting for the breeding of mosquitoes. “Even a bottle cap with water in it will provide mosquitoes a place to lay eggs,” he said.
—Were told nine of 18 ash trees in the downtown square would be removed before Biblesta (Oct. 5) and the other nine afterward. The trees are diseased and faltering.
