By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post
As Ellis County crews continue to work to cleanup from the severe storms on Sept. 2, the county is getting a better idea of the costs and what it can expect in reimbursement from federal authorities.
Ellis County Public Works Director Bill Ring gave the county commission an update on the five projects as part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency Disaster Declaration for Sept. 2 to 12 at Monday’s meeting. During that time period, significant rainfall caused flooding across the region.
Ring said, of the five projects, four are complete and submitted to FEMA for a total cost of $363,566.39.
FEMA will reimburse 75-percent of the money spent and the state of Kansas reimburses 10-percent for $308,181, according to Ring.
The cleanup effort includes replacing washed out roads and culverts, damage to signs, and removal of debris from bridges and waterways.
They are currently 85-percent complete with the final project, according to Ring. He estimated it will cost $317,823.30.
The commission also got the results of its bi-annual bridge inspection from Kirkham Michael Consulting Engineers. John Riggins with Kirkham Michael presented the report to the commission Monday.
Each year, the county is required by the state to have the bridges in the county inspected, and an employee of Kirkham Michael did the inspection in November and December.
Riggins said each bridge is given a sufficiency rating – the lower the rating, the worse the bridge is. If a rating is less than 50, it qualifies to be submitted for KDOT’s off-system bridge program. Last year, the county used the program to receive funding to rebuild the bridge on 180th Avenue over the Smoky Hill River southwest of Hays.
Riggins said the program is very competitive and said that for a bridge to be selected, it has to receive a rating of less than 30.
The study classified 31 bridges in the county as structurally deficient or obsolete. Ring stressed the classification does not mean that structures are a threat to motorists, instead it is just a way to categorize the structures because the way they were built is outdated. But the study estimated the cost to repair those bridges at between $9 million and $10 million.
“Yes, you do have a lot of structurally deficient bridges,” Riggins said, “As a percentage, are there counties with more? Definitely. Are there ones with less? Yes.”
The off-system bridge program is the only program to get matching funds for bridge repair through KDOT, according to Riggins. Without matching funds, the county is responsible for 100-percent of the cost.
The bridge with the lowest rating is the bridge on North County Line Road over Tom Cat Creek. The bridge was selected as part of the previous grant process and construction will begin later this year. KDOT will cover 80-percent of the cost with Ellis and Rooks counties paying 10-percent each.
In other business, the commission:
• Gave the approval for the Fair Board to increase fair building rental fees from $675 to $800 starting in 2018. The rate increase will help the Fair Board make needed improvements to their buildings.
• Approved a fee increase for moving permit within the county of $5 to $100. The permit is for moving structures that are 16-feet or higher from the road surface. There were just five permits obtained in Ellis County last year.
• Approved an agreement for service with Developmental Services of Northwest Kansas for $238,100.
• Reviewed the 2016 annual noxious week progress report and approved the 2017 plan.