Weekly News – Moisture and Mosquitoes

The rains have stopped, so the street project is back on in full force.  The storm drains are in place and the next phase will be the replacement of the water lines.

Along with the rains come the mosquitoes!  The city crew sprayed the first time on June 5th.  However…we would like to ask the citizens to help us out.  Mosquitoes require water to breed.  Adult mosquitoes lay eggs in stagnant or slow moving water.  By eliminating these water sources, you can keep new generations of mosquitoes from taking up residence in your yard. You may need to reroute your downspouts or add extensions to carry water away.  Walk your property after a rain and look for areas that are holding water. Dump anything that holds water twice per week if it rains.  Birdbaths, wading pools and pottery will all attract breeding mosquitoes. Keep your property clean of any items that can hold water, including discarded aluminum cans and old tires.

The crews have been busy grading alleys and roads.  The road to the lake is smooth again, so plan a trip out to enjoy the City Lake.  Fishing, boating, a picnic and the new shooting range are a few ways you can enjoy the lake.  Permits are $4.00 per day for a vehicle or a yearly pass is $25.00.  There is no fee for fishing.

Our City Administrator has moved on and the search for a new administrator continues.  Interested applicants can view the job advertisement at http://www.lkm.org/classifieds/jobs/.

 

Weekly News – Rain, GIP, Busy Crews

The rain continues to come which is indeed great for our agriculture, but please be patient with the City as rain does increase and bog our work down.  The Street Project has been delayed several days due to the rain.  The contractors are at key points in connecting the storm water lines and if not done in dry conditions, it could undermine the underlying foundations.  So until a few dry days come back to back, the work will continue to be slow.

The sewer contractors finished their work Friday, May 15th but there are still a number of manholes that need to be raised by the City crew.  These manholes had previously been buried beneath inches (and in some instances feet) of dirt or asphalt.  The crews will install collar risers to raise the lids.  But due to the rainy conditions, the crews are busy trying to keep up with much needed (and required) mowing at the lagoon, airport, lake, and around town.  In addition, the rain has deteriorated several heavily used alleys.  The city crew is attempting to get to these as well.

The crews are also hard at work installing new padmount transformers at the power plant to maintain low voltage power in the building and keep the work flowing to the next phase of construction with the electric contractors.  The power plant project continues to hum along and take shape.

In addition to the needed power plant work, the City crew is also making immediate plans to replace a couple broken valves just east of Main Street along Highway Street.  Before the contractors can begin working on the water mains under Main Street, the City crew will need to successfully shut the water off to these lines which will require a couple of days of valve replacements.

All in all, it’s a very busy time for the much stretched city crew.  The City has reached out to a couple of communities for assistance, but they are busy as well with their own projects.  So please be patient with the City as this is a very busy time.

For anyone interested in the City Administrator position, an advertisement has been listed on the League of Kansas Municipalities website: http://www.lkm.org/classifieds/jobs/.  Please pass the word along to anyone qualified who is interested.