Small Town News

County hears update for stone arch preservation

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The stone arch bridges at Lake Wabaunsee haven't made headlines for a while, but members of the Arch Bridge Committee have continued to work to secure their survival.

Lake Wabaunsee Resident Ron Martinek and others formed the Lake Wabaunsee Arch Bridge Committee to look into preserving the bridges around Lake Wabaunsee, which were built as Works Progress Administration projects in the 1930s. Residents have been working to preserve them for their historical and aesthetic value.

The LWABC met with commissioners during the end of 2008 and early 2009 to ask that the east bridge be taken care of and preserved, and in March commissioners requested County Attorney Norbert Marek to draft a letter to the group asking for their recommendations and plan for bridge preservation by the end of 2009.

At Monday's Wabaunsee County Commission meeting, Martinek said he had received the letter and has continued to look at options for preserving the bridges.

Martinek said he has submitted information on the bridge to the state historical register and the reaction seemed very positive.

He said the state felt the bridges should clearly qualify and he was strongly urged to apply for recognition on the National Register of Historical Places.

Martinek said the letter he received from the county asked two primary questions - can the bridge be preserved and how do we pay for it?

As he researched these questions he found a company in Topeka that believes the bridge can be saved, but said it is unlikely it would be able to be brought up to Kansas Department of Transportation standards, meaning traditional KDOT funds would not be available for the project.

However, Martinek said there are other funding sources available outside of KDOT and he said he has been in conversation with Baldwin City, which recently completed a historical bridge renovation for $700,000 through a matching grant that provided 80 percent of the funds if the city provided the remaining 20 percent.

"I don't think the east bridge is dead yet," Martinek said. "I think there's a way to save it."

"I was shocked and pleased that there may be a fund out there that carries a significant amount of money," he added.

Martinek said his contact in Baldwin also is willing to tutor him through the grant process

Commissioner Jim Suber then asked Martinek whether the bridge would continue to belong to the county or if it would transfer to the LWABC at the end of the process.

Martinek said he didn't see that the process would change ownership and added that if maintenance was Suber's concern he would guess the bridge is a small drop in the county road maintenance budget.

Marek added that the county would need to continue to be involved if the bridge remained a public traffic way.

Commissioners continued discussing the bridge later in their meeting.

Suber said his main concern is to make sure whatever happens with the bridge won't throw off the timing of events that need to happen now that it is on the county's five-year plan for repair or replacement.

Road and Bridge Department Supervisor Les Schrader said the important part of issuing an end-of-the-year deadline for the LWABC to present it's plan is so Engineer Bob Chambers would know whether to plan on retaining the bridge or a building a whole new bridge when the project comes due.

Chambers reminded commissioners that if the bridge were to not qualify for the historical register it would severely limit the amount of funding available for renovation, which likely would influence which direction the county proceeds.

Commissioner Ervan Stuewe said he had some concern with the 80-20 breakdown.

He said he was under the impression the county would be asked to provide the 20 percent match and he wondered if the bridge is not brought up to KDOT standards whether the county really would gain if it then had to turn around and match 20 percent for a second bridge to meet standards.

Commissioners also discussed a request for the county to take over a private drive and opted to decline the offer.

Stuewe said Jim Bassett, the developer of the Saddle Creek Subdivision, came and visited with him last week about whether the county would take over the private drive running through the development.

Stuewe said four of the 19 lots have sold and homes have been built on three of those.

He said when the development began Bassett planned on the road being a public road. He said Bassett spent $100,000 last year to pave the road and Bassett now would like to know if the county would like to take it over.

Zoning Administrator David Stuewe said he would proceed with caution.

"I guess I would caution that if you entertained doing that you have him hire an engineer and take some samples," Stuewe suggested.

Ervan Stuewe said he had told Bassett it wouldn't be a quick process if the county were to opt to take the road.

"I told him there's going to have to be a lot of thought put into this," Stuewe said.

"Would there be any advantage to us taking over this road?" Suber asked.

Ervan Stuewe and Marek said they couldn't see any.

"I think there's too many unknowns," Commission Chairman Rodney Allen said.

They also asked Chambers for his advice and he indicated he couldn't see any advantage for the county in doing so.

The county will write Bassett a letter declining the offer.

Representatives from the Mental Health Center of East Central Kansas attended the meeting asking commissioners to sign a proclamation designating September as Alcoholism and Drug Addiction Recovery Month. Commissioners signed the proclamation.

They also discussed some of the activities that will be taking place through the month as part of the celebration and they heard some updates on the Mental Health center.

Commissioners also signed an order vacating a township road surrounded by property owned by the Meinhardt family, and they approved Resolution 2009-17 reflecting that there will be an increase in taxation in Wabaunsee County.



Copyright 2009 The Wabaunsee County Signal-Enterprise, Alma, Kansas. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from SmallTownPapers, Inc.

© 2009 The Wabaunsee County Signal-Enterprise Alma, Kansas. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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