Grant hoped for 190th Rd.
Staff writer
Although a much-traveled road between Marion and Hillsboro is closed indefinitely for repairs, a light at the end of the tunnel might be shining.
A grant from the Natural Resources Conservation Service is hoped to pay for needed repairs to get 190th Rd. open again. Citing safety concerns, the county closed the road last week after the road, already weakened by erosion from the South Cottonwood River, became softer, concrete began cracking, and a guardrail began tilting toward the river.
“The road seems to be sagging a little more than it has been,” road and bridge supervisor Jessie Hamm told county commissioners the day after it was closed. “Even residents who drove over it yesterday noticed it was sagging more.”
Hamm said when he talked to the conservation office, he was told the county probably qualifies for federal funds to help repair the road.
County commissioner Dan Holub said it’s crucial to maintain the width of the Cottonwood’s channel and also crucial to see what lies beneath the road.
Holub said a pond on the north side of the road is 10 feet higher than the river and gravity could be drawing pond water down to the river.
In other business, commissioners:
- Reviewed bids and approved hiring the Dellinger Fence Company of Salina to build a fence on a portion of the former Florence school campus. Installing a fence will make it possible for Christian Church of Florence to operate an after-school program in a building on the corner of the lot. The church’s insurance company would not provide coverage without a fence between the dilapidated school and the after-school program.
- Approved hiring David Funk as sheriff’s reserve deputy.
- Granted permission to the county attorney to negotiate on the county’s behalf to buy property.
- Set a Sept. 8 work meeting to discuss 190th Rd. and for finalizing plans for a fence at the Florence school.