ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
Citizens may have noticed crews working throughout the city on various projects and Tuesday, the community got to hear about some of those projects currently in progress.
“We are currently working on water line replacement throughout the city. This is not for any one general area, it truly is a project that’s going on throughout the city,” Chief Communications Officer Keeley Moree said. “It’s one of those things people don’t really see, but the delivery of safe, clean water is one of our number one priorities. With that, we are looking to assist with the service for those individuals maybe living in areas where they’re working off of 2-inch or 4-inch lines. What we’ll be doing is replacing more than five miles underground of water lines throughout the city, and that will help improve more than 240 connections and again, it’s going to be upgrading from 2-inch or 4-inch lines to larger lines of six to eight inches. As we’ve continued to grow, we need to make sure our infrastructure and resources below ground are also taken care of. That is a massive project and something we worked really hard to be able to put together.”
Another project also seeing progress is pet registration, Moree said.
“That process will begin in January and is a new process for us, even though it’s very common in other cities to do pet registration and licensing,” Moree said. “It will be new for Liberal, but again, we’ve got a great staff out at the Liberal Animal Shelter, and we talked with them recently about all of this. The registration will be able to be completed online, which makes it really easy to get on, register your pet(s), fill out your information, upload their spay/neuter information and vaccination information, and then you’ll be mailed a tag for the pet(s) to be able to make sure you’ll be able to be reunited if you get separated somehow. This is also another way we’ll be able to make sure the animals in the community are staying up to date with vaccinations, which is important for public health and helping control the stray animal population, which we have all heard about by now. Beyond that, there are multiple other efforts the Liberal Animal Shelter staff has gone through to be able to help with that, including low-cost spay/neuter clinics and partnering with many other shelter facilities and resources that have the availability so we can keep on top of that issue.”
Moree said effort is also be put toward redesigning the City of Liberal Web site.
“The City of Liberal Web site has been outdated for multiple years now, and we definitely now have many more people who use that resource on their smartphones,” Moree said. “By Christmas, we will have a new City of Liberal Web site launched, which we’re really excited about. The redesign looks really good, it’s going to be very user-friendly, and I think people will greatly appreciate that.”
“I have to give a big thank you to Keeley because she’s done great work with that project,” Interim City Manager Scarlette Diseker said. “When she first came on board, we had several broken links and other aspects of the Web site that needed to be addressed. We really needed a full makeover, and like she just said, I think the community will be really happy with the final look. Something we wanted to include among all of that is information for the public on how to plan for special events – we’ve had a couple instances lately where people want to have a big event like a parade or outdoor event or something similars so we’re dedicating a part of the Web site that will have information on what you need to know, and there will be hyperlinks to forms and other necessary paperwork so everything can be in one place. Alicia [Hidalgo] has been great as far as finding ordinances and all that information, so we’re really excited to include all of that.”
Moree added the city will soon also be part of a Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) study.
“We did recently speak with some consultants for part of a transportation study going on in Southwest Kansas along U.S. Hwy. 83,” Moree said. “Garden City applied for a federal grant called Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A), and what that does is it allows communities to come together and pool their resources and be able to look at transportation needs and studies around safety. Liberal was one of several communities along U.S. Hwy. 83 that were selected to be able to speak with consultants and experts, provide data, and be able to receive a development plan and a safety plan, especially in areas of concern within the community. It’ll be great to have that outside look at our infrastructure and connections to see where we need to make those improvements. The amazing thing about this is we didn’t have to pay anything into it, it was funded by a federal grant as well as by the Department of Transportation. We’re excited to have that, it’s something we don’t currently have in our plans, and it will pair nicely with our Comprehensive Plan moving forward.”
Also undergoing some construction is a portion of Washington Avenue between 2nd Street and 4th Street.
“Staff has gone through and they’re starting to replace the gutters and sidewalks in that area, as well as the curbing,” Moree said. “We do own that municipal lot located behind the Landmark Center to the east. There was a lot of vegetation, which looked nice but was a potential hazard for people who were crossing from that lot into other nearby surrounding businesses downtown, so that project has created way better visibility and enhanced the safety of that area. That will continue along both sides of the street from 2nd Street to 4th Street, so if you see that construction, it’s going toward replacing that.”
Work throughout the community will be continuing, Moree said.
“We did recently break ground on the new pickleball courts north of the community building at Blue Bonnet Park, and staff will be installing those because we did go out to bid and found we could do it more inexpensively in house, so we are using our staff resources to get those projects done,” Moree said. “There will be four pickleball courts altogether, and it should be another very nice addition to the community. I personally didn’t know about pickleball until about a year ago, but it’s becoming a big deal, and we’re happy to offer that for people. We’re also continuing work with the community mural project, and we’ve gotten some great community response with that, and the Liberal City Commission very recently approved the contract with the mural artist, Karem Gallo, who’s done some great work in town already. It’s something we’re excited to see, and it’s being made possible through grant funds, and it should look wonderful when it’s done. With our Depot building, there are some structural issues and foundation issues as well as roof issues, and we did recently approve to be able to submit a Historic Preservation Grant through the state to be able to help with some of the repairs we know will be needed. When you’ve got all those issues combined, excess water immediately becomes a problem. These buildings are an important part of the community and Liberal’s history, so we want to do what we can in order to preserve them and keep them around for a long time, and do that in a way that’s fiscally responsible.”
Clean energy is also part of that work with the continuance of solar panel installation, Moree said, and work is also continuing on the Comprehensive Plan.
“We do have those projects live at the Liberal Fire Department and the Liberal Animal Shelter, and plans are being finalized for the Liberal Police Department and the Recreation Center roof,” Moree said. “Panels have been installed by the Wastewater Treatment Plant on Country Estates Road, and that will be very beneficial going into the future, and the public will be kept informed on how those are working.”
