ROBERT PIERCE
• Leader & Times
Leaders with Seward County have been looking for financial means to fix several roads in the county, and at the county commission’s March 17 regular meeting, some help was found.
At the meeting, commissioners voted unanimously to approve an agreement with the Kansas Department of Transportation for the state Cost Share Program for a hot mix asphalt overlay project on Meade Lake Road. Before the vote, Administrator April Warden reviewed the project’s timeline.
“The Kansas Legislature authorized the secretary of transportation to provide funding for programs to assist local units of government in the administration of transportation projects, which includes construction, preservation, expansion and modernization throughout the state,” she said. “We did submit an application for the Cost Share Program.”
Warden said that application was authorized by Gov. Laura Kelly and KDOT Secretary Calvin Reed under the legislation. She then outlined who is responsible for the costs of the project and for how much.
“The secretary of KDOT is responsible for 57 percent of the total actual cost of construction,” she said. “Their total contribution is not to exceed $1 million. Seward County is responsible for 43 percent of the total actual cost of construction until the secretary’s funding limit is reached. Then we’re responsible for 100 percent of the total actual cost of construction, 100 percent of the cost of the preliminary engineering, construction, engineering right of way and utility adjustments and 100 percent of the non-participating cost. The total cost of this project is $1,750,000.“
Warden said county officials were notified in June 2024 they were selected to receive state funds for the Meade Lake Road project. She added the project was included in a bid the county put out as part of a plan for 28 miles of overlay work this year.
Warden said County Counsel Nathan Foreman had gone through the agreement before sending it back to Warden, and CW Harper from Kirkham Michael & Associates, the county’s road consulting firm, had likewise reviewed the agreement.
