County Commission June 28,2010

All Commissioners present

Rod Meridith showed pictures of the extensive damage done to roads by the heavy rains. Many roads were badly damaged and/or had gravel shoulders washed away. In one place, when a hole was probed, they found it was nine feet deep! There are work orders for 100 different sites. Some places had 7 inches of rain in one hour.

Meridith continued his remarks during the press conference. He announced the roads that are closed by high water in Tuttle Creek Reservoir. This situation should improve when the outlet tubes are opened. The lake level was 1101ft. on Monday. Conservation level is 1075.

Laurie Harrison, co-coordinator of RC Emergency Management said that the appraiser’s office estimates that damages from the heavy rains in Keats, West Anderson, Highland Ridge, Garden Way, Redbud Estates and Ogden stands at just over $5 million. This includes multi-family, single family residences along with businesses.
Some of the public infrastructure damage:
Riley County Roads and bridge, $80,000 and Wildcat Township $19,790 for flood damage to roads. The City of Manhattan had $118,542 in damage to Anneburg Park and $14,660 in lightning damage to lift stations.

Larry Couchman reported on the Emergency responses at the 2010 Country Stampede..
He gave comparisons to three previous Stampedes and showed that emergency situations were lower this year. The number of EMS patients was 119, compared to 148 last year. Ambulance transports 14, compared to 20 last year. The total number of people treated was 500, down from 668 last year. This included 381 first aid patients..

Rich Vargo said that the assessed property value for July in Riley County was over $500 million. The County itself is one of 48 taxing entities in the county area. There are whole or parts of 8 school districts, cemetery districts, etc.
Julie Merklin observer