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Kechi street survey to identify repair, maintenance needs 
By David Dinell
Last Updated: March 31, 2016

Roads have been a part of life in Kechi since the city was founded in 1888. But until now, there has never been a comprehensive evaluation of the streets, what needs to be fixed — and when. 

That's changed. 

At the March 24 meeting of the Kechi City Council, its members approved what is called the Kechi Street Evaluation project. The work will be performed by Professional Engineering Consultants of Wichita and will provide a vital blueprint, say city officials. 

"We need to know where we stand with our streets," said member Kevin Opat.

He said the approach in the past has been "patchwork" with streets and that has resulted in officials not clearly knowing what's needed next. 

Cost of the contract is $15,000, but Opat and others believe the expenditure is worth it and means the city will do a better job of spending road funds and preventing "sticker shock" of a needed, expensive project. 

Public works director Larry Kellenberger agreed, especially for roads such as Woodlawn between K-254 and 53rd Street North, which the county has basically turned over to the city to maintain. 

"What we're doing with this is setting up a maintenance program for our streets," he said. 

 Ben Mabry, an engineer with PEC who discussed the issue with the council, said the streets would be surveyed and given a rating system to develop a "plan of attack" for needed work. Mabry, who has driven on most of the city's roads, said that they are in generally good shape, but asphalt does require maintenance and this survey will track that. 

"At least you will know what's going on," he said. 

The document also will report on curb-and-gutter issues, sidewalks, storm water drainage and utility relocations. PEC will present the city with five bound copies of the study and one electronic version. It also will present its findings to the city at a meeting.  

Along with evaluating streets, the survey makes an inventory of all streets, rates improvements and provides cost estimates. A similar study was done by PEC for the city of South Hutchinson. 

"It really does make a difference," Mabry said. 

City Clerk Laura Hill said it would help when staff takes calls from residents about street conditions and they can then refer to the survey to point out the engineer's assessment. 

In other action, the council: 

•Approved a bid of $1,987 from Concrete Works Inc. of Haysville to replace a side ramp at Kodiak and Dakota streets. City Administrator Bob Conger said the company has done recent repairs for Kechi and has provided low-cost, quality work. The job is needed because the ramp has fallen into poor shape as a result of weather issues and ground settling and now poses a trip hazard. The ramp must be in place to comply with ADA regulations, he said. 

•Authorized a bid of $108,270 from McCullough Excavation Inc. of Wichita to place a water line under K-254 to serve the Young Industrial Phase 1. It was the low bid. There were five bids in all, with the highest at $163,352. All were under the engineer's estimate of $171,604. City officials say McCullough has the specialized equipment to do the job, which is needed to provided water for a new storage business planned for the site. 

•Heard from Police Chief John Blevins on the cost of solar powered caution lights near the city park. They are $7,500, he said. Similar lights are now in operation in Bel Aire in the 4300 block of Woodlawn and Kechi council members want to see about getting them. Also, he reported that the department is in the process of having equipment and lighting removed from its 2012 Charger to transfer to a new vehicle, which will be in soon. 

•Tabled a proposal to have a new floor installed in City Hall's Community Room. The current floor is scuffed and scratched, but council members decided the cost of a new floor was too much even with money available. Bids ranged from $6,732 to $8,750. "We just need to do a better job of maintaining it," Opat said.





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