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County announces Peterson Ranch Road paving schedule; local conservation work continues amid NRCS staffing disruptions
Summary
Public works said asphalt work on Peterson Ranch Road will start Oct. 27 and take about 20 working days; a conservation-district speaker reported NRCS staffing reduced by about a third and said state cost-share funds for local conservation are down from last year.
Riley County public works told commissioners on Oct. 20 that asphalt resurfacing on Peterson Ranch Road is scheduled to begin Oct. 27 and is expected to take about 20 working days, weather permitting.
"We are gonna start the asphalt work on Peterson Ranch Road. That's expected to start on October 27. We've allotted it 20 working days, so weather permitting, we should be finished up by November 21," Evan McMillan, public works, told the commission.
McMillan identified two affected locations on the project as Thomas Weyrd and Thomas Weyrd Circle.
Separately, a representative from the county conservation side told the commission that the federal government shutdown has reduced Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) staffing across the state by "a little over a third," slowing processing of federal cost-share payments and project approvals. The speaker said the county was able to reassign an experienced NRCS technician through a state-funded position, which has allowed local state cost-share projects to move forward but that federal systems remain largely offline until the shutdown ends.
The conservation representative also reported that the local program put more state cost-share funds in the ground last fiscal year (about $86,000) than any prior year, but said this year's allocation is roughly one-third of that amount and that a waiting list of about 25 applicants exists for projects in Riley County. The district is pursuing uncommitted funds elsewhere in the state to cover more local projects and piloted a $2,500 chemical cost-share pool focused on invasive-species control (maximum $250 per individual), the speaker said.
