Riley County commissioners approve rebids, contracts and rate changes in May 29 meeting

Riley County commissioners approved a series of routine and project-specific actions during their May 29 meeting, including direction to rebid a transfer-station floor replacement, approval of a $1,288,895 asphalt overlay contract, three benefit-district rate increases and authorization to return a vehicle bid to staff for review.

The board voted, by voice, to: modify the specifications and rebid the TS tipping-floor replacement project after engineers and bidders priced a higher-cost flooring option; approve a public fireworks permit for the Randolph Lions Club event on June 28; sign a contract with Shilling Construction Co. for the 2025 asphalt overlay in the amount of $1,288,895; and send a lone 7-passenger van bid from Kia of Manhattan (total bid $39,688) back to the department for review and recommendation.

Commissioners also approved routine business including tax-roll corrections, new hire paperwork for several county positions, payroll and accounts payable, and signatures on personnel documents. The board approved motions to revise sewer and water rates for three benefit districts—Terra Heights, Deep Creek Sewer and Hunters Island—setting the new effective date for those adjustments as July 1, 2025. The board approved quarterly and one-time items, and signed required documents where indicated.

The board voted to approve an invoice of $11,860 to cover housing of Riley County inmates at other county jails for the current quarter; the county sheriff and jail officials had described multiple out-of-county placements driven by capacity, classification and safety constraints in the local jail. The commission also directed the county counselor to draft a fence-view order following a fence-view hearing between Hargrave and Salzman property owners; the draft order will treat the full partition line as the partition fence and assign maintenance of each half by the adjacent owner per the board’s instruction.

Where vote tallies were recorded, the clerk’s record shows voice votes of “Aye” for each motion; no roll-call tallies were recorded in the public transcript for these motions. For staffing and contract approvals, the clerk requested the three commissioners’ signatures when required.

The commission held two executive sessions under the nonelected personnel exception to the Kansas Open Meetings Act; commissioners stated on the record that no binding action was taken in executive session and that subsequent actions would be consistent with consensus reached in those sessions.

Votes at a glance (motions approved May 29, 2025): - Modify specifications and rebid TS tipping-floor replacement project — outcome: approved (motion made, seconded, voice vote “Aye”). - Approve public fireworks display permit for Bruce Zimmer and Brad Holler / Randolph Lions Club — outcome: approved (approval recorded; event date: June 28, 2025). - Approve contract with Shilling Construction Co. for 2025 asphalt overlay, $1,288,895 — outcome: approved (motion, seconded, voice vote “Aye”). - Approve tax roll corrections — outcome: approved. - Approve listed new hires and employee action forms (public works, appraiser, health department child care) — outcome: approved; documents to be signed. - Approve payroll and accounts payable — outcome: approved. - Approve revised sewer/water rates for Terra Heights, Deep Creek Sewer and Hunters Island benefit districts (effective July 1, 2025) — outcome: approved (three separate motions; board directed staff to publish notice and implement July 1 date). - Send Kia of Manhattan bid for a 7-passenger van (bid $39,688) back to staff for review and recommendation — outcome: approved. - Approve invoice for housing Riley County inmates out of county, $11,860 (first quarter) — outcome: approved. - Direct county counselor to draft fence-view order based on the fence-view hearing (Hargrave v. Salzman), treating the partition line as the partition fence and assigning east/west maintenance per board deliberation — outcome: approved.

No vote was recorded to deny any of the above items in the public transcript; where commissioners asked for signatures or clarifications those actions were completed or scheduled.

Ending The actions reflect a mix of capital contracting, operational adjustments and policy-direction items commonly handled during a county business meeting. Several agenda items will return to the board for final signatures, budget adjustments or formal adoption language (for example, the finalized fence-view order and any opioid-settlement funding proposals tied to later agendas).