Chase County approves consultant agreement to pursue FHWA bridge investment grant with Osage County partnership

Chase County commissioners voted Aug. 29 to enter into an agreement with Valley Consultants to pursue a federal Bridge Investment Program grant in partnership with Osage County.

Brandy Sutherland, a representative of Valley Consultants, told the commission the FHWA program can fund design and construction and can reach very large award amounts; she said the grant covers "design and construction costs, up to a $100,000,000." Sutherland proposed packaging a set of bridges along Middle Creek Road with additional nearby bridges to increase competitiveness and to demonstrate multi‑jurisdictional benefits. She identified 16 candidate bridges across the participating counties and outlined a plan to break the overall work into construction‑ready segments so smaller contractors can bid.

Under the FHWA program described in the meeting, FHWA provides 80% of eligible costs; the state's Build Kansas Fund can provide part of the remaining match so the county's direct contribution could be as low as 5% in some cases. Sutherland said the bundled proposal could cover many bridges at an estimated total near $75 million and that a 5% local match on that scale would be about $3.7 million. She also told commissioners that the grant application is due Nov. 1 and that a $12,500 consultant fee is required to prepare the application; the commission approved using Fund O85 (the county multi‑year capital improvement plan) to pay the consultant fee.

Commissioner Tony Hazleton and others said the program offers an unusual opportunity to bring federal and state match money to rural bridges and that Osage County will act as lead applicant and primary FHWA contact for the paired application. Sutherland said Osage County's economic development director, Colleen Mendoza, agreed to be the lead applicant and that Osage staff would handle prime reporting if the project is selected; Chase County staff would still be responsible for local invoicing and coordination.

The commission voted to sign the consultant agreement and move forward with the application; commissioners directed staff to continue working with Sutherland, Osage County staff and state partners on match planning and the application timeline.

Ending: Commissioners emphasized the urgency of the Nov. 1 application deadline and asked staff to return with a funding plan for the local match if the application progresses to award stage.