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Council hears substation update and public-works schedule; outage blamed on raccoon
Summary
Council received a public-works and utilities update: a transformer was set Sept. 9 for a new substation, building delivery expected Sept. 19, contractors will mobilize in late September, and a recent outage was attributed to a raccoon at the Newton Substation. Street patching, chip-seal work, and fall cleanup were also reported.
Council received a multi-part update from Speaker 4 (Julie) on utilities and public-works projects including the new electrical substation, ongoing street repairs, and upcoming community events.
Julie said the substation transformer arrived and was set on Sept. 9, with the building scheduled for delivery on Sept. 19 and Carpenter Construction to be on-site to place conduit and pour a concrete pad around Sept. 22. She said staff are finalizing bids for wire and line components and working with legal counsel and KMEA on two agreements with Evergy — a delivery point agreement and an interconnect agreement — that the city hopes to present to council at its first meeting in October. "The transformer arrived and was set on September 9 as everybody in town probably has seen it," Julie said.
Julie also told the council that an outage earlier in the month was caused by a raccoon visiting the Newton Substation. She said that customer interest in rooftop solar has increased and that the city has shared the new solar ordinance and application with local providers. Public-works updates also included completion of chip-seal projects, completion of several street patching projects (including 11th Street, Lawrence Street and Washington), plans to finish the 8th and High intersection by Oct. 6, and a citywide fall cleanup scheduled for Oct. 11.
The council noted staffing changes in public works, including Maddie's last official day as a city employee on Sept. 5; Julie said Maddie would remain involved with the city in a contracted role. No formal actions were taken during the update; the items were provided for information and future council review of draft agreements with Evergy.
The city also discussed recreational maintenance matters with the Lake Advisory Committee, including an option to repair the spillway and raise the lake two feet — presented as the least expensive option that would avoid additional state permitting — and possible improvements to the Frisbee golf course.
