Dust kicked up by vehicles is so thick on Delaware Road east of Humboldt that Sharon Scarrow fears it may cause an accident. A FRIDAY night outdoor movie and barbecue cookoff will be new features of this year’s Farm-City Days festival Oct. 18-19, Shelia Lampe, Iola Area Chamber of Commerce director, told commissioners. COMMISSIONERS agreed to make available $1,500 annually for the Kansas Department of Commerce’s Rural Opportunity Zone program to forgive up to $15,000 of a student loan if the holder moved to Allen County and stayed here five years. COMMISSIONERS contributed $2,000 to help with the grand opening celebration for Allen County Regional Hospital Oct. 17 and 18.
The dust adds insult to injury. Sharon and her husband, Virgil, purposely bought their rural home along a hard-surfaced thorough to escape dusty roads.
Four miles of Delaware, between 2200 and 3000 streets, were chewed up in preparation for a rebuild up earlier this year because of a number of breakdowns in its chip-seal surface.
Bill King, director of Public Works, then asked for weight limit of 15 tons and a speed limit of 45 mph to curtail heavy truck traffic, which he said caused the road’s failure. His intention was to let it remain in crushed rock condition through the winter and rebuild the four miles in the spring.
That’s still the plan, but it will be altered some after the Scarrows’ plea for dust relief struck a chord with Allen County commissioners Tuesday morning.
Chairman Dick Works asked King if dust abatement material would be the answer.
Not without frequent watering and then the material soon would dissipate if his crew continued to “work the road” with graders preparatory to its rebuild, King said.
A solution commissioners and King agreed to was to dispatch a water truck periodically to settle dust near the Scarrows’ and other homes and also lower the speed limit to 35 mph.
Sharon Scarrow said she thought a lower speed limit would help control the dust. Commissioners said they would ask Sheriff Bryan Murphy to have his officers aggressively enforce the lower speed limit.
She said the movie would be shown Friday night and Girl Scouts would sell popcorn. The cookoff, sponsored by B&W Trailer Hitches, Humboldt, will be Saturday, with winners announced after the parade.
“We’re changing things up some this year and have lots of new booths,” Lampe said. “The farm side (of the festival) is building back up.”
The state matches up of $1,500 a year.
Barbara Anderson, local state representative, asked commissioners to participate several weeks ago and also made several presentations about the program since. Commissioner Tom Talkington encouraged the county to participate, after “having had several people talk to me about it.”
Works said he hoped the county’s participation would lead to businesses and industries becoming financially involved, which would permit them to specify the recipient and use the program in employee recruitment. Money put forth by the county will be claimed on a first-come basis.
Patti Boyd, a member of the organizing committee, said the money would be used for invitations and postage, souvenir glasses and T-shirts for volunteers.
“We’re 95 percent sure Sen. Jerry Moran will be here to speak at dedication ceremonies on Oct. 18,” Boyd said.
Dusty roads a bane to county residents
