Farmers who want to cut and bale grass growing on road rights of way may have at it.
Bill King, director of Public Works, told Allen County commissioners Tuesday morning he hoped farmers would take advantage of the potential forage and also help the county suppress grass and weeds along roads. King also encouraged rural residents to mow along rights of way near their homes.
“We’ll have mowers out next week — the first time — but they will be restricted to cutting along blacktop roads and at intersections,” King said. Mowing has been curtailed to save money.
He noted Arizona Road, which runs east from old U.S. 169 just north of where a new bridge is being constructed on 1000 Street, would be closed occasionally to accommodate the work. The road, on the Allen-Neosho counties line, will be widened on either side of the bridge and drainage improved. Work should be completed sometime in November.
Representatives of the Allen County Conversation District asked the county for $25,000 in support. The county’s contribution is matched by state money. The district oversees soil and water conservation projects and during the past year attracted more than $215,000 in federal funding. Part of its responsibility is education, done through Earth Day activities for county students.
Eric Ferrell of the Alliance for Technology Commercialization, which works with inventors and innovators in 13 Southeast Kansas counties, asked the county to provide $1,800 for its budget. He noted ATC funding had been cut 20 percent each of the last two years, reducing its upcoming budget to $64,000 from the Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation and city of Pittsburg. Allen County has 14 clients under ATC’s wing, or about 5 percent of the 264 served the last 10 years.
Commissioners said they would consider the requests.
ALLEN COUNTY has had a no-smoking policy in the courthouse since 1993. Now, it’s better advertised and will be more stringent.
County Counselor Alan Weber showed commissioners signs to be posted at entrances giving notice that smoking isn’t permitted.
To bring county policy into line with state law, smoking will not be permitted outdoors within 10 feet of an entrance or a window.
