Access management standards that set minimum frontage and entrance spacing requirements on rural roads were approved Wednesday night by Douglas County commissioners.

The standards also establish classifications for roads based on their type and speed limit.

For example, residential property frontage on most types of rural roads was set at 250 feet. Desirable spacing between adjacent entrances or driveways also was set at 250 feet. Commissioners earlier had considered setting those requirements at 350 feet.

In other action, commissioners agreed to provide $16,200 in support of an attempt to obtain a $52,000 grant for the benefit of Black Jack Battlefield near Baldwin.

Judy Billings, director of the Lawrence Convention and Visitors Bureau, requested the county funds for a grant application submitted to the Kansas Department of Commerce’s Travel and Tourism Division.

In a letter to commissioners, Billings said a 60 percent matching fund of $31,200 was necessary to obtain the grant. Private funds in the amount of $15,000 had been raised, and Billings asked the county to supply the remainder.

The grant money would be used to develop an interpretive plan for the battlefield. That plan would be a road map for development of the site for public use.

Earlier this year the county had agreed to supply $20,000 for cleanup of illegal dump sites on the battlefield property.

The funding turned out to be unnecessary, however, because the Kansas Department of Health and Environment used a special environmental cleanup fund to pay for the project.

Earlier in the meeting, commissioners commended County Appraiser Marion Johnson for becoming president of the International Association of Assessing Officers.

The organization has 7,200 members in nearly 20 countries.

Commission Chairman Bob Johnson said Marion Johnson had achieved a “significant professional and personal achievement.”