photo by: Journal-World

The Douglas County Commission will hold their Wednesday meeting at the Douglas County Public Works building, 3755 E 25th St.

Douglas County leaders this week will get their first look at a budget proposal for the county’s rural Consolidated Fire District No. 1 and a five-year capital improvement plan that would replace 10 bridges in the county and extend Wakarusa Drive across the Wakarusa River.

At a work session prior to their regular meeting on Wednesday, commissioners will hear presentations on both of these topics but will not take action on either of them.

The rural fire district, which was established in 2021 by consolidating the services of five township fire departments, is proposing a budget that would include $2,296,443 in spending. The district’s operational costs are covered by a 5.5-mill assessment on property owners in the district, according to the overview of the budget in the meeting agenda materials; that tax rate has not changed since the district was first established.

According to the proposal, the district plans to purchase battery-powered jaws of life equipment; update the pump, tank and hose systems on several brush fire trucks; and continue building up its equipment reserve fund.

Meanwhile, county staff are proposing a transfer of $5,377,380 in 2025 for projects in the county’s capital improvement plan. Of that proposed amount, $1,744,380 would be allocated toward facilities projects, and $3,602,845 would go to road and bridge projects.

County staff included an overview of what projects the CIP is proposing for the upcoming five years. Some of the biggest items on the list are road and bridge projects. Specifically, the plan proposes spending $14.3 million over the next five years to replace 10 bridges in the county. That would be 27.68% more than the county has spent on bridge replacements over the past 10 years, during which time it replaced 15 bridges.

Another significant road project on the CIP is a $9.7 million project in 2026 to extend Wakarusa Drive south across the Wakarusa River. As the Journal-World reported, the County Commission on June 26 approved an approximately $91,000 contract with BG Consultants for preliminary engineering work on the project. The agenda materials for Wednesday’s work session say that preliminary plans for the extension will be shared with the public in December 2024.

In other business, commissioners will:

• Consider executing a Cooperative Project Agreement and a Right of Way Turnback Agreement between the Kansas Department of Transportation, the City of Lawrence and Douglas County concerning the expansion of the South Lawrence Trafficway.

This project aims to expand the current two-lane freeway on K-10 and shared US-40 by adding two lanes, creating a four-lane freeway section. It will also involve reconstructing the existing interchanges at Clinton Parkway and US-59/Iowa Street, as well as constructing a new interchange at the Wakarusa Drive and 27th Street intersection. Additionally, the project includes the replacement and/or repair of existing culvert structures at K-10 and the West Branch Yankee Tank Creek.

The proposed agreement outlines that Douglas County is paying $320,000 for the realignment of East 902 Road and the cul-de-sac at North 1250 Road. County staff worked with KDOT to include these pieces in the construction for South Lawrence Trafficway, but KDOT considers them “non-participating” costs to be covered by the local unit of government. These improvements are correcting impacts to local roads created by KDOT. These costs will be included in the CIP.

• Consider the approval of a Memorandum of Understanding between Douglas County and the Kansas Department of Transportation that will define the responsibilities of each party in the extension of the South Lawrence Trafficway and the extension of Wakarusa Drive.

The County Commission’s work session will begin at 4 p.m., with a business meeting following at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday in the Douglas County Public Works training room at 3755 E. 25th St. The meeting will also be available via Zoom.