The Geary County Commission met for the first time Monday with the new City Manager for Junction City.

The Commissioners informed Gerald Smith, City Manager, that the commission has in the past met with the City Manager once a month just to have discussions on things that the City and County can partner on.

Smith said that he is in favor of discussing ways that the City and County can share experiences, “That is probably what I will concentrate my focus on, working with them and talking to them and their staff to maybe identify areas where we can engage in shared experiences.”

Larry Hicks, Geary County Commissioner, asked Smith if he was aware of any talks within the city on annexation. Cecil Aska, Mayor of Junction City, was also present during the meeting and said that he was not aware of any and that the last conversation on annexation was probably over a year ago.

Smith asked if there were any concerns within the county about annexation. Ben Bennett, County Commission Chair, brought up that a couple of streets are currently in limbo over who is responsible to maintain them, the County or City. Bennett listed East Street and Liberty Hall Road as examples.

“What I can do is ask my staff, which happens to also be their staff member (Dave Yearout, City and County Zoning Administrator), to investigate who has actual ownership or responsibility for those,” Smith said. “If we can’t then it may require that we have to go to our respective legal councils to more thoroughly investigate to try and determine exactly who has the responsibility.”

The monthly meeting between Smith and the County Commission will be held on the fourth Monday of the month at the County Office Building.