Sonic is preparing to build a new Sonic restaurant in their same South Washington Street location.
Planning and Zoning Coordinator Troy Livingston said they are planning to demolish the adjacent playground, “and build a new drive-in with a drive-thru at that site and then demolish the restaurant and then reconstruct the playground. So they’re just flip-flopping sites, basically. The Metropolitan Planning Commission has recommended approval on the final plat of the Sonic Addition for the project to the Junction City Commission.
Livingston estimated construction could possibly begin in early July. The final plat must first still be considered by the City Commission.
Livingston added Sonic plans to keep the current restaurant open while the new outlet is being built so there will never be any lag where Sonic is not open for business.
Junction City firefighters spent about one year undertaking a much needed remodeling of their living quarters on the second floor, plus the truck bay and office area at the Municipal Building. It is home to members of the JCFD when they are on-duty.
Fire Chief Terry Johnson said, “They’ve renovated the living area, the truck bays, the office area. They have made this building more useful and more efficient for firefighters to work here all day long. ”
Johnson estimated the cost of the project was about $140,000 for the materials. “When we started when the City was doing the plumbing rebuild we started with just a simple remodel of the kitchen, but we found mold in the walls. so we went ahead and did the whole thing. But the firefighters did the whole thing.” Johnson estimated it was probably about a $500,000 to $600,000 renovation and the city only paid about $170,000 for it.
Johnson said new improvements include a sleeping area, carpet, a kitchen with cabinets that were redone, new table in the kitchen area, chairs, lighting, and a radio system.
Fire pole for firefighters to slide down to the truck bay area when calls come in.
Geary USD 475 has received a federal Heavy Impact Aid payment that finalizes the $67 million escrow target used to fund the new Junction City High School project.
According to Marilee Fredricks, USD 475 Chief Financial Officer, “The money is deposited and invested. We have both achieved our goal while also earning interest on those escrow funds.”
During the bond campaign, the District said that principle and interest from the escrow account will comprise a significant portion of the bond payment. The State of Kansas provides matching funds equivalent to 40% with local tax proceeds making up a final seven percent of the bond payment. There will be no need for the District to raise its mill levy to support the construction of a new high school.
Hutton Construction is scheduled to receive the final set of construction documents from SJCF Architecture later this month, and will then issue a Request for Proposals to construct the new high school building and athletic fields. A final Guaranteed Maximum Price for the building and fields is scheduled to be presented to the Board of Education in mid-July.
Earthwork, paving and utilities work on the new high school is underway with a scheduled opening in August of 2021.
Big hail, flooding, and extensive rain have caused issues in Geary County, especially in an area southeast of Junction City in the vicinity of Ascher Road, Clarks Creek and Humboldt Creek.
JC Post checked with one producer in that area, Keith Ascher, who woke up one morning to find water out of its banks, “threatening my cattle. We were able to get them locked up. ” He added some of them had to swim through the water. “We’re just dealing now with the aftermath where it knocked out all the fences.” Ascher said there was a lot of debris and damage. “Whatever the hail didn’t do, the high water took care of.”
That’s just one story. Ascher makes it clear that others have similar issues to deal with in that part of the county. “The problem is right now the grass isn’t growing because we haven’t had warm enough temperatures. So a lot of guys aren’t able to go to grass, and then in some spots the hail wiped out the grass. So it’s a really weird year. Anyway, we’ll deal with it.”
Ascher traveled through the southeast area of the county after the storm. “Kind of drove around and did an assesssment. There were a lot of fields under water. I don’t know what the damage is going to be.”
( Dr. Beth Hudson, center is retiring. Spring Valley Elementary School Principal Sierra Jackson is to her right and Addyson Spellman, making her JC Post debut, is to her left.
Retiring educators in Geary USD 475 were honored during a reception Thursday evening at Junction City Middle School.
One of those was Dr. Beth Hudson, who has been employed in the school district nearly 39 years, and served multiple stints as Interim Superintendent of Schools. “It is an odd feeling. I mean it’s bittersweet because I look forward to what’s ahead, but it’s been such a great ride here.”
Other employees who are retiring that attended and were recognized during the reception included Lisa Akard, Ronda Cook, Jolynn Henry, Patricia James, Jayne Karmann, Annette Krinhop, Tamara Krumm, Robert Laster, Mona Manley, Marilyn Reynoldson, Randy McFall, Renee Rook, Pamela Switzer and Ann Young.
A total of about 10,700 cubic feet of water per second was the total inflow calculated for Milford Lake Wednesday afternoon.
The Project Manager for the Corps of Engineers at the reservoir, Bill Whitworth said the lake elevation is up nearly 14 feet and the latest projectiion is for it to rise approximately four more feet over the next nine days. The lake would have to rise about an additional 18 feet from the current level.
Whitworth told the Milford Lake Stakeholders the dam at the reservoir is under increased surveillance. “The dam is holding up and doing everything it is supposed to do. It was designed to hold a lot more water than it is. We do check the relief wells and the other instrumentation to make sure that it is functioning as it should.” Whitworth added no other major issues have occurred.
Some individual camp sites and campground loops have been closed as the water level has risen. Two boat ramps still usable include those in West Rolling Hills and at the Fort Riley Marina.Other boat ramps are open but require shallow drafting boats.
Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has appointed Daniel Jackson to fill an unexpired term as Geary County Sheriff, according to Geary County Republican Central Committee member Brad Schultz. he was nominated for the post by the Central Committee.
Jackson will be sworn into office at 2 p.m. Thursday at the Geary County Office Building in the county commission meeting room.
He will fill the unexpired term left by the recent resignation of Tony Wolf. The term runs through January, 2021.
K-57 Highway southeast of Junction City was closed Wednesday morning due to high water, but officials confirmed Wednesday afternoon it is now open again for motorists.
The site was near Clarks Creek where high water had surged across the highwday.
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Add South Lyons Creek Road to the list of road closures in Geary County due to high water.
Geary County Emergency Management said Lyons Creek Road is closed six miles southwest of U.S. 77.
Earlier the National Weather Service issued a flood warning for the Kansas River at Manhattan. The warning is in effect until Saturday morning. Minor flooding of low lands along the river is forecast.
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High water has cut across K-57 Highway at a site southeast of Junction City. KDOT has closed the highway at that location, which is just east of the Clarks Creek Road interchange.
Just before 8 a.m. former county commissioner Florence Whitebread notified JC Post that Clarks Creek had gone over the top of K-57. “It just casme up very rapidly. ” Whitebread resides near that area.
Geary County Emergency Management Director Garry Berges also notified JC Post to report that the main concern was K-57 just east of Clarks Creek Road where major water was going across the highway. KDOT was contacted to respond and law enforcement were on scene. “I’ve got water across areas along Lower McDowell Creek Road, Humboldt Creek Road where the creek is close to the roadway.” Berges also reported that there was water going across in the area of U.S. 77 and Old Milford Lake Road. He said it was runoff water from a nearby hill.
Motorists were urged to be careful, and if the water is completely covering a roadway avoid that area.
The water level at Milford Lake is more than 13 feet above normal conservation pool level.
Geary County Extension Agent Chuck Otte released information via social media on Tuesday noting the Corps of Engineers has been precluded from releasing water from Milford lake for the past two months, so the lake level continues to rise.
As of Tuesday afternoon it had cleared 1157 feet and the conservation pool or normal level is 1144.4 feet.
As of Tuesday Milford Lake was approaching 21,750 acres or an increase of nearly 40 percent or approximately 34 square miles of lake surface water.
Currently this is the seventh highest level since Milford Lake was completed. The highest level was 1,182.02 feet in the flood year of 1993.
Sonic is preparing to build a new Sonic restaurant in their same South Washington Street location.
