The Topeka City Council approved multiple items at its Dec. 5 meeting. City leaders voted to extend the contract of Interim City Manager Richard Nienstedt. He will stay in this position until a permanent city manager can be hired. Nienstedt has held the position since June, following the sudden departure and later termination of former City Manager Stephen Wade. The city has enlisted the help of a recruiting company from Texas to fill the role. The council also signed off on a street project near the Oakland neighborhood. The voted unanimously to spend $1 million for mill and overlay work on Northeast River Road between Northeast Crane and Northeast Emmett streets. The work must be completed in 2024 so the road can be used as a detour while the Polk Quincy Viaduct construction work closes the Kansas Avenue and Topeka Boulevard bridges. This project will be funded by the city’s half-cent sales tax. The council also approved an amended version of the funding requested for the 2023 Alcohol and Drug grants. Topeka’s Special Alcohol and Drug (SAD) program requested $670,000 for programs across the city. Councilmembers approves Councilman Spencer Duncan’s motion to give PARS $169,000, the same funding it received in 2023, instead of the $131,000 recommended by the SAD committee. All participating agencies will now be funded through 2024 either the same or more than what the committee recommended.
Source: KSNT 27 News
