Pre-work inspections related to communications tower upgrades will soon be underway following approval by the Lyon County Commission Thursday morning. The $42,000 project includes inspections, tower mapping and structural analysis at four sites and sub-grade anchor inspections along with cathodic protection for anchors at two sites. Lyon County Emergency Manager Jarrod Fell said the county would be working with Hayden Tower Service, Inc., based out of Topeka, for the project. Hayden Tower works with the City of Emporia as well as the Kansas Department of Transportation. (Read more: Emporia Gazette)

Lyon County residents presented concerns over low water crossings on Road K7 near Olpe during a meeting of the county commission Thursday morning. Neighbors Gary Jones and Beth Ginter, who both live on the 600 block of Road K7, said the low water crossing was flooding to the point where the gravel was consistently being washed out. This was making it difficult for residents in the area to travel, since there are no other roads in the area. Jones said there used to be a road on the southeast corner of Olpe City Lake that would provide outside access to residents. [...]

Downtown Emporia will soon sport a new sound system. The Emporia City Commission officially accepted an agreement between the city and Emporia Main Street for the project Wednesday morning. The system will be used to play music and relay messages downtown. It may also be used to announce emergencies during events. Main Street Director Casey Woods told commissioners last month that he had been working with Cody Maxfield of Audio Lite to find an expandable wireless speaker system for the downtown area. The proposed system would install two units per block in the 600 — 900 blocks of Commercial Street. The [...]

Sundance, Cannes and now, Emporia. The No Coast Film Festival is coming to the Granada Theatre on Aug. 31. The festival promotes the short film genre through the gathering of local, national and international filmmakers. This is the festival’s first year. New, independent films will run alongside award-winning films from other international festivals. One of the themed programs focuses on “Unseen Kansas.” The current submission price is $15, and attendance is free. Earlier this week, there were eight submissions, though the committee is hoping for 30 or so. They plan to put films into block screenings, with time afterward to hold [...]

With the spring buying season underway, Emporia is already seeing a shortage of homes available on the market, leading to higher prices and quick sales. Local realtors are keeping a close eye on this trend which, while good for sellers, is posing some challenges to the local market overall. “Currently, we have a very low supply of homes for sale in Emporia and Lyon County,” Jamie Sauder, a realtor with Coldwell Banker Emporia Real Estate, said. “Historically, we average about 35 - 40 transactions per month market-wide, so that leaves about a 1.75-month supply of homes for sale. A healthy — [...]

“We’ve spent considerable time finding a place out of the rain.” Obviously, that’s been an effort for many, let alone a pair of horseback trail riders Jerry Andrews and Penney Elpers. Without any vehicle assistance, faithful in divine guidance, the Cheyenne, Oklahoma, pair are riding the American Discovery Trail. With three horses, two for riding and one packing tent and personals, they’ve been on the trail since April 10. May 9 was spent in Wilsey at the Gary Smith home, then traveling to Council Grove Friday. (Read more: Emporia Gazette)

The Lyon County Commission unanimously agreed to sign a resolution Thursday forming the Lyon County Food and Farm Council in partnership with Healthier Lyon County. The council aims to tackle the problem of food deserts in the county. According to Teresa Briggs, who spoke on behalf of Healthier Lyon County, there are a lot of them. Food deserts exist wherever grocery stores and farmers markets don’t. If a person has to travel more than a mile to find a source of fresh, affordable produce such as a grocery store, that constitutes a food desert. Many of the county’s smaller communities don’t [...]

Commissioner Scott Briggs brought up a comment made to him by a constituent, seeming to complain about the use of tax money to fund ESU scholarships when their own children had to pay their own way. Briggs asked Garrett to justify the use of taxpayer dollars — the program uses sales tax money — for this purpose. She responded that ESU was an economic driver for the area and the community. “One of the other things that is absolutely true that I hear from business leaders is, it is extraordinarily difficult to find talent,” Garrett said. “We’ve got some great business [...]

Improvements to Emporia’s Water Treatment Plant will soon be underway following Wednesday’s meeting of the Emporia City Commission. The improvements were first discussed during last week’s study session. They were designed to address and prevent the formation of bromate in the city’s water supply. A notice was sent out to water customers last year about a violation in a drinking water standard for the city’s water supply. “We kept having to raise the dosage of [our ozone equipment] because our residuals weren’t where they needed to be,” Water Treatment Plant Supervisor Phil Cooper said. “The bromates went really high.” Cooper said [...]

The Lyon County Commission will again Thursday consider a recommended approval of a cell phone tower that has stirred controversy among landowners. The application is for an agriculture conditional-use permit for a communications tower from AT&T and Network Real Estate. The tower would be built on a 100-foot-by-100-foot piece of land in the 400 block of Road 190 — about three miles west of Emporia. Lyon County Planning and Appeals Board members said the tower would meet code regulations for agricultural land use and recommended approval a second time earlier this month. The planning board originally voted in favor of recommending [...]