The city shared additional updates regarding concerns about the safety of the new pedestrian crossing on the bridge over K-10 at Monday’s City Commission meeting.

After the installation of a pedestrian crossing in the Church Street bridge, residents have shared safety concerns as it is harder to see incoming traffic when getting off the exit coming from the west.

Public Works Director Branden Boyd said the project is in the state transportation department’s jurisdiction, meaning all decisions and guidelines come from it. Boyd said that while the base bid items are done, there are some change order items that are still requested.

KDOT no longer will be putting in flashing beacons on the bridge as they do not meet federal standards, Boyd said. It’s waiting for four stop signs and some striping for the crosswalks and road, he said.

As far as concerns about the safety of the bridge for drivers, Boyd said the city met with the department to examine all possible options. The decision ultimately has to be made by KDOT since it owns the bridge. Technically, the bridge does meet all the codes the state requires, he said.

The city has asked for a traffic study, but has not received an update yet on what will be planned.

Boyd said there have not been any accidents in the area, and said after talking to pedestrians they feel more safe with the new protected path. ,

Another issue is drivers using the ramp as a two-lane exit when it is only one, Boyd said. The city asked KDOT if they could place additional signage to help people, but were told no signage was allowed in their right of way, including the ramp or within about 100 feet of either side of the bridge.

Mayor Tim Reazin said the city used to have a state trooper who would help enforce the exit ramp staying one lane, but that with the lower sight distances, drivers are pulling forward more.

“I do appreciate that we have a safer option for folks to get back and forth across K-10, but I think that if it’s our control, and maybe it’s a speed limit thing that we can address with the county and KDOT just across that section,” he said.

Commissioner Alex Curnes said this project is a huge benefit to the community in that it will enhance safety of those walking across the bridge, but that the city needs to get it right and the project is not yet there.

“Secondarily, oftentimes when mistakes are made, you have to take a step back. And I wonder if perhaps it would make sense for us to temporarily close the sidewalk across the bridge, remove those black barriers, black railing, as it was described,” Curnes said.

Boyd said that since the sidewalk is per code, he doesn’t recommend closing it. Boyd said keeping it open will also show drivers how it is used and train those drivers on the new set-up.

In other business, the commission also received an update regarding the recent outages in town. Cedar Taylor of Evergy said the actual issue was with a load tap changer, which, on a transformer, moves the voltage up or down depending on issues. If there is a voltage drop, it keeps the level going to residents’ homes’ level.

Taylor said the Evergy team started investigating with the city and thought the issues were only happening to a portion of the city. That led Evergy to take a step back as it believed the issues were possibly due to tree limbs out on the line, he said.

“At that point, my team backed up a little bit when we should have engaged more to do an evaluation back to the transformer,” he said.

They realized later that the issue was affecting the whole city. Evergy came back to help four or five days later and was able to identify the issue. The issue was repaired once identified, Taylor said.

“But clearly, what that highlighted was our open communication needed to increase between the two parties and better communication, along with quality phone numbers. Our team has changed significantly in the time span of the city of Eudora being here and the substation department being around, so getting them quality contacts that they could get a hold of for a quicker response,” he said.

It also strengthened the partnership by spending more time investigating deeper into issues impacting the city.

Reazin asked if the repairs to the transformer were Evergy’s or the city’s responsibility to pay.

Mike Soliday of Evergy said the load tap changer that failed was about $50,000, which will be rolled into the wholesale distribution service charge. Soliday said the city would see that increase next September.

In other business, the commission approved a memorandum of understanding with the Senior Foundation of Eudora. The city will allocate $2,000 yearly to the organization.

During commission comments, Curnes told the city about conversations between the Library Board and commissioners about the potential for a shared building for a new City Hall and library.

“They’re just talking to their board about it right now to see if that’s anything they’d like to continue a conversation with but could be an exciting opportunity for us to have two taxing bodies work together to try and save some money for the citizens of Eudora,” Curnes said.

Reazin said they are exploring the idea, but they will have a hard stop point if it seems like the project is not going to work since the city is not interested in spending tax dollars and staff on a project that won’t work.

Reazin said he, Curnes, and City Manager Kevyn Gero would be meeting monthly to further explore the possibility.

In other business, the city will not be able to apply for the Community Development Block Grant for Pilla Park until May now. Since 701 Main is also using this kind of grant to do its renovations, the city is not eligible to apply for one for the park renovations at this time, Parks and Rec Director Sally Pennington said.

The work they’ve done so far to apply will not have to be redone, though, she said. The city will have to hold another public hearing in the future, though.

Also regarding the building at 701 Main St., the owners have requested a three-month extension to complete the renovations as they are waiting for a specific kind of windows that will not arrive until December, City Clerk Kelly Delay said. This does not delay the Pilla Park project any additional time, she said.

The city also received an update from Chamber of Commerce President Meagan Cox. Cox said the Chamber has contracted Kelly Long to act as its office administrator to help with paperwork and signups. The Chamber also recently had a successful Trunk or Treat and its first live town hall with County Commission candidates.

The Chamber continues its coffee connection events and will have one more mixer this year. Cox said mixers will now charge a $10 fee to help offset costs.

The commission also spent 15 minutes in executive session to discuss the location of a potential electric substation.

In other business: 

• The city approved a proclamation to make October Domestic Violence Awareness month. 

• The city approved the purchase of a new skid unit for the fire department. This will cost  $17,800 plus freight costs. 

• The city authorized the purchase of materials to expand the sewer to the new bathrooms at Bluejacket Park. The sewer expansion will not exceed $48,636. The restroom itself has already been delivered and cost $65,119. 

• The commission authorized the city manager to update its contract with Tyler Technologies, the company that hosts the majority of the software used by the city. The total cost is $50,238. 

• The city manager will also enter into a contract with JEO for design and engineering services as they continue to plan for the RAISE grant project. This will not exceed $1.6 million. This will now go to the Federal Highway Administration before the city can approve a final agreement.

Reach reporter Sara Maloney at [email protected].