The
Salina League of Women Voters had a Lunch and Learn with the Saline
County Commission Tuesday. One of the issues that has come up recently
is county roads and bridges. The County Engineer deemed twenty-two
bridges unsafe and closed them down.
The Commission will have to decide which of those bridges will
be repaired, and which will not. Commissioner Randy Duncan says he has
been studying how Dickinson County has dealt with a similar issue.
"They are rebuilding some of their structures and bridges with all
steel construction. Some of the decks are gravel or concrete or
asphalt. They claim they can do a lot of their structures cheaper with
all steel."
The sixty bridges that have been rebuilt in the County in the
past thirty years have been with the help of federal funds. To repair
the bridges that were closed is estimated to cost $12.5 million.
One of the issues that will be before the Commission soon is
what to do with the Oakdale and Kenwood Park areas. That was one of the
topics brought up at the Lunch and Learn. Commissioner Craig Stephenson
says he is anxious to see what the committee comes up with, but what
ultimately happens will depend on funding. "This committee can come
back to us with all the ideas they want we still have to find a way to
fund it. A committee is a fine thing, but still we have to have a way
to fund whatever is going to happen over there."
Stephenson says the project will involve the City and County
working together. He says some have suggested creating a park authority
to help make decisions concerning that area. As far as City and County
relations in general, Stephenson admits there has been ugliness in the
past, but they are all making an effort to work together better.
Commissioner Sherri Barragree also updated the League on the
status of the county's prescription drug discount program, available to
anyone without insurance. We have been on the program for about a year
and a half and we got a recent report on the usage for Saline County.
Our latest was 112 users with an average savings on the drugs of
$6.53."
The cards are free and available to any citizen of Saline
County. They are available from several locations including doctors
offices and the Salina-Saline County Health Department.
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