Riley County commissioners approve contract transfers, concrete work and park CIP transfer; refer bridge steel bids for review

The Riley County Board of Commissioners on Jan. 29 approved a series of routine contract and budget items and referred two bridge-steel bids back to staff for further review.

The board voted to approve the assignment of existing Howie’s contracts to a buyer and signed the paperwork on the dais. Commissioners also approved a public‑works contract for a reinforced concrete box on Wallsburg Road in the amount of $34,003.50 and approved the listed tax-roll corrections and employee action forms.

Public works staff recommended and the board approved Arch Images to perform a space‑needs assessment for the county health department and Family and Child Resource Center. The commission also approved the 2026 community park allocations and authorized transferring $20,000 from the annual community park fund into the capital improvement program (CIP) to help smaller towns save toward larger projects; Leonardville and Ogden were reported to be moving their $10,000 annual shares into CIP to accumulate funds for restroom projects.

The board opened bids for steel materials for a bridge replacement. A Salina Steel submission showed a subtotal of $8,252.56 but was identified in the bid opening as incomplete (decking, steel cable and other items were omitted). A second bid from Odin Enterprises (Wahoo, Nebraska) totaled $101,573.41 but also excluded decking. Commissioners voted to refer the bids back to staff for a complete evaluation and recommendation rather than award the contract at the Jan. 29 meeting.

A write‑off of $465.56 in park accounts receivable for the city of Manhattan was approved per auditor instruction.

Votes at a glance

- Assignment of Howie’s agreements to buyer: approved (voice vote).
- Wallsburg Road reinforced‑concrete contract: approved; amount $34,003.50.
- Tax roll corrections: approved.
- Employee action forms (hiring/updates): approved.
- Arch Images selected for health‑department space‑needs assessment: approved.
- 2026 community park allocations and $20,000 transfer to CIP: approved.
- Write‑off — city of Manhattan park receivable: approved; $465.56.
- Bridge‑steel bids: referred to staff for further analysis (no award).

The meeting record shows motions were moved, seconded and approved by voice vote on the listed items; roll‑call tallies were not supplied in the public transcript.