The
IOLA REGISTER
BASEBALL Royals win again, see B1
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Locally owned since 1867
www.iolaregister.com
Weather slows U.S. 54 work
Iola City Council
Kentucky rezoning approved Assisted living facility will move forward By STEVEN SCHWARTZ steven@iolaregister.com
Register/Steven Schwartz
Construction equipment sits idle on U.S. 54, as heavy rains have slowed work.
Heavy rains bog down construction process By STEVEN SCHWARTZ steven@iolaregister.com
Although recent heavy rains have slowed work along U.S. 54, KDOT Engineer Darrin Petrowsky says construction deadlines have not changed. Removal of pavement began three weeks ago through LaHarpe for a full-depth restoration of the highway. Koss Construction, the primary contractor for the project, has set up traffic diversion for construction along the route. Petrowsky said heavy rains have slowed the work, mainly due to access. He said the waste created by the pavement removal needs to be dumped, and many of the heavy trucks can not access the waste drop-off points. “Concrete pavement has to be put somewhere,” he said. Although the waste removal is an initial concern, he also said the rains can delay cure times for the subgrade layer of the road — the dirt layer underneath the pavement and aggregate base. A fulldepth restoration requires removal of the pavement, aggregate base and top six inches of subgrade. “It just takes longer to get it dried back out,” he said, and the workers may need to “rework” the layer after rains to help dry out the material. Construction along U.S. 54 inside Iola
city limits was scheduled to start two weeks ago, one week after construction began in LaHarpe. He attributed the delay to weather yet again, but believes the process should start again soon. “The original plan was to have some pavement out of there by now,” Petrowsky said. Construction crews will take about three days to lay out See CONSTRUCTION | Page A6
Despite vocal objection from several attending Monday night’s meeting, the Iola City Council officially passed a motion to rezone the property at 1002 N. Kentucky from R1 (single family) to R3 (multiple family.) The rezoning will allow Neighborhood Senior Living to build a 19,000 squarefoot, 26-unit assisted living facility on the land. Rezoning was approved on July 22 by the council — following two hours of heated resistance from attendees — and Monday’s motion officially passed the ordinance. “I hear the neighbors, I hear their concerns,” council member Jon Wells said. The motion was passed six to one, with Beverly Franklin abstaining from a vote. Ken Hunt, Mary Ann Dvorachek, Dottie White, Judy Snavely and Angie Linn each appeared before the council one last time, to plead their case against the rezoning. “I’m not sure they deserve our trust,” Dvorachek said of the company. She cited concerns over the size of the structure, and what sort of impact it would have on the neighborhood. She and her husband visited five different facilities owned by Neighborhood Senior Living across Kansas. In the end, the council saw the concerns as unwarranted, believing similar concerns would be raised in any location the assisted living facility would seek out. See REZONING | Page A6
USD 258
Humboldt OKs larger floorplan By BOB JOHNSON bob@iolaregister.com
HUMBOLDT — USD 258 board members approved construction of a four-bedroom, two-bath house by Humboldt High’s building trades class. It will be the largest undertaking ever by the students, at nearly 1,700 square feet, and will be built at 1317 Cherokee, near where two other houses were constructed by students. Supt. of Schools K.B.
Criss told board members he thought the larger house would sell quickly. “We were told (with previous ones) they would have been bought right away if they had had four bedrooms,” Criss said. He also mentioned the possibility of a basement, which board members rejected. Board member Sandy Whitaker, who deals in real See HOUSE | Page A6
Humboldt City Council
Register/Bob Johnson
Grant would enhance Salon gives back-to-school special rental opportunities Vanessa Riley gives Taelyn Maley a free haircut at Couture Salon and Boutique, Gas.
By BOB JOHNSON bob@iolaregister.com
HUMBOLDT — Humboldt Council members approved application for a Community Development Block Grant that would enhance the town’s housing stock. The grant would pay 75 percent of improvements to privately owned rental prop-
erties. Susan Galemore, Southeast Kansas Regional Planning Commission, will help with application for a grant of $170,000 from the Kansas Department of Commerce. Property owners — six having 10 properties have been identified — would put up another $45,000. The planning commission’s stake in the grant See GRANT | Page A2
Vol. 115, No.204
By BOB JOHNSON bob@iolaregister.com
GAS — Vanessa Riley and Kristen Dreher put their talents to work for area school children Monday. The two stylists gave free haircuts as a back-to-school special at Dreher’s Coutour Salon and Boutique. By day’s end, 15 haircuts were provided. “This really helps a lot,” said Angie Maley, as her
daughter, Taelyn, 11, was getting a needed trim by Riley. Taelyn will attend fifth grade at Jefferson Elementary School. Angie Maley and her husband, Jason, have four children who will begin school later this week. “It’s a terrific deal when you have this many children,” Angie said. Preschool, kindergarten, sixth- and ninth-grade 75 Cents
students will report to Iola schools Thursday, a day ahead of others in the district to give them a chance to orient to new surroundings. Classes elsewhere in the area start this week and next. All students start in Yates Center and Le Roy on Thursday, while Crest (Colony-Kincaid) classes start on Friday. At Humboldt and Moran, the first day of school is Aug. 22.
Iola, KS