Twice-tabled eminent domain resolution returns to Reno County commissioners Wednesday
Commissioners are scheduled to discuss the same road easements behind closed doors first
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Sign up freeReno County commissioners on Wednesday, Aug. 26, take up for the third time a resolution that would let the county condemn private land for road easements along S. McNew Road and Mills Avenue.
The agenda sets an executive session — the portion of a meeting closed to the public — on the preliminary acquisition of real estate for the perpetual easements required for the S. McNew Road and Mills Avenue road construction and improvement project, before the business items. The same closed-session item appeared on the Aug. 12 agenda.
The Aug. 26 agenda lists Resolution 2026-33 as tabled from July 29 and Aug. 12, but gives no reason for either postponement and names no parcels, easements or property owners. The Aug. 12 agenda carried the item as Resolution 2026-32, a number the Aug. 26 agenda assigns to an unrelated consent item.
The project has been before the commission since June. Commissioners were scheduled to act on June 9 on two resolutions: Resolution 2026-18, designating portions of S. McNew Road and Mills Avenue as primary arterial highways, authorizing improvements and providing for payment of the costs, and Resolution 2026-19, authorizing the offering for sale of General Obligation Bonds, Series 2026-A. The Aug. 12 consent agenda included a $26,500 agreement with JEO Consulting Group, Inc. for final plans on the two roads.
Prior reporting by the Hutchinson Post and Hutchinson Tribune has described the McNew Road and Mills Avenue easement acquisition as a step toward construction of a new Evergy power plant. The county's agenda does not mention Evergy or a power plant.
The regular session begins at 9 a.m. in the Veterans Room of the Reno County Courthouse, 206 W. 1st Ave. in Hutchinson. Public comment on items not on the agenda is limited to five minutes per item, and the agenda directs requests for disability-related accommodations to the Reno County Counselor's Office at (620) 694-2926.
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