In his update presented to the Barton County Commission Tuesday morning, County Engineer Clark Rusco reported he met with representatives from the City of Ellinwood and county Road and Bridge Department concerning Hirsch Street drainage/flooding. His office also completed surveys and project design for Hirsch Street drainage.
Hirsch Street runs along the eastern boundary of Ellinwood which was the site of the worst flooding during the recent heavy rains. Due to the geologic contours north and west of the community, water is channeled to that area which has flooded before.
Rusco said he has also received final high-resolution ground contour maps for areas adjacent to Ellinwood. The LiDAR ground contours are a big improvement over the previous contour maps since they give a more detailed mapping of changes in elevation.
LiDAR measures distance by illuminating a target with a laser and analyzing the reflected light, and is used is used to make high resolution maps. The acronym LiDAR comes either from combining the words light and radar or laser interferometry detection and ranging.
 In addition, Rusco learned from the Kansas Department of Water Resources the project would not need a permit. The LiDAR data was furnished to the Stafford office of DWR and was important in the final determination, he said.
As a flooding side note, Rusco said he completed surveys for the erosion on the north bank of the Arkansas River southwest of Ellinwood. Three thousand to 4,000 cubic yards of material were washed into the Ark River.
 Rusco’s report was presented by Barton County Administrator Richard Boeckman as part of his bi-weekly service update Tuesday.
Other report highlights included:

County Engineer Clark Rusco
• Met with a consultant concerning the Construction Engineering for the High Risk Rural Roads grant for the replacement of regulatory and warning signs. The project will begin this fall. He also submitted final cost estimate for HRRR signage grant.
• Met with a consultant to review the 10th Street Bridge over the Flood Control Project and discuss the final Scope of Services for the design agreement.
• Attended a KDOT pre-construction conference for the truss bridge replacement southeast of Great Bend. L&M was the low bidder for this project. They will begin the project this month. The project is scheduled for 120 working days, during which the existing bridge will remain open for area residents.
• Met with the Great Bend city engineer concerning the Urban Area Boundary Map and Functional Classification map for Barton County. These maps are updated every 10 years. Commission action is required for final submittal to KDOT. 
• Completed the final agreement documents with Bridges, Inc. for the repair of the Ellinwood Bridge over the Arkansas River. Bridges Inc. intends to start after corn harvest.
 
Road and Bridge Shop Foreman Gary Demel
All sealing is completed
 
Bridge (flood damage) and other repairs
• Bridge #252 in the 500 block of NE 30 Road
• Bridge #258 in the 200 block of NE 100 Avenue
• Bridge #282 in the 800 block of NE 130 Avenue
• Bridge #140 in the 300 block of NE 110 Avenue
• Bridge #930 in the 1400 block of NE 50 Road
• Bridge #269 in the 200 block of NE 120 Avenue
• Bridge #279 in the 1200 block of NE 40 Road
• Bridge #268 in the 300 block of NE 120 Avenue
• Driveway Installation and repair
• Culvert repairs and clean out as needed

Sign Crew
• Repaired and replaced as needed to include vandalism to stop signs, stop ahead signs and Barton County Resolution sign
• Barricaded after accident
• Several barricades were stolen during this period
 
Information Technology Director John Debes
• Monitoring the TTC, exchange servers and sonic wall firewall continues. During this period, the devices stopped 44 viruses, two intrusion and one sypware attempt.
 
Health Director Lily Akings
Clinic contacts, totaling 405
• Immunizations, 191
• Family planning, 76
• Healthy start home visits, 16
• Maternal and infant (new pregnancies), 23
• Sexually transmitted disease testing and treatment, 17
• Tuberculosis testing and treatment, 41
• Kan Be Healthy physical exams, 16
• Child care licensing annual inspections/complaints, 6
Other news
• The Health Department will begin flu vaccinations on Sept. 16.
• Vision and Hearing Testing will be scheduled for Head Start in October 2013.
• The Farmers Market will continue through Sept. 12
• The Department has applied lactation mini-grant to assist with establishing a lactation room at the Courthouse.
• On September 28, the Barton County Suicide Prevention Project will host a Walk, Run and Bike Event at BCC.