NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Board of County Commissioners will give official approval to disbursing funds for a new industrial park south of South Hutchinson at their meeting on Wednesday.
Growth Inc. is set to receive ARPA funds in the amount of $1.2 million for the development of a K96 industrial park that is in an unincorporated area of Reno County. The Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber also received $2 million from the State of Kansas' Base Grant 2.0 for the project.
Debra Teufel talked to Hutch Post about the behind the scenes work needed on how to get water to the new park site that the City of Hutchinson is working on.
"They are in the midst of studies," Teufel said. "They had engaged a firm called Burns and McDonnell that had rolled out the first piece of a study about what the water perfecting is for our community and what our future ability is with water rights that the city already has. Taking that to the next level, what is our next step? The city is sitting on some water rights that were granted to them from Carey Salt Industries many years ago. Those have been water rights that have not been used, mostly because of the condition of that water. There are a lot of studies going on right now, that is a large volume of water that has the potential to be used for a lot of industrial projects."
The BASE Grant funding includes the funds for a master plan and water line touring to the site. It is important to note that this all has to be water that can be used for any purpose, not just industrial.
"What does the City need to do next to be able to actually use them through the municipal system and convert them from industrial use?," Teufel said. "That's for the engineers to figure out. That's kind of what the city is doing right now and they are also working on some alignment studies about where could water lines go next, in order to serve larger industry in the future?"
The Board of County Commissioners meets Wednesday at 9 a.m. in the Veterans Room at the Reno County Courthouse.
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