(RILEY COUNTY, KS - June 14, 2022) Several buildings at the Riley County Public Works Department sustained heavy damage during Saturday’s storm. The Public Works complex, located north of Manhattan at 6215 Tuttle Creek Boulevard, houses the Household Hazardous Waste Division (HHW), Noxious Weed Division, an Emergency Medical Service Station, Public Works offices, Flint Hills ATA Bus, and several other services.
An outbuilding that sheltered vehicles and equipment for the Noxious Weed Division sustained the most damage, with an estimated loss of $2.7 million to the structure and equipment. Seven large garage doors on the Fleet Maintenance Shop were also significantly damaged, with loss totaling an estimated $451,000.
“I’m proud of the work staff have done to maintain services for the public,” said Public Works Director John Ellermann. “The damages were extensive, but could have been a lot worse. We’re grateful no personnel were on-site at the time of the storm.”
Several power lines were downed in the area and the main entrance driveway was closed temporarily. Power lines have been cleared and power was restored today. The public can now access offices from Tuttle Creek Boulevard and most operations should return to normal by tomorrow afternoon, June 15.
“We’ve been busy and work to remove storm debris from public roadways will likely continue into next week,” said Ellermann. “Our crews were able to use heavy equipment to reopen roads quickly and allow through traffic, and now they’re going back to pick up the debris and haul it away.”
The Household Hazardous Waste service will reopen to the public for household hazardous waste disposal tomorrow morning at 7:30 a.m. Regular hours are 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. None of the household hazardous waste storage equipment or containers were damaged in the storm, and no contamination occurred.