# 10/13/26 City Commission Work Session

The City of Manhattan, Kansas, Commission held a work session on October 13, 2026, with no votes or contract awards. Public Works reviewed the existing salt-purchasing agreement with Fort Riley, established in 2015 and extended for ten years. The City combines tonnage and solicits open bids, typically receiving three or four bids; salt is delivered directly to Fort Riley, and the City receives a 3% handling fee. Staff also discussed replacing the damaged Denison salt-storage facility with two smaller satellite domes. A $500,000 amount is included in the proposed 2027 Capital Improvement Plan for the facilities. Commissioners asked staff to compare potential sites and costs, including City-owned land and sites that may require acquisition or further discussion; staff expects to return with a site matrix as part of the CIP discussion anticipated for November 10. The session also covered snow-plowing operations and equipment, without identifying a new procurement decision.

The Commission reviewed a draft right-of-way lane-closure permit policy for private construction, including proposed fees of $50 per application, $50 per day for parking stalls or sidewalk/bike-lane closures, and $150 per day for lane closures. Commissioners and a developer discussed enforcement, project coordination, fee levels, and exceptions for work coordinated with City infrastructure projects; staff will revise the proposal for later consideration, with January 1 suggested as a possible effective date. Staff also proposed continuing the 2027–2029 on-call engineering-services program for eligible infrastructure projects with construction budgets below $3 million, issuing RFQs for service categories and increasing the preselected firms per category from three to four. Staff recommended dropping structural, landscape-architecture, and MEP services from the program due to lack of use, while retaining other categories. RFQs and consultant selections would still return to the Commission for review; staff said an RFQ proposal would come back at the next Commission meeting.

**Jurisdictions:** sled
**Industries:** Construction & Infrastructure, Transportation
**Topics:** Physical Infrastructure
**Published:** October 13, 2026

### Sources
- [10/13/26 City Commission Work Session](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcRFF3nUvCo) - City of Manhattan, Kansas