Riley County, Kansas, is requesting qualification statements from professional consultants to complete an Environmental Assessment for a community lagoon/public sanitary sewer system for the Keats Sewer Benefit District.

The rural residential community of Keats, located approximately four miles west of the City of Manhattan, has never had a centralized sewer system. The small residential lots are served by individual on-site wastewater systems, most of which do not conform to today’s Sanitary Code. Residents have been dealing with failing septic systems for the past several years. Most homes within the district are on undersized lots that could not support a conforming system should their current system fail. The Keats Sewer Benefit District has 67 connections and an estimated population of 168 (based on the average persons per household).

After evaluating a variety of options over the years, including connection to the City of Manhattan, Riley County is proposing to construct a new, non-discharging lagoon to meet the needs of the Keats residents and remedy the issue. The county is in the process of acquiring the land where the lagoon is proposed. The location of the lagoon on this selected property is within the 100-year floodplain.

A Preliminary Engineering Report, prepared by BG Consultants, exists for the project and the county has made application to the USDA Rural Development program for grant/loan assistance. USDA-RD requires an environmental assessment be completed for funding. The county will also apply for Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s State Revolving Loan Fund program.

The consultant is expected to coordinate with the Project Engineer as well as the County on all required tasks.

• Create a comprehensive project description that includes the need for the project, scope of proposed improvements, location of improvements, and how the need will be met by this project. Include an aerial view/map that shows the location of all planned improvements and system facilities, including any alternate sites.
• Send scoping letters, to include project description, to federal, state, and local agencies which USDA Rural Development requires be notified to solicit agency review of the proposed project, and to request NEPA comments.
• Complete research and discovery to determine how the proposed project may impact environmental resources of concern to USDA-RD, KDHE-SRF, and other public funding agencies.
• Provide a completed environmental assessment to meet USDA-RD, and KDHE-SRF, requirements in accordance with NEPA standards. The assessment shall include the following, at minimum:
  • The purpose and need for the proposed action;
  • The affected environment, including baseline conditions that may be impacted by the proposed action and alternatives;
  • The environmental impacts of the proposed action including the No Action alternative, and, if a specific project element is likely to adversely affect a resource, at least one alternative to that project element;
  • Any applicable environmental laws and Executive Orders;
  • Any required coordination undertaken with any Federal, state, or local agencies or Indian tribes regarding compliance with applicable laws and Executive Orders;
  • Mitigation measures considered, including those measures that must be adopted to ensure the action will not have significant impacts;
  • Any documents incorporated by reference, if appropriate, including information provided by the applicant for the proposed action; and
  • A listing of persons and agencies consulted.
• Any required cultural study would be contracted separately by the County, but the consultant shall assist the County in procuring these services.

• Preliminary Engineering Report
• Maps/aerial views
• All agency required studies to be incorporated into the environmental assessment.
• Any other information,