11/17/2008
APRIL MIDDLETON
Today, the old Smoky Hill River Channel that snakes through Salina collects trash. Its stagnant water sometimes stinks.
It doesn’t have to — and shouldn’t — stay that way, a consultant told Salina city commissioners on Monday.
“It’s an old river and you really need to fiddle with it,” said Donald Brandes, of Design Studios West, a land planning and landscape architecture firm that specializes in waterfronts. “It’s not an expense. It’s an investment — an investment that pays handsomely in the future.”
Brandes’ visit to Salina to talk to commissioners during a study session was arranged by Friends of the River, a small group of citizens that has been meeting for more than a year to talk about ways to improve the river channel.
If city commissioners give the group the go-ahead, Friends of the River would like to obtain tax-exempt status, start raising money and get public opinions about ways to improve the channel.
That process could be the first phase in a waterfront development project. Following that phase, the city would be asked to create a master plan for the river channel area, implement planning and design guidelines for the area and then start phased construction.


Read more about the proposed river project in Tuesday's Salina Journal.