By ADAM STEWART

Staff writer

Hillsboro City Council approved a list of streets to be chip sealed Tuesday, but council member Bob Watson said he was concerned about where the city would get the material.

Street Superintendent Dale Dalke proposed using aggregate from Picher, Okla. The city has used that aggregate for years, he said.

Watson said he was concerned about the safety of the material from the former lead mining town. The town has been evacuated, in part because of ground contamination.

Dalke said other suitable sources are available.

Watson said he was OK using the material from Picher, as long as its safety is double checked.

Streets to be chip sealed are:

• Sports Complex Road.
• Memorial Park Road.
• Washington Street from F Street to a dead end and between Second and Third streets.
• F Street between Washington and Lincoln streets.
• Lincoln and Madison streets between Second and Third streets.
• Jefferson Street between First and Third streets.
• And Second Street between Washington and Adams streets.

Dalke told the council his motto for choosing streets for chip sealing.

“Keep your good streets good,” he said.

Streets in need of repair should be patched before they would be ready for chip sealing, he explained. Chip sealing will be done mid to late September.

Budget approved

The 2011 budget will have a mill levy of 41.743 mills, an increase of 1.01 percent.

No public comment was offered during the budget hearing. Council member Byron McCarty said he hopes the city can give employees raises in 2012, after two years with no raises.

“I don’t want employees to go three years without something,” McCarty said.

The council also approved a budget ordinance required because of the increased mill levy.

In other business:

• An agreement between the city and Hillsboro Development Corporation and Hillsboro Ventures, Inc. to continue pay for an economic development director was approved. The city will pay 86.83 percent of salary and benefits. That represents an increase, but City Administrator Larry Paine said quantifying the change was difficult.
• Payment of $65,219 to Vogts-Parga Construction, LLC, of North Newton for work at Hillsboro Business Park was approved. The council also approved adding $1,443 to the contract to encase a sewer pipe in concrete where it crosses a water pipe. Encasing the pipe is required by Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
• Two proposals for roof repairs at the former AMPI building were rejected. Paine said he wouldn’t recommend spending the approximately $50,000 to repair the roof of the old building. He said he would inform tenants of the council’s decision.
• Insurance paid $3,900 for damage to a city truck that was in an accident.

The next regularly scheduled council meeting will be Sept. 7.