Crews start surfacing downtown streets
Workers began laying blacktop on the east side of Main Street Wednesday morning, but recent rains have delayed the crew's progress.
That was the word Tuesday evening at the Hillsboro City Council's regular biweekly meeting.
City engineer Bob Previtera said that constant rainfall has slowed down the work done on the east side of Main and south side of Grand.
According to an invoice that the APAC construction company brought to the city, as of May 23 they had completed 17 percent of the work but used 24 percent of the time.
But the situation is far from dire for the construction crews.
"They're concerned, but they're not scared yet," Previtera said. "They're out there every day they can."
When the rains fall, there's no place for the water to drain, he said.
So far, most of the work has been removal with some "put back" he said. On the streets, crews have demolished the former road, laid down a crushed rock foundation, and just Wednesday started laying down asphalt.
Work on the sewer system and water meters has also been a priority, Previtera said.
At the meeting, council members approved a $109,368 payment to APAC for work completed through May 23. It's only a partial payment for the entire project.
Originally, crews weren't supposed to start on the other sides of the streets (west Main, north Grand) until the current sections were totally complete. But that may change.
If the crews laying the decorative brick work along the sidewalk/curb area are delayed, APAC may go ahead and demolish the other side of the streets, Previtera said. Even if the lane of the street didn't have its curbing in, that section could still be driven on.
The entire Main Street project is scheduled to be finished by the first week of September — just two weeks before the Arts and Crafts Fair.
Which means that the Marion County Fair parade must find another location.
As of now, they've picked Washington Street, according to Hillsboro Management Board executive director Megan Kilgore.
Fair board members decided to stretch the parade route along Washington, starting at the former AMPI property and ending at D.
But Tuesday evening, some council members asked why the parade couldn't just be held along D. The city is able to shut down traffic for that area while the parade goes through, they said.
Kilgore said she'd bring that idea to the fair board.
In other council business:
— The city changed its fireworks ordinance to allow any age to purchase fireworks.
When the first ordinance was passed in July, the wording said that no child under 16 could buy fireworks without a parent or guardian.
But at a meeting in March, area fireworks vendors said that the age restriction should be dropped. The state laws have no age restriction, they said.
The council agreed to allow the change.
— Both the Hillsboro Community Medical Center and the city have agreed to reissue new hospital bonds at a lower interest rate.
The city plans to refund and reissue the bonds originally issued in 1998 when it bought the hospital from Salem, Inc.
According to the current debt schedule, the city would pay an interest rate between 5.2 and 6.25 percent until the bonds mature in 2018. But under the new schedule, interest rates would vary from 2.5 to 4.75 percent.
The hospital agreed to go with the plan that would reduce the yearly principal payments and that way save between $7,000 and $10,000 a year — an immediate cash flow, said financial consultant Jerry Rayl.
When the deal is done, the city will have refunded $1.18 million in bonds and reissued them again for $1.21 million — a slight increase in order to cover the cost of reissuing.
— Tabor College vice president for business and finance Kirby Fadenrecht attended Tuesday's meeting. He was there to discuss Tabor's recent bond issue, which essentially loans the college nearly $3 million.
According to Fadenrecht, in 2000 Tabor asked the council for permission to join the Kansas Independent College Finance Authority. Tabor could receive bonds through KICFA.
The city gave its OK, and Tabor applied for the bonds this spring. A public hearing was held on April 25 in the law offices of Martin, Pringle, Oliver, Wallace and Bauer, of Wichita.
The actual loan amount was not quite $3 million, Fadenrecht said.
Tabor is using the money to refinance current debts and do some physical plant improvements, he said.
The bond issue doesn't impose any debt on the City of Hillsboro.
