Main Street project to start next week
By JENNIFER WILSON
News editor
Construction on the Main Street project could start as early as Monday.
That was the news Tuesday evening from city engineer Bob Previtera at the regular biweekly meeting of the Hillsboro City Council.
Previtera and city officials held a pre-construction meeting Tuesday with APAC Construction of Wichita, the company responsible for the project. APAC gave Monday, April 21, as a start date, but the actual day they start tearing up the street could be later, Previtera said.
The deadline to have the project finished, Sept. 5, will not change.
Near the end of March, the city accepted a $697,000 bid from APAC for the project, which includes repaving downtown sections of Main and Grand. Other pieces include replacing water lines, installing new street lights, and placing decorative brickwork along the curbs.
To allow traffic to flow through while construction is underway, only one half of a street will be worked on at a time. Crews are planning to start along the east side of Main and the north side of Grand, Previtera said.
Now that construction could begin in a matter of days, City Administrator Steve Garrett has pledged to meet with all property owners whose businesses will be affected by the construction. It's important to "keep them in the loop," he said.
The city also needs to be aware of any extra work that APAC does during the project for those businesses, said Mayor Delores Dalke. Since the city project only goes up six feet over the curb and sidewalk, some owners have expressed interest in paying APAC to finish the rest of the sidewalk for them.
"It could slow up our project," she said.
This work would strictly be contracted and paid for by the individual businesses, not the city.
Ultimately, it's APAC's decision, Garrett said.
If businesses do want to hire APAC for the extra sidewalk work, they need to make the decision now before the construction workers reach their doorsteps.
"Once they move forward down the street, they don't move back," Previtera said of the construction work.
In other council business:
— Councilmembers gave the go-ahead to pursue a $3.5 million project to upgrade the city's water treatment plant.
Dale Yeager of USDA rural development attended Tuesday's meeting to discuss the beginnings of the project. According to Yeager, $1.92 million of the project will be funded through a loan or bonds, and the remaining $1.55 million will come through a rural development grant.
The bond will carry a 40-year term with no fee if it's paid early, he said. The project will be bid out like other city projects.
— The city has been approached by Kansas Wind Power, an organization interested in installing "wind turbines" as a way to generate electricity. They're interested in doing a study of the Hillsboro area and asked to meet with the City Council.
Garrett wasn't sure why the group would approach the council just to do a study that they could do on their own.
If it's a no-obligation study, "why do we need to be on a dotted line?" he asked.
The council agreed to hear the group's presentation.
— Previtera reported that the lighting project at the Hillsboro airport is finished, complete with runway lights and new beacon.
— The council approved the use of $20,000 in capital outlay funds to begin repairing some of Hillsboro's worst sidewalks.
— The city has been approached by TCT Wireless, a company out of Strong City that offer wireless broadband service for high-speed internet access. They're interested in putting broadband equipment on a city water tower. Garrett agreed to look into the issue further.
