Council seeks street bids
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From an aerial view, the red line indicates how far west the two blocks of Garfield Street have drifted to the west. An upcoming reconstruction project aims to bring those blocks into line with the remainder of the street to the south.
Three upcoming projects got the green light at the February 17 meeting of the Mount Ayr city council.
The council approved resolutions to let bids for two street projects.
Sealed bids for reconstruction of Garfield Street and Cleveland Street are due in city hall by 2 p.m. on Wednesday, March 25.
A public hearing on the projects will take place at 6 p.m. during the council meeting Monday, April 6.
The Garfield project will straighten two blocks of the street between Monroe and Adams streets leading to the entrance to the middle school parking lot.
Currently the roadway of those two blocks narrows and meanders significantly to the west. The proposed reconstruction will not only bring the roadway back into line with the street south of Monroe but will also add a sidewalk to the west side of those two blocks.
The Cleveland Street (also known as the Country Club Road) reconstruction will widen the street from Highway 2 south to 240th Street and pave the roadway with concrete.
The street leads to the proposed industrial area south of the country club.
A third project, repairs and improvements to the city’s waste water treatment plant, was also on the council agenda.
Following a lengthy discussion, the council authorized the city to apply for a $75,000 loan from the State Revolving Fund for planning and design services related to the project.
Water project
With recent moderate weather, work on the city’s water distribution system improvement project has recently resumed.
In a memo to the council, the engineering firm of Garden and Associates summarized progress on the project as of January 31.
Jordan and Sons Construction have used 92.2 percent of their contracted working days, while Crain Construction have used 85.8 percent of their days and Poe Construction 80 percent.
In action at Monday’s meeting, the council approved payment requests from Poe Construction for $21,006.75 and from Crain Construction for $19,505.87.
To cover those expenses plus related engineering fees the council then approved drawdowns from State Revolving Fund loan for $50,734.22 and from the CDBG grant for $6,822..
Other business
In other business the council:
• heard information from city superintendent Brent Wise about a group called Rural Housing 360 and its program aimed at spurring housing construction on vacant lots.
Group director Steve Gilbert has expressed interest in meeting with city leaders to explore ways the program could be utilized in Mount Ayr.
• decided not to spend additional funds for new conceptual drawings and plans for a proposed swimming pool upgrade. Instead, the city will utilize existing plans created by Iowa State University during a previous feasibility study for the project.
• received a report from Superintendent Wise concerning the status of the city’s three water towers. Wise said the new water tower located west of town on Highway 2 has been inspected and is in “great shape.” The main water has a leak, and as of now, efforts to repair the leak has been unsuccessful. The smaller, old water needs an evaluation of a thorough evaluation, including its structure.
Wise added he would recommend seeking new bids for tower maintenance services when the current contract expires in 18 months.
• set a hearing on the FY2021 city budget for 6 p.m. Monday, March 2.
• approved a liquor license renewal for Still Smokin’ BBQ.
