By Kellen Olshefski
Editor
The City of Elkhorn Common Council approved a task order with Stantec Sept. 15 in looking to get a better understanding of what street projects projected for 2015 might cost the city.
Elkhorn’s Municipal Services and Utilities Committee reviewed potential street projects for 2015 Sept. 8, potentially including East Walworth, Monica, West Market and Maria streets, and Sunset and Hazelridge drives.
City Engineer Gary Welsh, from Stantec, said to committee members Sept. 8 that a task order with Stantec for suggestions might be a good idea, allowing them to get a better understanding of what they might be dealing with on certain projects.
Tapson said Sept. 8 that Stantec might want to put together a more comprehensive task order, pulling all of the streets together.
Welsh said in looking at what the city is dealing with, they might find that some projects are more or less expensive than what they had previously estimated as they find out more about what the scope of the project might need to include, noting Monica and Maria streets as examples.
“Those look like they’re probably just a mill and overly,” he said. “So, those two could be coming down.”
Alderman James D’Alessandro said with the task order, the city would be able to look at the streets and what options are available and fit them into the total street improvements budget coming from the borrowing package for capital improvements.
“Did we not talk last go around about not trying to fit to the numbers, but look at the projects and what’s needed and then fit the dollars to the need,” Tapson said.
Alderman Scott McClory noted that the problem with that is if all of the money isn’t “eaten up” by one street, the rest of the streets can’t be addressed.
“That’s where I struggle with,” he said. “Do we do a mill and overlay…we can maybe do two or three roads for this cost, or we can do one road.”
Tapson said a mill and overlay doesn’t mean it’s not done right, it’s just a lesser level of repair, noting that if a task order were completed, the city would want to see what the options are including a full reconstruction on the streets and other alternatives.
“I’d like to see the best possible, the second and the third, and you put them all together and you may come down to the fact that in order to do a few streets over here, you might have to go lesser on this one over there,” D’Alessandro said.
Payson made the motion Monday night to approve the task order, garnering a second from Rehberg. The task order was approved unanimously with little to no discussion.
