City looks to repair streets

Staff researching how improvement program would affect taxpayers

By Kellen Olshefski

Correspondent

The City of Elkhorn Municipal Services and Utilities Committee directed city staff to pull together information on what effect two levels of a street maintenance program would have on city taxpayers at its meeting last week.

City Engineer Jason Feucht said at the April 24 meeting he had made some minor additions to what he had previously presented to committee members, namely the addition of Spencer Lane and improvements to two sections of West Lawn Street.

Feucht said in submitting the information to the committee, his intent was to imply the projects should be done but merely to provide estimated costs so further discuss options could be discussed.

When it comes to the 206 feet on Spencer Lane, Feucht said the city would be looking at a full reconstruct at an estimated cost of $19,500. If the city were to opt to reconstruct Spencer Lane, he said he would rather not reconstruct it as a thicker section of road such as is the case with some of the city’s larger, more heavily traveled roads.

“I would view this more as a beefed up driveway if you will, realizing that it is a public right of way, it is a city street,” he said.

Feucht said the road would be constructed with 4 inches of asphalt on top of an 8-inch base, and he would recommend the city doesn’t allow garbage trucks on Spencer Lane. If garbage trucks were prohibited from traveling on that road, he said there would be one or two residents who would have to move their trash cans to the end where it meets Spencer Street.

“That would help dramatically with the longevity of that infrastructure,” he said.

City Administrator Sam Tapson said if the city were to not allow garbage trucks on Spencer Lane, he would suggest affected residents be notified before construction has even begun, admitting this is a case unique to Spencer Lane.

“If you’re going to ask these folks to haul refuse down 300 feet, or to where it might be, I think you need to notify them at the front end,” he said. “I would not like that if I were a resident … you’ve got to make a decision. I drove down there, very carefully (and) it’s bad.

“I think you put it in the terms of we understand there is a problem, we would like to reconstruct your street, make it usable, but to do so, we would have to eliminate garbage pickup on that section.”

Alderman Michael Kluck said if the city were to approach the road in this fashion, he feels it would have to be matched with 100 percent approval from the affected residents on Spencer Lane.

Feucht said if the city wanted to really “beef up” Spencer Lane, it could do so for about an extra $10,000 on top of the already estimated $19,500, giving it a 15 to 20 year lifespan with proper maintenance, even if the city did allow garbage trucks on it.

“You would be increasing that base significantly,” he said.

Tapson said he would prefer spending the extra $10,000 to extend the life of Spencer Lane rather than put residents in a position where they would have to haul garbage cans down to the end of the street, a sentiment that was shared among committee members.

As for West Lawn, Feucht said there are two main sections: from 401 to 301, and the remainder heading toward the west.

Feucht said given the deterioration of the infrastructure, the street would be in need of a full reconstruct, including curb and gutter, as well as other aspects. As for the rest of West Lawn, he said he would like to have a survey done to determine what kind of longitudinal slopes there are. He said from his field visit, it seems there are points on the road where water isn’t making it to the inlets, resulting in premature flooding.

“If I know what kind of longitudinal slope we have, I can dictate or determine whether or not we have to actually replace all of the curb and gutter or if we can just simply mill it, remove those millings and then overlay it with a new pavement,” he said.

Feucht said to do both sections would be an estimated cost of around $255,000: $176,000 for one section, $79,000 for the other.

Alderman Tom Myrin, whose district includes West Lawn Street, said improvements to that street is something he’s been asking for, for a number of years.

“The road is down to gravel, it is in horrible shape,” he said.

Myrin said if the city decided it didn’t want to do the full length of the street, he would prefer the west end of West Lawn Street be the section that’s left out, as the section from 301 to 401 is in desperate need.

“In years past, the reasons that we haven’t has been because it serves so few homes,” he said. “But, these people pay taxes, like you and I do, and they at least deserve a road.”

Myrin asked what the survey to determine the slope would cost, which Feucht said would be around $8,000, though that would also include costs for things such as construction management and design on that western section of the street.

“To just go out there and survey it, it’s 1,000 feet of road, you can do that in a day,” he said. “Ballpark numbers, off the cuff, it’d likely be less than $2,000.”

In addition to the aforementioned streets that committee members had already asked to be included in costs estimates, Tapson said he thinks Hazel Ridge Road is a necessity in the upcoming street maintenance project.

In addition, City Finance Director James Heilman noted a concern of his would be if the city were to opt to tackle streets like Proctor and McKenzie lanes in the industrial park over Court Street, Court Street might end up being a more difficult, and more expensive project down the road.

Kluck asked Heilman and other city staff to come up with something to reflect the differences in a $450,000 program and a $650,000 program, how it would be funded and how it would affect taxpayers. Tapson also noted that in the long run, he thinks the city will end up spending the $650,000 on street projects, though it’s not yet known when.

“You’re not going to escape spending these dollars,” he said. “It’s when you spend them. And frankly, if you borrow all of it now and you just parcel out the work over two years, the impact is no different. In fact, it could be a greater impact if you split it and go, OK, we’ll come back and borrow again in 2018, because interest rates don’t seem to be going anywhere but up right now.

“There’s a lot to look at, but honestly, if these are in need, they’re in need, and we ought to try and address them in some fashion.”

The topic is expected to come back before committee members in a future meeting.