Eight aldermen were present, with Marty Neitzel
and Bruce Carmitchel being absent for the evening.Once again this
week, a main topic of discussion was the bridge on Oglesby Avenue.
During last week's voting session, the council agreed to give
city engineers Darren Forgy and Lisa Kramer of Prairie Engineers
permission to do further research into obtaining federal bridge
funds for the demolition of the bridge.
The project as outlined by Forgy included removal of the bridge,
doing finish work to prevent vehicles from driving into the creek,
and building a cul-de-sac on the south side of the creek. The
estimated cost of the project was approximately $120,000 to
$124,000.
Of that amount, $100,000 would be provided by federal bridge
funds that are under the jurisdiction of Logan County engineer Bret
Aukamp and belong to the county. Aukamp had indicated to Forgy and
Kramer that he was in favor of giving the city the $100,000.
However, because it is federal money, the city would have to follow
a different set of rules in doing the work than if they were to do
it themselves.
Last week the council was told that the earliest the city could
go out for bid using federal funds would be the early part of 2014.
They were also told that if they removed the engineering design
costs from the federal amount, they might be able to speed up the
process by a few months and go out for bid late in 2013.
Wednesday evening, Forgy added to that information, saying that
with the federal money involved, the process would take a lot more
time. He estimated that the earliest the city could bid the project
would be early spring 2014, with construction to be that summer,
more than a year away.
He said that, yes, the process could be sped up a little bit if
the city pays the engineering design costs out of its own pocket,
but the odds of getting anything done before the early part of next
year were pretty slim.
Melody Anderson said she didn't have the papers in front of her,
but she recalled there was one option presented several weeks ago
that would cost the city $35,000 out-of-pocket. David Wilmert
confirmed it was option 6 presented by Forgy in January. Stacy Bacon
added that option 6 had been her choice all along, with the
exception of the "silly planters."
During the discussions in January, the council had gotten caught
up in a discussion of how to block the dead-end street once the
bridge was taken out. In what appeared to be a move to avoid that
argument again, Anderson raised her hands and simply said
"whatever," then moved on to the point she was hoping to make.
She asked Forgy what the out-of-pocket expense for the city would
be if the cost of engineering was taken out of the federal money and
added to the match dollars the city would have to come up with. He
responded that in total, the city's share would then be
approximately $37,000 to $38,000.
Anderson then commented, "If it's going to take $37,000 to get
the federal funds, let's just use our $35,000 and get it done."
Wilmert immediately agreed.
Anderson went on to explain that she and her husband, Andy
Anderson, live on Oglesby and often walk down to the bridge and find
that the barricades have been moved. She noted that this week they
had been moved to the extent that a vehicle could have driven over
the bridge. She said she was not in favor of waiting yet another
year to get this resolved.
In comparing the federal design plan to option 6, the primary
difference is that the federally funded project includes building
the cul-de-sac, while option 6 does not.
