The Chamber of Commerce celebrated another year of service to the community. Thanks are due to Ross Ingersoll for his term as President and best of luck to Jodi Nellesen as the incoming President. It is the incoming President’s job to plan the annual banquet, and Jodi and crew did a great job. Fiddler 3 was a youth string group that provided dinner music. Members of the FFA were recruited into helping serve and clean up. Nice to have the young kids involved. The evening’s entertainment was provided by Brady Wilson. Of course, a banquet is not complete without good food. Ray and the Green Hills crew did a great job. Personally, I think we should have started with the cobbler!
I’m sure you have probably heard the City is progressing with plans to replace the water metering system. Each customer will have a new meter base and electronic meter installed. The current system continues to age and present more operational problems each month. The new system will be totally wireless. Each meter will transmit a reading every four hours. Antenna on top of the City’s two water towers will pick up the readings and relay them to the City’s computer at City Hall. Instead of four to five days and seven people doing readings, it will take the clerk about 20 minutes to have all of the readings ready for printing bills. The system will have leak detection built into the system, and will be able to notify the clerk when it believes a customer has a leak, which means we will be able to alert you about potential leaks. The metering system will be paid off by an add-on to the water bills of $0.56 per thousand gallons. A charge based on consumption was deemed the fairest way to allocate cost, as water meters loose accuracy in direct proportion to the number of gallons passing through the meter. Hence, a household using 10,000 gallons per month will put more wear on their meter than a household that only uses 2,500. The financing is for five years and is fully amortizing, which means at the end of five years, the meters will be paid off and the add-on will be removed from the bills. We fully understand this is an added cost for you. It is an improvement that is needed, and will provide accurate billing, even through the winter, when the City has estimated your bill. If you have questions about the new system, please do not hesitate to call or email and we will answer your questions. We have not determined the sequence in which they will be installed, but we will advise you when that has been determined. In most cases, water service will be interrupted a very short time for the installation.
Spring is just around the corner, which will bring warmer weather and will finally allow the 2010 street work to begin. The projects for this year are:
Main & 6th Street Renovation – the contract has been signed, the bond and insurance are in place, so all we need is good weather. Main will be receiving a new concrete surface and new sidewalks and driveway approaches in some places. Main will be done from 5th to 6th. Sixth Street will have a new concrete surface, curb and gutter system and new sidewalks. The improvements will dramatically change the look of 6th Street from Main to Price. This project is funded with 80% MODOT grant funds and 20% by City tax funds.
16th Street Culvert – the existing culvert is too small to handle the large volume of water that flows through the watershed and under 16th Street. The existing culvert will be removed and replaced with a larger culvert, which will allow more water volume to pass through, which will help eliminate or reduce flooding in the immediate area. We are anticipating an early spring bidding to try and beat the spring rains. This project is being funded 100% by sales tax funds received by the City.
Cedar Street Culvert – the design for this project is complete. We are working towards a mid March bidding for the project. It will replace the undersized culvert, with one able to handle the large volume that does flow through the area. Through traffic will not be possible during the construction. We apologize for the inconvenience now and promise we’ll keep construction as short as possible. This project is funded 80% by a Community Development Block Grant and 20% from local tax funds.
East Price Street – will be improved from Bus. 71 to just past the Amercian Legion building. Improvements will include concrete pavement, curbs and gutter, drainage system and sidewalk on the south side. This project is also funded by a CDBG grant for 80% of the project costs and 20% by sales tax.
Asphalt Mill & Overlay – this continues the City’s asphalt street program. Two streets will be done this year. Benton from 6th to Minnie Cline and Ironwood from Rte E south to the City limits will be done. The City has developed a five year schedule for the Asphalt Street program, and 2010 is the first year under the schedule. If bid prices come in lower, it may be possible to do another street. Prices seem like they are staying low, so keep your fingers crossed. This program is funded 100% by sales tax collected by the city.
East Main Street Extension – the City recently learned that it was awarded a CDBG grant for this project. The 20% cash match will be provided by a developer in the area. The project will provide for the installation of culverts in Pluckum Creek to provide the base for a crossing and the extension of East Main Street across the creek.
Altogether, the City has just shy of $2 million in street improvement projects in the works for this year, with the City’s share about 21% or $399,519. All but one project at least partially funded by sales tax generated in Savannah, which is the East Main Street Extension. It is your tax dollars hard at work for you.
Thanks for reading this week. If you have any questions or comments feel free to call or email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Don’t forget to get out and enjoy the sunshine and warmer weather!
