Intersection, alley project should begin in a week

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN DON RATZLAFF
With two new members on board, the Hillsboro City Council heard at its April 16 meeting that reconstruction of the Grand and Washington intersection and the alley between city hall and Emprise Bank is set to begin April 29.

At the start of the meeting, Shelby Dirks and Byron McCarty were sworn in as new councilors as a result of their victories in the April 2 local election.

In his report, City Engineer Bob Previtera told the council he had met with the contractor, Barley Construction of Wichita, earlier in the day for a preconstruction meeting regarding the intersection and alley project. The contractor had said, barring delays, the job could be completed in six weeks, though the contract allows for 90 days.

In the meantime, traffic through the downtown area will be inconvenienced for a time, as will businesses who normally would use the alley for parking.

“It’s going to look busy on Main Street for a while,” said City Administrator Steven Garrett when asked where personnel from those businesses will need to park.

Previtera also reviewed the resurfacing of the southern-most three blocks of South Washington following the completion earlier this year of a sewer-line replacement project. He said the current plan is a compromise because the initial one was deemed too costly, but the street should be worth the wait.

“Yes, they’ve been inconvenienced,” Garrett said of residents along the street, “but when we’re done, they’ll have a lot better road (than they had before).”

In other matters, the council:

approved an agreement with the law firm of Triplett, Woolf & Garretson, LLC, for bond counsel services. The Wichita firm has been serving in that capacity, but never formalized its agreement with the city.

approved an agreement with the City of Peabody and Marion County Rural Water District No. 5 assuring that if Hillsboro would ever terminate its contract to provide water for Peabody that it would continue to provide water for RWD No. 5. The agreement is a formality, the council was told.

RWD No. 5 is still in the process of completing its system and does not yet purchase water from Hillsboro.

appointed Sharon Boese to the Tree Board to fill the unexpired term of Evelyn Koop, who had resigned.

heard from Garrett that by the middle of this week, the first of three filters to be replaced at the water treatment plant should be operational.

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