City may lay sod at Schaeffler House

Laying a sod lawn at the Schaeffler House Museum in Hillsboro may make it unnecessary to relocate the Hillsboro Farmers Market this season.

City Administrator Larry Paine raised that possibility during the Hillsboro City Council April 3 meeting.

At the council?s March 30 meeting, Mary Regier, chair of the museum advisory board, had presented the board?s recommendation during the time designated for public comments to move the market to a different location this season to protect the new lawn.

Regier used the time for public comments at the April 3 meeting to inquire what the council thought about the board?s recommendation.

That?s when Paine suggested the option of laying sod rather than planting grass seed. He said he and the city staff had talked about the options at a recent meeting, which included Gary Andrews, who is groundskeeper at the local golf course.

Paine said, ?The question we were pushing around was, so we have a large crowd on that piece of turf one afternoon, what?s the impact on it going to be? From Gary?s point of view…if you hit it with the sprinklers as soon as they?re off, it?s going to refresh and start all over again.?

In addition to walking on the new grass, Regier expressed concern about chair and table legs penetrating the sod.

?A lot of the issues that Mary is talking about…has a lot to do with how tightly you lay the sod,? Paine said.

?My opinion is, it?s not a big deal,? he added. ?But you guys on the city council can do whatever you want to.?

One of the key reasons cited for not moving the market is that promotional literature has been distributed around the state that indicates the Schaeffler House as the market location.

With about a month to go until the first market, the council decided to put off making a decision until its next meeting.

Agenda business

In other business, the council:

? approved a pay estimate from Vogts-Parga Construction for $105,364 for work done on the A Street replacement project, and some work done on the Adams Street project.

? approved a pay estimate from Evans, Bierly, Hutchison & Associates for $6,999 to pay for engineering work done on the same two projects.

? approved the mayor?s appointment of Steve Vincent and Ruby Hilt for another term on the Library Board, and the appointment of Ruth Hamm for a first term on the board.

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