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Town Council Special Meeting Road Repairs and More

This news article was posted 1/4/2018

Town Council Special Meeting Road Repairs and More

The Lapel Town Council met in special session at the Lapel Town Hall on January 3rd from 6pm.

All members of the Town Council were present.

Due to the weather recently, Town Council members were unable to review town streets as hoped to form a prioritized list for road repair projects in Spring.

The Town Council therefore discussed the roads with RQAW representatives who had performed a thorough investigation and report of the roads a few months prior.

The Town has up to $351,357.00 of grant money to spend on road repairs this year. Unfortunately, the roads that this money can be spent on must come from a list submitted at the time the grant documents were prepared. This means that some roads that are in a bad shape will not get repaired as part of this first wave, but will hopefully see repairs in a second wave of grant money.

After a lengthy discussion the following roads were singled out (this list may not be complete):

  • 500 South
  • 5th and 5th St (Cascadden Addition)
  • Vine St
  • 9th St
  • 10th St
  • Eerie St

The estimated cost to repair and resurface these streets was put at around $260,000 although this amount may change once bids are submitted.

The Town of Lapel under suggestions from the RQAW representative may use some of the additional funds available to repair sidewalks and curb ramps along these same roadways (which is permissible under the grant) to bring them up to ADA compliance.

In the next few weeks the projects will be advertised, and bids received, to hopefully have work begin early in Spring.

 

Town Council members also briefly discussed the drainage issues at Bulldog Park.

Chris Hobbs (Utility Manager) is to look at estimates for fixing the drainage.

Deb Wainscott suggested the money for repairs come out of the park budget.

Michael Cates (President) thought the Park does not have enough money to pay for it, and that its a Town problem and the Town should step up and fix it.

After Deputy Clerk/Treasurer Paula Lee revealed the Park fund likely had enough money to cover repairing drainage issues the Town Council thought the Park Department should then cover the cost of drainage improvements.

 

The Town Council also briefly discussed the salary ordinance, and opted to make no changes to it. Employees are not allowed to carry unused vacation time over from a previous year.

 

Michael Cates also suggested the Town consider hiring someone Part Time for the Office to learn the things that Paula Lee knows. He believes they needed the extra coverage when Paula is away or if at some point in the future Paula decided to retire. He added "it may take years" to train someone to be able to take over.

He also suggested they look at hiring more utility employees.

 

Finally, the Town Council approved the purchase of a new Ford Explorer for the Police Department at a cost not to exceed $26,000 for the vehicle. Additional costs may be necessary to add decals, install lights etc...

 

 

 

 

 


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