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Village planning projects to resurface four streets
Village Council on Monday gave its initial approval
for a request from Village administrators to conduct almost $100,000 in
unbudgeted street paving projects this year.
Village Manager Rob Hillard asked Council to OK
the requested projects now so the Village could bid the projects through
a Greene County bid program, which, Hillard said, would save the Village
money. The Village, for instance, would not have to pay for engineering
work for the projects, Hillard and Village Planner Phil Hawkey said.
Council did not vote on the request, though Council
will have to officially approve the projects after they are bid through
the county program. Council members indicated that the condition of some
streets and the opportunity to save money through the Greene County program
were factors in approving the staff’s request.
The list of planned resurfacing projects are as
follows:
• King Street, for an estimated $43,263
• Livermore Street, between Herman and Marshall
and between East North College and Davis, for $23,901
• East Center College Street, from Xenia to
Livermore, for $22,213
• Park Meadows entryway, for $7,214
The total cost of the projects is estimated to be
$96,591, according to a project list Hawkey prepared. Hawkey said that Village
staff chose the streets because they are a mix of primary routes and smaller
streets. He added that Village staff also suspect that the Village will
not have to dig the streets up in the near future to do utility work.
Harold Hamilton, who oversees the Village street
department, said that Village staff members have reviewed the condition
of the Village utilities under these streets, but they have not yet checked
with Vectren, the local gas company, on its gas lines.
The street projects would increase expenditures
in the Village’s multi-fund, or general fund, to $2.83 million. Multi-fund
expenses in the 2004 Village budget, which Council approved in January,
were originally projected to be $2.73 million.
The new projects would also push to over $1 million
the total funds the Village is expected to spend on capital projects, based
on numbers contained in the final budget. However, already this year, the
Village initiated several projects that have come in under budget. The accepted
bid for one project, painting one of the Village water towers, was slightly
more than $90,000 under budget.
The Village has budgeted for one other street project
this year. The streets and water departments are planning a joint project
to rebuild Walnut Street, between Dayton and Elm, and upgrade the waterline
under the street. Rebuilding the street will cost $75,000 and upgrading
the waterline, $50,000.
Hillard described the new street projects as a “high
priority” that are as “important” as the Walnut Street
project.
In his written report, which was prepared for Monday’s
Council meeting, Hillard justified the request by saying that the Village
has not “invested significantly in paving work for two years”
and Yellow Springs winters gave taken a “toll” on the roads,
and the Village has funds available to pay for the paving.
After the meeting, Hillard said that he only recently
became aware of the Greene County street paving program, and he viewed the
need to conduct some resurfacing projects this year as so great that he
decided to propose the extra work to Council.
The 2004 Village budget contained a year-end reserve
of $589,000 in the multi-fund, which is 24 percent of the fund’s day-to-day
expenses. Council has said that it wants each of the Village’s five
major funds to end the year with a balance, or reserve, of 25 percent.
On Monday, Hillard said that he is “not as
concerned” as “some Council members” with maintaining
fund balances at 25 percent. Hillard has said that a year-end balance of
8 to 12 percent is adequate.
An inventory of capital improvement projects released
last year by Hillard listed almost $4.64 million in road or drainage work
that Village needs to accomplish in the next 10 years.
Hawkey’s list of projects also identified
two other streets the Village could have resurfaced: all of Corry Street,
for $92,253, and East Enon Road, near Yellow Springs High School, for $52,182.
—Robert Mihalek
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