By Sarah Richardson
The Lewisburg City Council met Tuesday, Oct. 19, to discuss the ongoing issues with the 219 sidewalk project and hear an update from City Manager Misty Hill on CARES Act reimbursement funding projects.
For the ongoing sidewalk project running north of town heading toward Wal-Mart, Roger Kennedy of Chapman Technical Group reported to council that “the project has been a little bit of a challenge,” and explained that the groundwork for this undertaking has been in motion since 2012.
After the sidewalk was nearly finished over the last few months, nearly every “transition” piece had to be demolished and re-poured. The reason construction has continued is in order to fix these issues.
“Most problems with the sidewalk were with the transitions from sidewalk to pavement, and sidewalk to sidewalk. The differentials between the slant elevations can’t exceed ¼ inch,” said Kennedy. This means the sidewalk did not meet those ADA requirements.
He said the contractor was given “the notice to proceed” in March of this year with their 120-day contract. “That contract ended July 6, and since then they’ve had several delays. I think that issues with personnel and trying to complete the construction work, we’ve given them significant leeway on contract time. The last extension they were to complete the work by the end of September. It is now the 19th. I was on site last Tuesday to inspect the repair work, and they were finishing up the striping on Silo Lane.”
Kennedy said there have been multiple meetings with DOH on site over construction quality issues, with Kennedy saying he has personally met with the contractor to try and get the sidewalk repaired.
“We have withheld payment of approximately $327,000,” he explained, and said that they have made significant progress in making the needed repairs.
Councilmember John Little asked what percent of the new sidewalk had to be reworked, with Kennedy stating it was roughly 30 to 40 percent. He estimates that the sidewalk is now 70 to 80 percent compliant.
Little asked if the repairs to the sidewalk have cost anything, with Kennedy clarifying “not a cent” of additional money has been needed from the city to remedy this issue.
When asked for a completion time, Kennedy said we are “running out of season, the clock is ticking.”
In other news, Hill updated the council on the ongoing CARES Act reimbursement funds and how the funds are being distributed.
“We were able to secure funding for the skate park addition, for the ramp,” said Hill. She said that lots of collaboration and fundraising amongst the “skate park parents” have made this possible, as well.
“We were able to fund $15,000, but it came in at a $24,000 bid, so the parents fundraised $9,000,” she said.
The Pickleball court is also being paved at Hollowell Park, inching the long-awaited project ever closer to completion. Walking lights around the track at the park have already been installed, and have been a hit among local walkers. Door locks have been ordered for the restrooms at both Hollowell and Dorie Miller, which the city hopes will lower vandalism rates.
“The ball field dugouts and ADA bathroom are around 85 percent done, we are waiting on a chopper for the septic tank. The football storage and mini-shelter is almost under roof. The two dugouts for softball has one near completion and the other one we are waiting on fencing for. The two football platforms have been completed, and we are waiting on cooler weather to tear the other one down.”
These projects and more are all being reimbursed to the city thanks to the CARES Act, passed in 2020. Totaling $726,537, the main focus for these funds have been to local parks and other areas needing updating in recent years.