By Sarah Richardson
Lewisburg City Council held their December meeting on the 17th at Lewisburg City Hall. Resolution 573, Lewisburg Feamster Road Sidewalk Funding Match, was approved as presented. The funding will come out of the City’s sidewalk budget, and City Manager Misty Hill added that the project is about seven years in the making. “They take a long time,” agreed Councilmember Valerie Pritt. The sidewalk will start at the Feamster Road and Court Street intersection, and will stretch on the south side of the road up until Oak Street. Eventually, it will span the entire way up to Dorie Miller Park. Geotechnical drilling is required for the remainder of the sidewalk, so it will be done as another phase of the project.
The City also agreed to a contract with Water Plant Operator Randy Johnson, who is retiring from the City this month following 39 years of service. He will maintain his license and will be available to the City on an as-needed basis over the next two years to help oversee the transition to the updated municipal plant facility. “These contracts help mediate when someone is sick or on vacation,” explained Hill.
A bid approval for South Lafayette and Randolph Streets for Stormwater Improvement was approved as presented. Chapman Technical has been working on this project for several months, and bids were opened earlier in the day before Council met. Midkiff Construction submitted a $378,770 bid, and Lynch Construction submitted a $329,570 bid. The bid was awarded to Lynch, and will come from the City’s ARPA funds, which must be allotted by the end of the year.
Progress is also continuing on the wayfinding signage project for the downtown area. Plans to install an informational kiosk outside of City Hall near the piano are underway, and maps are being fine-tuned for other locations. City employees will form the concrete pad base for the kiosk, and City Neon will be installing the sign itself.
“This is Phase I of the wayfinding, the next phase will be getting the signage for the side streets,” explained Hill. “This is a pretty big undertaking, I don’t think people understand the magnitude of wayfinding that goes into this.”
The Mills Group submitted an invoice for the cost of the kiosk at just over $7,000, and it was approved pending review by the city attorney. Funds for this project will be coming out of the community development fund.
“I think citizens and visitors alike will benefit from this,” said Councilmember Pritt, who also works at the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau.
Hill also stated that the City submitted four proposals to the Department of Highways for sidewalk grants, and was only approved for one. The sidewalk will span from Court Street to Washington Street. “It is going to be that sidewalk that is not ADA [compliant], it has that step-up,” said Hill. “So it will go from the corner of Court to Stratton Alley, that will become ADA [compliant], it won’t open into a curb, you won’t have a step-up.” The City was awarded $75,000, however, Councilmembers joked that these projects are notoriously slow, with the Lafayette sidewalk project taking 11 years to come to fruition. The City must provide a 20 percent match to the project, which they anticipate will come out of the budget in the next fiscal year.
Planning and Zoning Boardmember John Little said that they approved a site plan for the old ABB building north of town, which is now owned by Harvia, who purchased Almost Heaven Saunas. The plan shows a building expansion located where the current parking lot is located, and a new parking lot that will be installed to the left of the building. It was approved by both Council and the Planning Commission. Little noted that the City is really only involved in the stormwater plan portion of the project, and a public hearing was held with no questions raised. Little also announced that the Planning Commission will begin their meetings at 5 p.m. beginning in February.
In the monthly report from Lewisburg Police Chief Teubert, it was noted that they confiscated 46 grams of fentanyl and 51 grams of methamphetamine recently, which he said is a lot for the area. “This was a heavy report,” said Pritt. Council also congratulated Ptlm. Johnson for his graduation from the police academy.