Council discusses Community Crossings, medians trade-offs and equipment bids

Staff member (S5) updated the council on streets and maintenance projects funded through the Community Crossings program.

S5 said the city’s Community Crossings application was approved (referenced years for 2025–2027) but that including medians on Southwest Street pushed the project estimate to about $2,000,000. "We're looking at going ahead and maybe getting rid of the medians to lower that cost," S5 said, adding staff are considering adding turning lanes and extra striping to reduce the price and improve traffic flow.

S5 said pre-construction work is scheduled and that staff aim to have asphalt and downtown crosswalk painting completed this season. The report included a note that the Walmart intersection was added to the paving list because concrete there was damaged since the tornado.

On equipment, S5 told the council that trade-in offers for a loader and a trash truck were very low (examples cited: $15,000 and $30,000) compared with original costs; staff recommended advertising surplus units for bid or auction rather than accepting low trade-in values.

The council did not take separate votes on project design changes at this meeting; staff will return with refined cost estimates and a plan for the next funding round.