
Street Committee Meeting
August 17, 2021 - 12:30 p.m.
The meeting was called to order at 12:32 p.m.
Present were Arnold Knox, Director of Streets; Jim Bodenhamer, Jennifer Baker and Susan Stockton, Committee members.
The meeting began with Rod and Sandra Ketterer, residents, and President and Secretary respectively of the Willowbrook Homeowner's Association. They came to voice the concerns on behalf of the residents of their development. It seems there are vehicles speeding throughout, and people of all ages including the elderly walk, they must do so on the street because there are no sidewalks. The police department installed their speed trailer on Willowbrook, but the drivers change their course and goes down Ozark to avoid the trailer. They are here to officially request the speed limit be lowered to 20 mph and post those speed limit signs. Arnie told the Ketterer's he has already had a traffic counter at that location and has traffic totals on his desk at this time. He also said he will be meeting with the Chief of Police and the Mayor to discuss the situation and will be sending them a letter to let them know their decision.
Arnie reported to the Committee on the early morning hours of Thursday, August 12, there had been a break in at the Street Department. He said the video surveillance that he has shows just one person committing the theft. He said, the man parked his vehicle at the gate and walked around the end of the fence line, making several trips to steal 4 chainsaws out of an unlocked storage trailer, a quickie saw from one of the work trucks parked behind the shop, an extension cord and a large gas can. The building itself was not broken into, and Arnie feels it may be a former employee of the Street Department but does not know that for sure. He added, the Police Department is investigating the theft and he is planning on extending the fence line and getting better surveillance cameras installed.
The Street Report for July 2021 was reviewed. Arnie reported the crew working on the Burnett Drive Rebuild project are finishing up with sidewalks and the land issue at the end of Burnett and Buttercup brought the sidewalk to 3 feet wide down at the Burnett property. He reported he had gotten a call from Dr. Neis last week very upset that the street had been completely shut down. He said that a gas line had been hit and tried to tell the Dr. there was a gas leak, but he wasn't understanding the reason and he had patients that had to be seen. That project has a total cost to date of $479,126.19 and he hopes to have this street paved in October. The Spring Street project is going well, and that crew is now finishing pouring curbs. The cost as of the end of July is $100,574.29. Fill continues to be brought in at the new Fire Department location and there is much more needed to get to where it needs to be for their building. Arnie told the Committee that Alma said they will be ready in a month or two to run the water and sewer lines. Total cost to date is $41,264.20. Maintenance for the month of July is $20,551.24 and this crew has been working at milling the streets getting ready for Overlays. He added, at this time, the milling machine is in the shop with cylinder issues. He said he has spoken with the Mayor, and he is going to budget for next year, a new milling machine. He explained to the Committee that he would like to trade this one in while it is still in good condition and estimates on getting about $100,000 for a trade in amount on it. A new milling machine is around $600,000. He is going to get with Mike Dilbeck, who currently has the Overlay contract, to do the milling of the streets since our miller in down.
Arnie reported he had two employees out with Covid Virus, and one had left early today to test. There was a short discussion about the current situation of the virus.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:12 p.m.