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City council briefs: City at-large to pay for sidewalk

By Estuardo Garcia - | Mar 14, 2007

City at-large to pay for sidewalk

Tonganoxie City Council approved for the city at-large to pay for construction of a sidewalk on Pleasant Street.

“A sidewalk is sorely needed,” said Council member Ron Cranor. “The people on that street aren’t necessarily the people that want it. We need it for other reasons. Whenever there is a sidewalk that needs to be built, I think the city as a whole should fund it.”

Other council members agreed the financial burden of the sidewalk should not fall on the shoulders of the Pleasant Street residents but on the city because the city as a whole will benefit.

Council member Jason Ward agreed not to push for creation of a benefit district in this case, but expressed a concern that the city should be cautious as to not set a precedent to fully fund all sidewalks. He agreed that benefit districts should be used when residents approach the council to build a sidewalk.

The next step is for city engineers to bring in a proposal and a cost estimate to construct the sidewalk from Washington Street to Fourth Street. The proposal, as directed by the council, would move a section of the sidewalk from the east side of Pleasant Street to the west side, making it safer for pedestrians when they are near Himpel Lumber and Building Center.

Property cleanup passes inspection

After several months a couple of extensions, Wanda and Ernest Bjoogard have just about finished cleaning up their property on 14301 Loring Road.

Code enforcer Danny Dodge inspected the property on Monday and determined there was only about a “pickup’s worth” of trash, tires and steel bars left on the property.

At one point, the amount of waste on the property caught the attention of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

Police get OK for digital cameras

Council members approved a financing bid from First State Bank and Trust for a loan of $46,441 to install 11 new ICOP cameras in Tonganoxie Police Department squad cars.

On Jan. 8, the council approved $15,000 from the police budget to be used as a down payment for the digital cameras.

Bridge inspections to get under way

The council approved $5,000 from engineering services fund to be used to begin bridge inspections for the Church Street, Pleasant Street and Main Street bridges.

The inspections will allow the city to get the ball rolling on putting these three bridges on the National Bridge Inventory. Recording the bridges on the National Bridge Inventory is the first step in receiving up to 80 percent of the cost of maintaining bridges from the federal government.

The process to receive federal funding can take more than 27 months before construction begins.

The Fourth Street bridge is already on the list and is now eligible to receive federal funding.