City funds planned for sidewalk to Walmart

The McCook City Council will be asked to cancel state funding and instead use $60,000 of city funds to construct a sidewalk along U.S. Highway 6-34, at the regular council meeting Monday, 7:30 p.m., at City Council Chambers in Memorial Auditorium.

The project has been in the works since 2007 as part of the McCook Trails system and would consist of a sidewalk along U.S. Highway 6-34 on the west end of town to Wedgewood Drive.

The Nebraska Department of Roads awarded the city in 2007 grant funding for 60 percent of construction costs, or $101,570, with the remaining 40 percent to be picked up by the city at $40,628.

City staff said since the award of the grant, costs of the project have risen to about $150,000, primarily due to increased preliminary engineering requirements and inflation.

Greg Wolford, engineer for the project and McCook Public Works Director Kyle Potthoff have discussed options with the company who oversees NDOR grant funds. They found that additional funding could be awarded from the NDOR for engineering expenses but would be unlikely for actual construction costs, as the scope of the project has not changed.

Using state funding would also stall the start of the project by another one to two years. City staff estimated that by using only city funds, construction could be speeded up by at least a year.

Other regular agenda items the council will discuss include:

* introduce and approve on first reading, suspending the three-reading rule, an ordinance to abandon the proposed alley between Spruce Street and Ponderosa Drive in Henton's First Addition, north of the fairgrounds. There is no alley currently constructed and four property owners have requested that the platted area be abandoned or vacated. The neighborhood is outside city limits and city staff have determined that the city can use access to the lots using a public easement road of SourceGas.

* approve the request from the YMCA for a New Year's Eve Resolution Fun Run/Walk on Dec. 31, to coincide with "First Night" events.

* receive and file information about the activities and successes of the McCook Problem Resolution Team. The PRT was formed in 2008 to address dilapidated/unsafe buildings with property owners.

Consent agenda items the council will consider, where items can be approved in one motion or pulled for discussion by a council member or member of the public, include:

* award the bid for two, 2010, three-quarter ton, four-wheel drive pickup trucks for the street and recycling departments, to Wagner Ford at $43,494.64. This was the only bid received for the trucks. Total bid for each vehicle would be $21,747, including the options of electric windows, locks and mirrors and a sliding rear window. This is the second time the city had requested bids for the trucks. In the first round, the city received three bids, all over the $21,000 budgeted for each vehicle. Two of those bids were ineligible as they were submitted after the 2 p.m. deadline, leaving only one bid that was $1,568 over budget. The bids were rejected and new bid specifications were drawn up that listed the power windows, locks and mirrors and a sliding rear window as options.

* approve the automatic renewal of all current retail liquor licenses in the city for 2010

* award the bid for concessions at the Jaycees Ball Complex to Consolidated Management Co. for $1,525 per year and at Felling Field to Nancy Collins at $825 per year, both contracts for 2010-12.

* as a housekeeping item, approve the supplemental agreement with the NDOR allowing for an extension of time to complete the first phase of the Kelley Park Walking Trail to Nov. 30, 2007. This part of the trail has been completed but during a review, it was found that the agreement to extend the completion date was not created. This supplemental agreement will close-out the project.