Harmony City Council moves forward with Pavement Management Plan

By Jade Sexton
jade@fillmorecountyjournal.com

Mon, Jun 18th, 2012
Posted in Harmony Government

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The Harmony City Council had a Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) workshop on May 29, and they suggested Stantec come up with a proposal for a pavement management plan for the city. Brett Grabau from Bonestroo, who is partnered with Stantec, explained the proposal at their regular council meeting on June 12.

Grabau said they would go through every street in town, look at the pavement, and put a rating to it using a PACER rating manual. They would then look at the restoration options, such as overlay, seal coating, crack filling, repaving, and total reconstruction, and see what each street needs. They will also look at curb and gutter needs. The total cost of the plan is $7,500.

According to Grabau, this plan could help the city to not waste maintenance money on seal coating and crack filling when the street needs more. The project would include a map showing the rating, the correlating rehab method, and projecting the projects coming down the road and the dollar amounts that would go with the projects.

“It’s a way to focus the money you guys have stored,” said Grabau. “It’s a tool to use with the CIP, to help prioritize.”

Council member Jim Bakken said that with the amount of money the city is going to spend on these projects in the future, it would make sense to get this done. The council approved the contract with Stantec.

Building and Maintenance

Illg said the county is planning on doing a mill and overlay to 1st Ave SW, which is a county road, in 2013-14. If the city would like to have any utility work done to that street, they should make plans to do it before that. Illg said there is a lot of sidewalk work that needs to be done, as regulations state they should be five feet wide, and most of them are four feet. He mentioned working with the school on a plan for the sidewalks on that side of the street. There are storm sewer drains and catch basins that need to be redone, and a few driveway aprons.

Electric rates

The council approved an electrical rate increase, estimated at 8.8 percent. There is a higher summer energy rate for June, July, and August during the peak hours of 11am-7pm. The Rate Review, done by STAR Energy Services, recommended the increases to provide the city a net income of $75,000, required for improvement projects

Fire Department

Fire Chief Bill Hanlon updated the council on the concert that will be at the Fire Hall on July 3. Gemini will be playing at the dance from 7pm-11pm. At the previous meeting there had been some questions about parking on the highway, but the State Patrol did not think there would be an issue. Hanlon said they are considering putting no parking signs along the highway from the hospital to the intersection just for fire access if needed.

Hanlon also asked if there was a place they could put the fire training building they are using to train new fire fighters. He suggested behind the city shed, since it would be inconspicuous. However, it was brought up that the disc golf course goes back there. Hanlon is going to look at a spot in the industrial park.

Other Business

The council approved four commercial rehab loan requests. Illg said the total of those loans would go over the $7,000 they have left for the year. The city will cover the additional $30,500 needed for the loans.

The liquor licenses for Wheelers and Harmony Golf Club were approved.

The Park Board is still looking for another member.

The next meeting will be changed to Tuesday, July 7 at 7pm due to the primary elections on July 14.

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