By John McCallum
Editor 

Cheney council OKs project payment

Approval to spend $305,600 moves North Sixth Street Preservation Project forward; construction could start July 1

 

Last updated 5/16/2014 at 11:54am



Cheney’s North Sixth Street Preservation project took a step towards moving off the drawing board and into actual asphalt and concrete with City Council approval Tuesday night of a Local Agency Agreement Supplement with the state’s Department of Transportation.

The agreement was needed in order to allocate $305,600 of $325,000 in federal funding received for the project by the city under the Surface Transportation Program for construction and construction engineering of the project. Public Works Director Todd Ableman told the council the city had received project authorization from DOT, but with a 21-day approvals process compounded by a 14-day backlog of plans, the city needed to move immediately to authorize the expenditure.

The project scope includes new asphalt surface along with sidewalk repairs including upgrades to be compliant with American with Disabilities Act requirements along North Sixth Street from Betz Road to Oak Street. Ableman said the project should begin by July 1.


Council also approved the disbursement of funds from the city’s Lodging Tax to four local groups planning events this summer. Finance Director Cindy Niemeier said the Lodging Tax Committee received five applications for funding and approved two at full funding and two at partial funding: Cheney Events Association (Rodeo), $3,000; Cheney High School Reunion, $400; Cheney Jubilee, $10,000 and the Jedermann Gran Fondo Bike Ride, $1,772. A total of $15,172 was allocated.

Niemeier said there were several changes to the funding requirements this year, namely that the council had final approval of funding and that groups receiving money must provide a report to the city about aspects of the event participants such as how many came from over 50 miles away and stayed at Cheney-area lodging.


The council also approved two separate copier lease agreements for the Fire Department and the Light Department. Both leases are expiring soon. The Fire Department will lease a Sharp copier for 60 months at $154.62 per month, a $15 decrease from the current lease while the Light Department will lease a Ricoh copier for five years at $258.36 per month, a drop of $48.64 per month over the current agreement.

The council also approved a Light Department request to renew its $10,000 contract with Eastern Washington University athletics for advertising of the Bonneville Power Administration’s Conservation program in 2015 at Eagle sporting events.

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.

Author Bio

John McCallum, Retired editor

John McCallum is an award-winning journalist who retired from Cheney Free Press after more than 20 years. He received 10 Washington Newspaper Publisher Association awards for journalism and photography, including first place awards for Best Investigative, Best News and back-to-back awards in Best Breaking News categories.

 

Reader Comments(0)

 
 

Powered by ROAR Online Publication Software from Lions Light Corporation
© Copyright 2024

Rendered 03/02/2024 21:29