As part of a light agenda last Tuesday night, the Cheney City Council approved a contract with Shamrock Paving for residential street projects later this spring, including work on the city’s 50 Acre Park along Betz Road.
Shamrock was the lowest bidder of two, submitting a bid of $369,815. Of that, $283,616.25 covers paving Second Street from H to C streets, along with repair patching and stormwater work along North Fifth Street from Oakland Street to Annie Place.
The remaining $86,198.75 will go towards paving and sidewalk improvements to the park. Cheney received a $450,000 state grant to fund most of the construction, but needs to have that completed by June 1 or the state might ask for its money back. That work includes installing bathrooms, a parking lot, sprinkler systems and hydro seeded fields.
The total project cost comes to $415,000 when 10 percent for contingencies is factored in, but the amount budgeted was $300,000. Public Works Director Todd Ableman explained in an email that the 50 Acre Park improvements would be paid for through park mitigation and real estate excise tax funds.
The projects are scheduled to start the week of May 11 with a 35-day work schedule that should have them completed by June 29.
Council also authorized the Light Department to declare its former 1999 Ford Aerial Double Bucket Truck as surplus, along with its 1947 American Pole Trailer, a Red Line conveyer and a Green Mountain Screen. Light Department Director Joe Noland said he had talked to several auctioneers about the possibility of auctioning the truck, and was told the market was “soft” for such purchases.
Instead, Noland proposed the city bypass the 8 – 10 percent in auctioning fees and place the truck on the bid market, establishing a minimum price of $11,000. The other three items will also be bid with amounts not exceeding $5,000 per item.
In information items, Finance Director Cindy Niemeier presented the council with a plaque the city had received for the certification on its investment policy from the Washington Public Treasurers Association. Niemeier credited the certification to the work of city Treasury Manager Laurie Hale.
In reports, Mayor Tom Trulove noted that the Legislature is now headed into a special session without a state biennial budget and without a state transportation plan. Trulove said it seemed the Legislature didn’t have a lot of “kindness” for the revenue predicament small cities such as Cheney were finding themselves in via the lack of not receiving supposed shared revenue from the state such as for liquor and marijuana sales.
Trulove noted that sales tax revenue in Cheney was down 9.89 percent in April and 7.15 percent year to date for 2015. He contrasted that by pointing out sales tax revenue for other local taxing authorities such as Spokane Transit Authority and the city of Spokane Valley was up.
“We’re going in the wrong direction,” Trulove said.
John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.
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