The city is always assessing it’s road conditions. Historically paving projects have been difficult to pass due to resistance by property owners. The need was never questioned but the allocation of costs was.
Around the 2004 time frame city council members Jeff Harsh and Steve Nichols lead an effort to update the schedule to distribute street improvement costs. It has been very successful and we have improved existing streets under this plan. In addition, through a series of public input meetings, the city made a commitment to keep the brick streets in and around the downtown square. Those brick street improvements are evident today.
This year’s Main Street paving project is an example of the cost distribution plan and brick street preservation working as intended. Not only were the streets improved during this project, but important storm water improvements were also made to mitigate the past storm water issues, especially those in the summer of 2015.
As part of regular city planning street committee is considering a five year paving plan to address the current and upcoming maintenance and new construction needs. That plan will be shared when it is adopted.