Curtiss to start fund for Plaza Drive/Matthias St.
As part of a five-year road project plan adopted last week, Curtiss officials are looking at putting money aside every year to repair or replace the heavily traveled Matthias Street and Plaza Drive.
The village board approved a plan presented by DPW Larry Swarr that includes saving for work that will eventually need to be done on East Matthias Street, from Meridian Street to Plaza Drive, and on Plaza south of Matthias.
These stretches of road get a lot of heavy truck traffic due to the presence of the Abbyland Foods truck stop and distribution center.
Swarr said the roads were built with a very strong foundation, so the village may not have to fully replace them anytime in the near future, but he urged the board to plan ahead for preserving or reconstructing the roadway.
Trustee John Unruh suggested putting $10,000 to $15,000 per year in a special fund for Plaza Drive/Matthias Street.
If Matthias/Plaza ever needed to be completely replaced, Swarr said the project could qualify for a 50 percent matching grant based on how much traffi c it handles. Swarr said Clark County highway commissioner Brian Duell told him that Plaza Drive gets more traffic than 90 percent of the roads in the county.
Besides Matthias/Plaza, the five-year plan focuses chip sealing, pothole patching and adding new loads of gravel to the village’s unpaved roads on a yearly basis.
One project that was added for this year was fixing the cracks in the fire hall parking lot, in order to prevent a larger problem from developing in the future.
Swarr said the village is not committed to doing every project on its five-year plan, but the plan is needed so the village qualifies for Local Road Improvement Project (LRIP) grants.
“I do feel like we are a little behind on our road maintenance, particularly on the asphalt — and asphalt is the most expensive,” he said.
Other business
_ Engineer Mike Voss said representatives from Abbyland Foods want to meet with village officials later this month to discuss a new wastewater treatment agreement. In his monthly report to the board, Swarr said the company has decided not to proceed with an expansion of its pork plant at this time. In addition, the company has hired its own engineering firm to develop pre-treatment options instead of signing on to a major upgrade of the village’s sewer system.
_ Diane Lulloff spoke to the board about allowing St. Paul’s Lutheran Church to put up an 8x8 foot sign on village property along CTH E. Village president Randy Busse said the county may have issues with that, and suggested that she talk to private landowners instead.
_ The board approved a motion to hire Supreme Sweeping to sweep the streets in the spring and fall, for a maximum cost of $1,100.
_ Trustees reviewed a number of street address discrepancies within the village and approved a motion to assign new addresses to the trailer court and a couple of village-owned properties. Other changes were tabled until the affected business owner could be contacted.
_ The board approved a written agreement between the village and the Stoiber family regarding the operation and maintenance of a lift station near the Stoiber home.
_ The board approved the purchase of an HP Canon printer for the DPW’s office, at a cost of $450 plus 6 cents per page for toner, from Amazon.
_ The board approved a motion to change the way the village charges Abbyland for incorrect sewer readings on weekends. To be more accurate, the village will now use a weekend average instead of a weekday average.
_ The board discussed the possibility of hiring summer help for Swarr so he would have more time to take care of ideas on his existing work list. Swarr said a relative of his may be available, so he promised to speak with him before bringing the topic back to the board.
