Granton Village Board approves Main Street project additions, looks at additional projects
By Cheyenne Thomas The Granton Village Board discussed several projects at its meeting on May 8. With the Main Street project now underway in the village, some brief discussion was held to talk about and approve changes to the project. The board also talked about its efforts to get grant funding to have more sidewalks placed in the village and remove trees that are a safety hazard.
As work has started to dig into the Main Street section from Railroad Street to Third Street, it was brought to the board’s attention that a section of sidewalk from Railroad Street to Kirk Street — that was not originally included in the project — should be replaced. The sidewalk in that section was in worse shape than initially thought, and could be added on to the project for $7,815. The additional section of sidewalk would be compliant with Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines, and would have half the sidewalk poured to a 4-inch thickness and the other half poured to a 6-inch thickness to allow fire trucks to drive over it. The board approved the addition to the project.
The board also briefly discussed the tree removal that had been done on Main Street in preparation for the project. A few residents had come forward during the past few weeks asking about some of the trees that were not removed and asked if there was still a way to have a few of those trees cut down. Cedar Corporation informed the board that there was still some money in the project budget to remove a few more trees if the board felt it was necessary, and the board approved looking into having a few more of those trees cut down.
Following discussion on the Main Street project, the board turned to the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant. The board had been given some items to review as the village goes through a scoring process to determine if it qualifies to receive funds from the program. If it does, the village plans to install ADA-compliant sidewalks along Main Street from Fifth Street up to the Granton Convenience Store and Dollar General on the south side of the village. The sidewalk would only be placed on the north side of the street, due to the placement of houses on the south side of the street. The board wanted additional time to go over the materials and tabled further action on the TAP grant until it met again on May 15.
The board also looked at information about the Urban Forestry Grant. Last month, the board had decided to get a tentative bid for a project to remove trees in the village that were a safety hazard, and had a proposed bid to consider to help them in their pursuit of the grant. The proposed bid would have nine trees removed in Windfall Cemetery and all the trees along the edge of the cemetery along Romadka Avenue trimmed. Fifteen trees would also be purchased to replace the trees that were cut out of the cemetery, and those trees would be placed in the community park and campground. The total bid for the work was $41,140 and included $4,740 for the new trees. The board was to use the amount to help fill out their application for the Urban Forestry Grant, which is due in June.
In other action taken by the board at its meeting, the board approved a one-time donation of $5,000 to the Granton First Responders for the purchase of a new ambulance.
