By LUCIE KRISMAN
The city has a number of upcoming projects related to public works and parks and recreation, Eudora’s assistant city manager said Monday.
During the City Commission meeting, Leslie Herring outlined some of these projects, including pedestrian trail construction at Bluejacket Park and Lucy Kaegi Park, replacements for deteriorating sidewalks from Seventh to 10th Streets, and leak repair and maintenance to the swimming pool at the rec center.
Infrastructure improvements also include citywide pothole repair and curb replacements for different areas in the city over the span of five years. The city also hopes to purchase two mowers to replace old ones used in parks facilities.
This overview also included the stormwater study for the city, which is the final system study the city is conducting for utilities.
"We hope to execute the contract here in the first quarter, I believe, and then have the report results ready over the summer for us to be able to fully understand, like we do with the other utilities, how and when we need to prioritize projects in order for us to be meeting the level of service our residents expect," Herring said.
Among projects for water and wastewater included Winchester/14th waterline construction, which will last approximately six months, and upgrades to the Influent Station pump on Seventh Street, which all city sewage passes through and is currently operating with two pumps down.
Public Works Director Branden Boyd said a need for maintenance presented itself in January when sewage was temporarily backed up.
"It's not something that we expected or anticipated," Boyd said. "This was something we were going to discuss in our plan for ultimately 10 years from now, but then the 10-year plan became smack dab right in the middle of our face in January, so it's something that's going to have to be addressed this year."
These projects and their costs are part of the city's five-year capital improvement plan, which is a list of predicted city projects and their costs. Herring said the full capital improvement plan and the project costs will be presented to the commission this summer.
Herring said the summary of these projects serve as an example of improvements being made all over the city, not just in certain areas of the city, which has been a previous concern brought to the city's attention.
"This is a representation to kind of hear that concern," Herring said.
Overviews of the described projects for 2020 can be found here.
The City Commission also approved a resolution to allow residents to purchase city benches and trees and have plaques attached with their names as donors.
Requests for purchases higher than $5,000 would go to the city first for administrative review and then would go before the commission for ultimate approval.
For items valued at $5,000 or less, requests will go to Parks and Recreation Director Sally Pennington. These requests will be considered based on the type and value of the item, the needs of the city, the proposed location of the item, the cost of installation and maintenance and any other relevant factors.
Approved donors will be recognized with a letter of recognition after one year and publicly through an annual recognition observance, such as the annual Mayor Tree Lighting event.
"We would hope that whoever is coming with an idea or wanting to sponsor something, they have thought through some of these things and are able to articulate what they would like to do so we know how to respond," Herring said.
The City Commission will meet next on March 9.
Reach reporter Lucie Krisman at eudoratimes@gmail.com.
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