South Heart preps for road project

Talk about it

A road improvement project that could cost anywhere between $170,000 and $250,000 is being considered by South Heart, City Councilman Quain Kudrna said.

The project has been discussed by the council for about a year, Kudrna said.

“We’re just going to try to overlay, or probably just a gravel and road tar on it and fix up the streets where we needed to because we’ve got a few cracks and things to fix up around man holes and things like that,” Kudrna said. “It’s just an improvement so we don’t let it all fall apart.”

The project would involve between 30 to 35 blocks, according to a Kadrmas, Lee & Jackson, Inc. preliminary engineering report.

“We put a seal coat on five, seven years ago, and that’s about all that lasts, that length of time,” Kudrna said. “We’re either going to put a seal coat on or try a slurry mix.”

The city has done regular patching and crack sealing on the roads, he added.

“It only lasts so long, and then you have to do the real maintenance to them,” Kudrna said.

Kudrna feels that people in town are more or less in favor of the project.

Costs for the project could reach $250,000, depending on what kind of product is used on the roads, Kudrna said.

Terry Boehm, an engineer with Kadrmas, Lee & Jackson, Inc. who has been working with the city on the project, said the plan right now is to have a base bid with regular chips seal.

“We’re also going to have an alternate bid for a slurry seal, like what you have seen on some of the interstates and Highway 22,” Boehm said.

Bids will most likely go out in February, Kudrna said.

Kudrna said a special assessment is going to be used for the project, and a committee will be formed to determine how the assessment will be handed down.

There hasn’t been a special assessment in about three or four years, he added.

“It’s just that time,” Kudrna said.

A meeting is slated to be held Feb. 1 at South Heart City Hall to hear any protest against the project. The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m.

“Anyone who wants to protest it is welcome to come and give their point of view,” Kudrna said.

Those who wish to submit their protest in writing may also do so, but must submit them to the South Heart City Auditor by Jan. 15, according to a public notice.

Boehm said if 50 percent or more of the people protest the project, “then it likely isn’t going to happen.”

If the project goes forward, it would likely begin at some point in early summer, with the project expected to be finished at the end of summer.

“It has to be 60 or 65 above before anything can be done,” Kudrna said.

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