City approves street program; improvement projects to begin soon

Fort Scott street crews will soon get busy addressing the condition of more local roads after approval of the annual street program Tuesday by the Fort Scott City Commission.

Commissioners lent approval to the 2015 street program, which this year includes 13 total projects; four asphalt intersection improvement projects, three parking lot projects and six off-street parking area projects on various streets in the city.

"We're working on parking lots, intersections, also off-street parking areas and numerous potholes throughout town," Chad Brown, the city's street and traffic supervisor, said. "We have a total of four intersections to replace entirely."

Total cost of the projects in the program is a little more than $162,000. Brown said there is a little more than 200 tons of asphalt that should be available -- at a total cost of $12,292 --for miscellaneous patching projects and fixing potholes in various areas of town throughout the summer.

The total cost for the street program is $174,908, and Brown said he was given a budget of $175,000 to work with for completion of the projects.

According to a city document, total cost for concrete for the projects is $75,600 for 864 yards of concrete at a cost of $87.50 per yard, and total cost for 1,628 tons of asphalt at a cost of $61 per ton, is $99,308.

"There's a lot of concrete work," Brown said. "It lasts longer than asphalt. All of the off-street parking areas will be concrete. The parking stalls will be concrete. The driving lanes will be asphalt."

According to city documents, off-street parking areas to be addressed include Wall and Judson streets (south side), Oak and Judson streets (south side), Second Street (north side National to Main), Second Street (south side National to Main), Second Street (north side National to Judson), and Third Street (south side National to Main). Total cost is $26,862.

Intersections to be worked on include 17th and Eddy streets, Ninth and Horton streets (utility cut), Eighth and Clark streets (utility cut), and Eighth and Wilson streets. Total cost is $18,910.

Parking lots include the southeast corner of Wall and Judson streets, the southeast corner of Oak and Judson streets, and the northeast corner of Second and Judson streets. For each of these projects, parking stalls will be repaired using concrete and drive lanes will be asphalted. Total cost for the Wall and Judson intersection is $35,180 while the total cost for the Oak and Judson intersection is $38,779. Total cost for the Second and Judson intersection is $42,976.

Commissioner Lucas Cosens asked Brown how crews have been catching up with last year's projects.

Brown said a project to resurface Second Street from Lowman to Heylman streets, which had been delayed due to rain and cooler temperatures in April, was completed last week. That project, which was originally supposed to be completed as part of the 2014 city street program, didn't get finished due to weather delays. It involved milling and asphalt overlay on that portion of Second Street. Brown said all the other main projects in the 2014 street improvement program were completed.

"We got Second Street completed last Friday; it's finished," Brown said.

Brown said the city gets asphalt from Mound City and concrete is obtained in Bourbon County. He said getting asphalt out-of-county has been "working fine" as the cost is the same as getting it locally and it has been "more convenient."

Brown encouraged commissioners to let him know about potholes around town so they can be addressed.

Other commission business

* The consent agenda, which included appropriation ordinances totaling $594,104, requests for closure of various streets and parking lots for the annual Good Ol' Days street festival June 5-6, and a cereal malt beverage beer garden application from the Bourbon County Shrine Club for Good Ol' Days June 6 and the Fort Scott High School Reunion June 27, was approved.

* Commissioners approved the Kiwanis Tree Program and the sale of various surplus vehicles through the Purple Wave auction website.