I’m beginning to know how a hoarder must feel. With filing cabinet drawers, kitchen drawers, and boxes taking up most of the spare space in the living room and dining room and cleaning supplies that are normally kept beneath the kitchen sink filling the bathtub, much of the house is reduced to paths rather than open spaces. The kitchen and porch remodel is remodeling our lives. On the bright side, Cathy has the essentials logically organized so that finding what we need is not a great problem. It will just be nice when the project is complete, and everything is back where it belongs…and we aren’t reduced to paths.
In City business this week, Mike Campbell, the Public Works Director, would like to let you know that beginning April 8, for two weeks, the railroad crossing at W. 3rd Street will be closed. Treasure Valley Farms, the onion packing operation south of the tracks, will be having a wastewater line connected to their significantly expanded facility. So, from April 8 to about April 22, please be prepared to go to the Water Plant or Mortimer’s Island by way of County Road 70.
The line will take about two weeks because it will be bored beneath the railroad tracks. Throughout the process, pressure checks must be made to ensure the line can withstand the trains above as well as making sure that there is no settling beneath the tracks.
In addition to laying a new wastewater line, Treasure Valley Farms will build an extension of County Road 70 down to the Water Plant and Mortimer’s Island then deed the road and right of way to the City.
Since I’m telling you what is going on south of the tracks, maybe this is a good time to let you know a few other things going on around town.
The Commercial Street project will start sometime in the next few months. The City expects to have final plans from the engineers sometime in April so we can go out for bids soon thereafter.
The project will start with the replacement of the culvert over Monroe Creek. Currently, the culvert is 110 feet wide. It will be reduced to about sixty-five feet wide with the roadway at 43 feet wide.
As it stands, Commercial Street is wide enough to be used as a four-lane highway or a small-plane landing strip. The cost to repave this street as is would exhaust the $2,000,000 funds available for the entire project. Therefore, instead, the City plans to reduce the street width to forty-three feet, which would be more than adequate for truck traffic. There will still be plenty of room for parking, except on the culvert. Narrowing the road will allow for a bike path and other amenities in what will remain the City’s right-of-way.
Next, we will focus on taking as much of the S out of the S-curve at E. 1st Street as possible and squaring up the wonky corner at E. 2nd Street.
After this first phase is completed, we will go after funding to fill in the gaps with a narrower road, and curb, gutter, and sidewalk where needed. Originally, we expected the $2,000,000 grant to cover the full amount, but construction costs have increased enormously. We are told that when the original funding doesn’t cover the complete project as expected, going for funds to bring it to completion is much easier. The State likes to see projects completed.
Another project coming soon will be the walkway near the high school to the golf course and down State Street to the bottom of the hill. Again, we will go for additional funds to complete the walkway to connect to downtown, Memorial Park, and the section from the High School over to W. 9th Street. This will complete a walking loop from Downtown, to the High School, and back.
Speaking of Memorial Park, the City is getting ready to send out requests for proposals to install new playground equipment at the park which possibly could include permanent ping-pong and corn-hole stations.
I could go on with other things going on within the City, but I’m running out of time and space for one article. There will be more later.
Well, that’s it for this week. I hope you have a great one. Weiser really is a great place to live, work, and play.
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