Council hears ideas for transportation plans

Havre City Council preceded Monday night's meeting with a public hearing on how the city should spend more than $273,000 from the Community Transportation Enhancement Program. Two people came.

Garrett Edmonds came to speak on behalf of himself, Tom Healy from Koefod Insurance and David Shaw from the Atrium Mall to talk about redoing the sidewalks around the Atrium building and its parking lot.

Edmonds said that those sidewalks are falling apart and dangerous, with some of the breaks leaving three-inch ledges in the sidewalk.

"The main concern is that if we don't fix this, someone will get hurt," Edmonds said. "And they will come after both of us."

Not all of the sidewalk needs to be repaired. Edmonds said that the corner on the east side, near 2nd Street and 2nd Avenue, would be salvageable.

An estimate that the three applicants had from last year put the cost of the new sidewalks at around $150,000, with $130,000 going into taking out the old sidewalk and replacing it and $20,000 in engineering costs.

The 13.42 percent local match, required by CTEP, on this project would be just over $20,130.

Edmonds said he can't speak for his associates, but he knows coming up with that would be a challenge, especially after the $100,000 spent on the Atrium's parking lot, which Edmonds told the council is used a lot by the public to visit downtown and frequently not to visit the mall.

Councilwoman Pam Hillery asked what Edmonds would think about doing the projects in sections, over a few years.

"If you're asking 'would I rather have parts at a time rather than nothing,' then yes, yes I would," Edmonds said.

Krystal Steinmetz, director of community planning for Bear Paw Development Corp., warned council to avoid this outcome, as each segment of the sidewalk renovation would incur its own engineering costs, and the total cost would be substantially higher than if it were done at one time.

Steinmetz went on to talk on behalf of two businesses which had contacted her about securing CTEP money but had not appeared at the meeting.

She said that the North Central Senior Citizens Center had requested funds for new sidewalks after a drainage problem had damaged them. There was no estimate for the cost of that project.

She had also been contacted by the owners of the Culligan water building on 2nd Street about new sidewalks in front of their business.

Hearing these options, the council will take them into consideration and make a decision on what to apply for in December, in the hopes that construction can begin on whatever they choose over the summer of 2011.

Havre City Council preceded Monday night's meeting with a public hearing on how the city should spend more than $273,000 from the Community Transportation Enhancement Program. Two people came.

Garrett Edmonds came to speak on behalf of himself, Tom Healy from Koefod Insurance and David Shaw from the Atrium Mall to talk about redoing the sidewalks around the Atrium building and its parking lot.

Edmonds said that those sidewalks are falling apart and dangerous, with some of the breaks leaving three-inch ledges in the sidewalk.

"The main concern is that if we don't fix this, someone will get hurt," Edmonds said. "And they will come after both of us."

Not all of the sidewalk needs to be repaired. Edmonds said that the corner on the east side, near 2nd Street and 2nd Avenue, would be salvageable.

An estimate that the three applicants had from last year put the cost of the new sidewalks at around $150,000, with $130,000 going into taking out the old sidewalk and replacing it and $20,000 in engineering costs.

The 13.42 percent local match, required by CTEP, on this project would be just over $20,130.

Edmonds said he can't speak for his associates, but he knows coming up with that would be a challenge, especially after the $100,000 spent on the Atrium's parking lot, which Edmonds told the council is used a lot by the public to visit downtown and frequently not to visit the mall.

Councilwoman Pam Hillery asked what Edmonds would think about doing the projects in sections, over a few years.

"If you're asking 'would I rather have parts at a time rather than nothing,' then yes, yes I would," Edmonds said.

Krystal Steinmetz, director of community planning for Bear Paw Development Corp., warned council to avoid this outcome, as each segment of the sidewalk renovation would incur its own engineering costs, and the total cost would be substantially higher than if it were done at one time.

Steinmetz went on to talk on behalf of two businesses which had contacted her about securing CTEP money but had not appeared at the meeting.

She said that the North Central Senior Citizens Center had requested funds for new sidewalks after a drainage problem had damaged them. There was no estimate for the cost of that project.

She had also been contacted by the owners of the Culligan water building on 2nd Street about new sidewalks in front of their business.

Hearing these options, the council will take them into consideration and make a decision on what to apply for in December, in the hopes that construction can begin on whatever they choose over the summer of 2011.