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Construction at Bellview and Locust/ Staff photo by Todd Kleiboer
Other construction ongoing
The summer paving program has completed all projects ahead of schedule and under budget, and will have extra money to complete an additional project, according to the manager’s report to the city council at the regular July meeting.
Summer Paving Program: All 20 of the streets slated for asphalt repair during the summer paving project 2020 have been completed as of July 7, according to city manager Marc Maxwell.
Due to coming in under budget for the summer paving program, the city now has funds to do additional paving on Mockingbird Street, Maxwell said.
This will be completed at some time later in 2020, according to city documents. Ten of the streets on the summer paving program were paid for by the $5 street improvement fund fee, city documents stated.
Other streets and projects under construction include:
Bellview: Atmos is still replacing their gas line on the street, according to Maxwell.
“I don’t expect Atmos to be finished for 30 days,” Maxwell noted. “Suddenlink and Frontier also need to move a portion of their lines. Knowing them, I expect this to be a problem.”
At 10:59 a.m. on July 8, police personnel noted that Locust at Bellview would “be closed most of the day.”
McCann Street/ Holiday Drive: The city has decided to proceed with street repairs, according to Maxwell, and will restart construction “soon.” In June, the city halted construction on the project due to the economic impact of COVID-19, according to the June manager’s report.
“We still haven’t done much on these two streets since we are still trying to understand the extent of the economic impact of COVID,” Maxwell noted in June.
However, the city had not felt the financial strain of COVID “quite as bad as we expected,” according to finance director Lesa Smith.
Connally Street: Construction continues on the south side sidewalk, and the city expects to finish the project in July, Maxwell said. Construction on Connally began almost exactly one year ago, in early August 2019.
Grays Building: The Capital Construction Division of the city has begun preparing the pad site for the Grays building, Maxwell noted.
“I expect to hire a construction manager this week,” Maxwell stated. “The manager will prepare and receive all bids and manage the day to day construction of the project.”
City staff will perform all dirt work, construct all sidewalks and on-street parking, Maxwell noted. City staff will also perform all plumbing and electrical work, he stated.
Senior Activity Center: Maxwell noted he expected to sign a contract for architectural services later in the week of July 7.