City tweaks road project plans
Delays Perkins St. until after Taylor County finishes work on CTH O
The Medford Committee-of-the-Whole at its meeting on Tuesday night approved a revised capital projects schedule.
City coordinator Joe Harris told the committee the Taylor County Highway Department has informed the city it will be reconstructing CTH O from Hwy 13 to Gibson Street in 2022. He said the city had planned to reconstruct Perkins Street from Fourth Street to Whelen Avenue in 2022, as well, and concerns were raised about having both Perkins Street and CTH O under construction at the same time.
The new schedule would reconstruct South Seventh Street from Ogden Street to Broadway Avenue and resurface Madison Street from Wheelock Avenue to Brucker Street in 2022 in lieu of the Perkins Street project. The Perkins Street project would be moved back to 2023.
The committee approved a contact with Black River Industries to provide lawn care service for the city.
Harris also told the committee the Friends of the Downtown have decided to discontinue the hanging baskets and are exploring other ways to decorate the downtown area. Since there would be no flowers to water and finding summer help has been difficult in the past, Harris said he had contacted Black River Industries to see if they would be interested in providing lawn care services. Black River Industries submitted a contract to provide a lawn care crew to work a total of 10 to 15 hours per week trimming around trees and buildings at a cost of $24 per hour. He said the city would continue to hire an outside contractor to mow lawns.
The city spent $20,135 to mow and trim lawns in 2020. In 2021, it is estimated the cost to mow lawns will be $10,000 and trimming by Black River Industries would be $5,760, a savings of $4,375. The 2021 budget includes $22,515 for both lawn mowing and trimming.
Alderman Mike Bub commended Harris for saving the city money while at the same time providing work for people at Black River Industries, saying it was a win-win situation for everyone.
The committee also approved purchasing a new police vehicle from Medford Motors.
Police chief Chad Liske said the 2021 Ford utility police interceptor would replace a 2017 Ford police interceptor, which in turn would replace a 2015 Ford police interceptor that would be traded in. Price for the new vehicle is $33,314. With the $7,000 trade-in allowance, the cost to the police department would be $26,314.
Liske said the department had also requested bids from Ewald Auto and Kayser Ford, but that neither had submitted a price quote. He said the department has been purchasing Ford police vehicles to reduce the costs associated with equipping the vehicle with the emergency equipment needed, such as lightbars, radio consoles and camera mounts. He said much of the equipment is vehicle specific and using another brand may add additional expense in outfitting the vehicle.
Alderman Clem Johnson asked Liske if he had considered approaching any of the other local Ford dealerships about providing bids. Liske said he could look into it if that was what the committee wanted, but in the end the committee voted to accept the Medford Motors bid.
