Colby maps out future street extension
The Colby City Council examined plans for possible development along the future extension of Community Drive during its monthly meeting on Sept. 7.
MSA project engineer Dan Borchardt was on hand to answer questions and supply graphs of the future development options along Community Drive.
“Obviously, Community Drive is connecting from north to south up to Kwik Trip,” Borchardt said. “According to Marathon County, a parcel is defined through the right-of-way, so the Community Drive right-of-way is not defi ned through the parcel that is owned by the city of Colby.”
Borchardt said developers don’t have a clear picture of what the area is open for development. Borchardt said the first priority for Colby is to show developers what areas are available along the new street extension.
“Plats come in different increments, so any plat that is less than four parcels is a lot easier and cheaper to get through the state,” he said. “Any time you go above four parcels, you’re looking at a full subdivision plat with more requirements and the cost goes up.”
Borchardt discussed possible platting of the property that would run along the Community Drive extension, and advised the city keep the plats at three parcels.
“My question to you as a city is, what is going to be the ideal size of the developer?” he said. “Well, it’s going to vary depending on what developer comes in here.”
Borchardt said the city should adapt and adjust based on developers interest in property for plats with larger parcels and plats for future streets, and recommended the council avoid subdividing the plats for the time being.
“At this time I think simpler is better, if we define lots now. . . .and our lots are too small, then the city is going to end up paying additional money to reconfigure the lots,” he said. “If you keep them larger and subdivide the lots at a later date, you keep your cost down.”
Borchardt said it was previously discussed at a facilities committee meeting that there should be roadways every 400 feet at manholes, and potential future streets extending from the roadways.
However, he cautioned against doing anything now until developers began inquiring about the properties.
“The more street infrastructure that is added, the more maintenance that is added to the city,” Borchardt said. “Unless you know for certain there is going to be a developer, I don’t know that I would recommend subdividing it at this time.”
Borchardt said this should be studied at the committee level to gain more information and explore more topics on potential development and lay-out.
“I think you still want a clearer picture, so platting is necessary,” he said. “It would just be a matter to what extent does the city want to do it.”
The board agreed to study the matter in more detail at its next facilities committee.
“I would say that makes sense, and think we need to get going on platting so we can get these sold and get the road in,” Mayor Jim Schmidt said.
Second Street construction
The council also examined a fuure road construction project running along North Second Street in order to handle the increased water flow from the city’s watershed.
Colby’s DPW Harland Higley relayed to the board that the volume of water in the storm sewer is exceeding what the sewer system could handle along North Second Street.
Higley discussed the possibility of ripping up a portion of North Second Street in order to replace the current 12-inch pipes, and enlarging the drainage pipes with 36-inch piping to handle the volume of water.
As part of the proposal, Borchardt recommended reconstructing 471 feet along Second Street. Borchardt said the city could either do a saw cut line down the middle or a full reconstruct.
Borchardt noted that there are “quite a few cracks” in the road. Borchardt said the full reconstruction option would cost the city around $307,000. The partial reconstruction for the length of street would be roughly $185,000.
From an engineering standpoint, for MSA to draw up designs of the full reconstruction, the cost would $15,000 for a partial. It would cost $18,000 for both sides of the street.
Mayor Schmidt and Ald. Dan Hederer recommended the council look at the project in more detail during the city’s next facilities committee meeting.
