Pickering to attempt limited street repair

At the June 3 Pickering City Council meeting, Mayor Charles Smith relayed information received from Mid-America Road Builders, Platte City, on street repairs.

The company will be in Hopkins the week of June 10 when the owner will take a look at Pickering streets. The city has $13,030.29 in the street fund as of June 3. The first estimate for street repairs was approximately $38,000. The aldermen and City Clerk Milt Sovereign estimated between $5,000 to $7,000 could be pulled from the city’s general operating fund to be applied toward the street project.

Recently, Smith and a Mid-America representative had marked the street areas needing repair. The council will need to decide what to do while Mid-America is in Hopkins.

Discussion was held on the city buying truckloads of cold patch and attempting to patch the streets. This led into a discussion of which streets the city should maintain and which should be allowed to return to gravel.

The council voted to pay the current billing of $375 to City Attorney David Baird. A $510 past balance was also listed on the bill. Sovereign will explore what the amount is for before the council pays it.

The court ordered Eric and Shama Damgar to pay $200 toward the city’s attorney fees. The property has been cleaned up and a check for $100 has been received from Eric. The other $100 is to be paid by Shama.

Two children-at-play signs have been purchased but have not been installed. Sovereign plans to install the signs soon.

Sovereign has completed modifications to the north side of the sewer plant and has started on the east. He is lowering the wall and refastening the vinyl liner to prolong the life of the plant. When he is finished, more gravel will need to be added.