However, the job is not done. The contractor, Kepple Sheet Metal, decided it could not match the finish on the rest of the fence, so the entire fence will be painted black. Parks Superintendent Dave Carpenter said the painting will be done as soon as we have a day of decent weather.
The fence was damaged when a motorist driving north on Main Street failed to stop at the square and plowed into the fencing.
Carpenter also reported that he met with Cody Clippinger from the Knox County Career Center Building Trades program and they decided to hold off on expanding the parking at the Harmony Playground at Memorial Park until classes resume in the fall.
“There’s just not enough time in May, with testing and graduation approaching,” Carpenter said.
Carpenter said he had met with the contractor, Tom Monahan, who will be painting the exterior trim at City Hall as well as the second floor hallway and Council Chambers. The exterior work will begin in mid-May and the interior work will begin about the first of June.
A project to repaint the second floor of the fire station has been completed, with the firefighters painting the entire second floor, a cleaning company stripped and waxed all the flooring and a contractor replaced all the baseboard molding.
The shade covers for the Barone Patio Community Foundation Pavilion were put up Thursday.
A new tractor/mower was delivered to the Parks Department Friday. An old unit was traded in.
Engineering
City Engineer Brian Ball said he had a preconstruction meeting with paving contractor Small’s Asphalt this week and it was decided that the paving program will begin with South Main Street from the Mount Vernon Avenue intersection south to the railroad tracks. Work should begin about the middle of the month.
Work is scheduled to begin Monday on the Main Street crosswalks, beginning at Ohio Street.
The city and middle school students will begin a tree planting project along Center Run and Delano Run.
The bid for the Newark Road water main extension came in below the engineer’s estimate and so will probably include the Dixie Drive segment.
Law General Contracting bid $487,227.79 for the base project, plus $498,942.24 for the Dixie Drive segment, for a total of $986,168.93. The engineer’s estimate totaled $1,079,190.
Appraisers and Ohio Department of Transportation are in the Belmont and Tilden area doing preliminary work for the safety improvements along Sandusky Avenue. Construction of the improvements is likely to come in the spring of 2021.
A closer prospect is a package of sewer and water line improvements in the area of Stump Street and North View. That could take place in the spring of 2020, said Ball.
Utilities
Director Mathias Orndorf said the small “push camera” for inspecting water and sewer lines is repaired and back, but he is still working on getting quotes for the bigger, self-propelled camera system. He said the department will be exercising valves in the Kirk Street area in preparation for the upcoming completion of water improvements in the area.
Streets
The Street Department spent four more days patching potholes, using 17 tons of asphalt, Superintendent Tom Hinkle said. They finished south end residential streets this week and will be moving to the east end next week. So far this season, they have used 75 tons of hot mix patching potholes and still have several residential streets, as well as asphalt alleys, left to repair.
The department removed, formed and poured a 60-foot section of curb and gutter on Upland Terrace to improve drainage to a catch basin.
The repairs to the street sweeper were to have been completed by Friday and Hinkle expects to resume street sweeping next week.
Another bad storm water tile has been discovered underneath Belmont Avenue at the Mansfield Road intersection when a sinkhole appeared. The repairs will require shutting down the intersection between Mulberry Street and Mansfield for two to three days while 100 feet of line is replaced. Work is expected to start the week of May 13.
Mayor Richard Mavis reported the police department has erected a speed and traffic volume monitor on a utility pole on East High Street. Besides notifying passing motorists on their speed, the device will provide data on how much traffic passes through the area.
He said they will see how well this works before obtaining a second monitor.
