Council: Work to begin soon on paving project
By By Fredie Carmichael / staff writer
March 19, 2003
Paving and repairing of about 47 miles of city streets is scheduled to begin soon after Meridian City Councilmen voted to borrow $6 million to fund the work.
On Tuesday, Mayor John Robert Smith assured the councilmen that with the $6 million, city workers should be able to repair and pave all the streets on both the city administration's and councilmen's proposed list.
Councilmen voted unanimously to borrow the money which includes issuing general obligation bonds.
Tuesday's vote came about four months after Smith proposed borrowing up to $5 million for street repairs. The council upped the ante to $6 million last month to include more streets.
Councilmen said they will now begin looking at the combined street lists; work on the project could begin in the coming months.
City officials said the project will include more than just asphalt overlay.
In other matters, councilmen voted to:
Eliminate the use of receipts in order to be reimbursed for expenses incurred on out-of-town, work-related trips. Instead of turning in receipts, councilmen will now have to keep track of what they spend and submit that to city officials on the reverse side of a travel form;
Accept a $500,000 federal grant to repair the dam on the lower lake at Bonita. Public Works Director Monty Jackson said work should be complete in about eight months;
Postpone a rezoning case near a new Meridian subdivision Country Squire Estates that would re-establish parts of nearby land as commercial property.
About 25 residents attended Tuesday night's regular meeting and public hearing. The hearing will re-open April 15 at 6:30 p.m.
CLOSED SESSION
Meridian city councilmen closed Tuesday's regular meeting twice, asking residents attending to step out into the hall.
Councilmen first closed the meeting for about 10 minutes to discuss possible litigation involving a re-zoning case. Next, they closed the meeting for about three minutes to discuss the potential sale, purchase and lease of land.
No action was taken and councilmen would not be more specific about what was discussed.
