by Andy McCallister
The Crete News

An appearance by Crete Public Works Director and Street Superintendent Tom Ourada highlighted the meeting of the Crete Planning Commission Monday night at City Hall.

Ourada was there to detail the city’s one- and six-year street improvement plan to commissioners. The plan sets city priorities for upcoming street construction projects and is submitted to state authorities for approval on those projects in line for state and federal grant funding.

Past experience has shown that paring down the number of projects on the one-year plan to a small number helps in getting those projects approved, Ourada said, so the current one-year plan lists just three projects, all involving a portion of 13th Street.

They include the 13th Street project from Code to Jasmine, the West 13th Street Bridge project and the 13 Street repaving project between Hawthorne and Code.

All three projects have been in the planning stages for some time and stand to be paid for in large part with state and federal stimulus program funds.

Ourada called the 13th Street projects a “really good deal” for the city.

The Code-to-Jasmine section, which also includes a stretch on Iris from 13th north to the Crete High tennis complex, carries an estimated price tag of $3 million, of which only $200,000 stands to come from city coffers.

Ourada said that project is due for a late March bid letting if all goes according to plan.

The city budget won’t feel a big pinch from the bridge project, either. Eighty percent of the cost of the new $2 million span and approaches will be picked up by state and federal funds, with 10 percent coming from

Saline County and the other 10 percent, less a $50,000 contribution from Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad, from the city budget.

The Hawthorne-to-Code section of 13th stands to cost the city just $100,000 of the $1.9 million price tag, and Ourada said that would include new sidewalks and improved street lighting.

He added that during that project, the city would undertake to replace the 125-year-old water main that currently runs under that section of the street and make repairs to the sanitary and storm sewer lines as well.

Ourada said that many of the “gap paving” projects that have appeared on one-year plans in the past were moved to the six-year plan, where the City Council could debate on how to assess the costs.

At the top of the six-year plan was another stretch of 13th Street, from the tracks west to Tuxedo Park Road.

Second and third priorities on the six-year plan are two separate projects that would reconstruct and repave Boswell Avenue.

Ourada said that the well-traveled Crete arterial meets state qualifications for the 80-20 federal matching grant program. Currently, the specifications are for a 32-foot wide concrete roadway with four-foot sidewalks

from the Highway 33 intersection to First Street with a total estimated cost of $2.7 million.

The commission unanimously gave its consent to forward the one- and six-year plans on to the full council for its consideration.

Also Monday, commissioners asked for information on ordinances concerning the construction of towers on residential properties.

Ourada said that the city currently has no ordinances to prevent construction of wind-generation or other types of towers, which can be noisy and possibly dangerous to adjoining residents.

The commission will examine that issue in greater detail during its Feb. 23 meeting and continue their study of possible zoning changes in the northeast quadrant.