GUNNISON— Several Gunnison roads are about to get a major facelift in the spring, thanks to the city securing $2.5 million in grants and loans for its road work projects.
The Gunnison City Council met with Ensign Engineering last Wednesday, Dec. 15, to discuss the $2.5 million budget and its allocation.
“Of that $2.5 million, $2.2 million comes from a grant/loan combination with the CIB, $200,000 comes from the UDOT grant ‘Safe Routes to Schools’ and $100,000 will come from the city’s savings account allocated especially for road projects,” Gunnison City Mayor Lori Nay said.
“We want to be ready for spring construction,” Nay said.
Both Kelly Chappell and Tyson Jewkes, from Ensign Engineering, approached the council to go over the final projects they will complete for Gunnison City by the spring of 2022.
Plans included grated inlets on the west and east sides of town with cleanup consisting of new storm drains with concrete piping. They will improve roads on 400 West and extend roadwork on 200 West to accommodate all of the new housing.
With a grant received from “Safe Routes to Schools with UDOT,” the engineers plan to add curb and gutter, with sidewalks, along 200 East.
Road work will also consist of plans to pulverize, widen and sealcoat the Cemetery Road and to add a bike path, pulverize and repave Industrial Road.
“Some power poles and a fire hydrant will have to be relocated, but all of these improvements will help with future development,” Chappell of Ensign Engineering said.
The council also met with John Mogle and Case Peterson to discuss building multi-family townhomes in higher density zoning areas.
“The biggest problem with high density housing is parking. They don’t leave enough room for visitor parking or more than one driver in the home,” Deanne Addis, city treasurer, said. “It needs to be zoned for such.”
Mogle will meet with the Gunnison City Planning and Zoning Committee to look at the parking in more detail and what specifications they can move forward under.
The city also hired a new attorney to look at current property disputes. Tim Pack from Clyde Snow & Associates will begin working for the city.
The council also discussed the approval of a new city manager position for Gunnison City, along with a timeline for interviews.
“A new hire would need a year probation to learn the job,” Mayor Nay said.
With the current policy stating that 4 or 5 councilmen could release the city manager without cause, many applicants did not want to apply. The council was willing to reword the policy and is looking into other cities and what their specifications are for their city managers.
“There would always be cause to let someone go from a job,” Councilman Rod Taylor said. “If you’re doing your job, you would not be let go.”
The council will address the policy in more detail at a later time.
