Centerfield mapping out $1.5M road project, $200,000 will allow chip-sealing
James Tilson
Staff writer
4-20-2017
CENTERFIELD—Centerfield City is getting ready for an almost $1.5-million roads project to get underway soon.
At a meeting of the city council on April 5, Jaden Savage of Savage Surveying in Richfield presented his company’s projections for where and what kind of maintenance should be done.
“Now we’re getting somewhere,” said Councilman Dan Dalley as Savage rolled out the map of planned work.
The city has qualified for $1.47 million in a loan-grant combination for needed work work.
Through its planning, Savage the company had saved about $200,000, which Savage the representative said could be used to double chip-seal all the east-west roads in the town, in addition to the north-south roads
“We’re getting a lot of bang for our buck for $200,000,” Dalley noted.
Dalley urged the council to approve as much roadwork now as possible. “Oil is at a twenty year low, we need to do as much as we can.”
Councilman David Beck asked Savage if the city was required to spend the entire $1.47 million.
The answer was no, though Savage replied that any money not spent from the loan-grant would be deducted from the grant first. In other words, the city would be on the hook for the entire loan even if not all of the money was spent.
The council approved Savage’s plans, moving him forward on the project.
The council discussed other infrastructure concerns. Council members were concerned that developers were not fulfilling their obligations to maintain and repair the roads in their developments. Specifically, the council wanted sidewalks to be added to those roads.
Mayor Tom Sorenson wondered how the city would enforce that obligation, saying he had not seen any “paper” on that agreement.
Councilman Jaden Sorensen said he had seen references to such developer requirements in city council meeting minutes.
But minutes are not ordinances, and Dalley said, “I don’t there is a paper that we can enforce.”
The council referred the issue for the city’s planning commission to research.
Before the meeting adjourned, Mayor Sorenson reminded councilmembers that at their next meeting they would be deciding on five people to appoint to a committee to discuss a possible merger with the city of Gunnison.
Mention of the subject opened the door for council members to express fears over attempting a merger.
Jaden Sorensen told the council that he had spoken to another town in West Virginia that had completed a merger, and there were “hidden” issues that were not at first apparent. “You have to be aware of the debt, especially long-term debt.”
Jaden Sorensen said the merger had left the town saddled with a debt that could not be supported by the resultant tax base, and wound up harming the town’s infrastructure, and generally lowered the town’s standard of living.
Dalley also urged caution. “You can’t tell for sure what you are getting into until you get the raw-bone numbers.”
