Litchfield City Council Meeting
The Litchfield City Council had a very full agenda last night and moved forward on several projects. The Council also listened to a couple of presentations.
Franklin Rech returned to the Council with his dream of having a skate park in Litchfield and presented the idea of using North Park for such a purpose. The Council asked city staff to put together a plan and a budget for a possible skate park at North Park.
Lee Martin from Meter Technology Solutions presented information to the Council on new electric and water meters. Administrator David Czoik says the meter project will take years to implement.
Czoik also presented information to the Council about current projects and financial planning, after which the Council moved to go forward with a funding plan from Ehlers, and approved of having Bolton & Menk proceed with the Civic Arena flooring project.
Chuck DeWolf from Bolton & Menk said 11 bids were opened on May 1st for the trunk sanitary sewer project next to the Civic Arena and C&L Excavating of St. Joseph had the low bid of $353,000.50 which the Council approved. He says 4 bids came in for the Airport A/D building improvement project, and the Council approved of the low bid from CJC Construction of $181,000 of which the federal government is expected to cover 90%.
The Council approved of a motion to move forward with the quote process for a project to improve the exterior of the library building which is estimated to cost over $500,000 and to use the remaining American Rescue Program funds for that project.
The Council approved of the purchase of a parcel of land from Gladys Johnson which would enable Johnson Drive to extend to 260th Street. Chuck DeWolf says an application for a local road improvement plan grant was successful for $1.5-million dollars for the project which is expected to take place in 2025 and 2026.
The Council approved of spending $15,000 for a gravestone restoration project at Lake Ripley Cemetery; approved of Litchfield Baseball Association applying for a strong beer license for town ball games at Optimist Park; and approved of the purchase of a T66 Bobcat from Farm Rite Equipment – with the trade in of a piece of 2016 equipment for a net cost of $42,950.
Also last night, the Litchfield City Council closed the meeting to further discuss the possible purchase of the Golf Club restaurant to Colin & Drea Kuechle.