SIKESTON -- The city will spend about $486,000 on streets and drainage projects this year.
Bids for the 2008 Street and Drainage Improvement Program were awarded during the regular City Council meeting Monday.
Approved were four bids: asphalt by Apex with Waters Engineering totaling $93,418.55; asphalt by Apex with Lambert Engineering totaling $162,877.10; concrete by Lappe with Waters Engineering totaling $102,906.10; and concrete by Kluesner with Lambert Engineering totaling $80,705.50.
With design and inspection fees of $24,358.26 for Lambert and $21,596 for Waters, the total for this year's street program comes to $485,861.51.
The city will also be contributing a local match of $95,000 toward a Downtown Enhancement Project to bring the total to $580,861.51 which is $26,461.51 over the $554,400 budgeted.
Council members also awarded 21 two-year mowing contracts totaling $66,384 per year. This is an increase of $720 per year over the contracts awarded in 2006, according to Jiggs Moore, parks division director.
Contracts were awarded to: Cox Lawn Care (four); Shannon Keller (two); Vernon Smith (three); Garden Lane (three); Bill Littleton (three); Jason Schuerenberg (five); and Nick's Lawn Care (one).
In other business Monday:
* Council members approved the acceptance of the Fiscal Year 2007 financial audit following a brief overview by Robert Essner of the Bucher, Essner and Miles accounting firm.
Among the highlights of the audit noted by Essner were that the city's net assets increased by $337,000, or 2.35 percent, during the year; the city's assets exceeded its liabilities by $14.67 million; and the fiscal year closed with combined fund balances of $8.1 million, an increase of $19,000 over the previous year.
* Several traffic control changes were approved by council members as recommended by the Traffic Committee.
Following the recommendation of Traffic Committee, council members first voted to not change Murray Lane at South West into a four-way stop by adding stop signs on Murray Lane as requested by a city resident.
Council members then approved changing yield signs to stop signs on Ann at Murray Lane and on Blanton at Dempster; approved putting in a stop sign on Ashley at Ables, on Cottonwood at Ables and on Harlene at County Line Road; and approved changing the north side of the S-curve located on Campanella's northern intersection, east of the Stephens and Campanella's northern intersection in the Sports Complex, to a yellow-curbed no-parking zone.
Even though parking was already prohibited on the south side of that area, with cars parked on the north side "it gets really tight," Moore said. Prohibiting parking there, Moore said, will "keep that open for moving traffic."
* Jeff Sutton will join the BMU Board of Commissioners.
The interim appointment of Sutton, which will run through September 2011, was made to fill the vacancy created by the death of George Swogger.
Mayor Mike Marshall recommended Sutton be asked to step down from his Housing Board position as both boards may be too much for one person to handle.