The first thing is that the new bridge looks very, very good,” Kent Barby said of the City Public Works department and its efforts at building a replacement for the old wooden bridge that stands along the bike path near Fandry Park on Fourth Avenue. That wasn’t all that came up during the city council meeting Monday September 21 though. Not all spans are as quick to replace, and the planned Eighth Avenue car bridge is still delayed for bidding, at least until this coming spring.

“We are very concerned that if we try to bid this project and get it constructed fast track by the end of the year it will result in very high bids due to the current COVID-19 situation,” an email sent by Russ Kiviniemi of Cedar Corporation and received by the City on May 24 related of the Eighth Avenue bridge project. In addition to the high cost bid fears, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (DOT) currently has a two-month timeline to review the hydrology and hydraulics report for the Eighth Avenue bridge site, at which time the water and nearby ground at the site could be, well—you know. Things get cold here come late fall, and the earliest that construction might start on the Eighth Avenue bridge would be Spring 2021. That doesn’t mean the park at Chapman would be quiet though.

“Actually we did hear back from Cedar,” Administrator- Clerk-Treasurer Donelle Spaulding said in relation to word on a Community Development Building Grant (CDBG) the City had been waiting on before signing the contract with Market & Johnson. With just a few details left to work out with the state, the hoped for bridgebuilding grant was expected to get approved and construction to begin at the site by the end of October. The city previously awarded the $1.508 million bid cost project to Market & Johnson this summer, of which $1.15 million will be covered through grant and insurance. With no additional information forthcoming at the moment on the planned Community Center, there were still a few decisions and announcements to make.

“Let the public decide,” Alderman Jacob Huff said of whether stop signs should be placed at Fourth and Emery. This suggestion meeting with the council’s approval, there will be a public hearing on October 19th at 5:30 p.m. related to the stop sign issue at Emery and Fourth. Until then, citizens who may or may not have put out their own speed reminders should remove them forthwith, lest the city police department see the need to cite and fine them for causing a road hazard.

Finally at the end of this our recap, the city council meeting in closed session also approved the sale of land near Don Smith’s to Stanley Truck Sales Inc., with zoning details plus a public hearing still to come, plus the old railroad right of way included in the deal. In the meantime, those who may want to lay their hands on another building due west across the lake and soon to give way for the Chapman Park Community Center project should get ready to act fast, then read the details conveyed in next week’s paper—that is all.