“Jacob is our president for another one-year term,” Mayor Al Haas announced of the Ward 3 alderman elected with 75 percent of the council vote at Monday April 17 regular council meeting. The council president acts in place of the mayor should the mayor be unable to run meetings or otherwise incapacitated, having no effective power at other times.

Following the election of Huff to the council presidency for another term, Brian Lambert of city engineering firm Ayres Associates updated the council on Pine Street and Second Avenue.

“We are working through all the paperwork and requirements on that,” Lambert said of the CDBG process for Second Avenue, with plans calling for a rebuild from North Franklin to Dahl Street on the road. A public hearing on the CDBG process is scheduled for May 8 at 1 p.m.

As to the Pine Street extension, Lambert shared that a bid opening was due to happen Thursday, April 20, RESCO to be granted access to the project site by September of this year.|

As to general site plans, Lambert shared that RESCO was seeking a variance on its driveway, the 85-foot driveway to have a 39.3 degree angle to accommodate semi traffic to and from the electrical warehouse to be built on approximately 15 acres in the city’s East Business Park. Lambert said Ayres recommended curb and gutter for the road, while alderman Jason Meyer had a question.

“Which way is the water going to run off their driveway?” he asked, being told it was back to site. Lambert said he didn’t see any safety issues with the design, while precedent was something to keep in mind.

“It is a business park with future development, so we feel you might be setting a precedent here,” he said.

A motion was later made by Mike Henke and seconded by Jacob Huff for RESCO to apply for the variance.