The Stanley Truck and Tractor Pull arrives Friday, June 6 at 6 p.m. in Chapman Park.
In the meantime a representative appeared before the May 5 city council with a request: to build the area off the north of the track up by replacing grass with blue granite.
Truck Pull spokesman Jack Leja set forth the rationale for the move.
"The reason I'm here is some of you were up at the park and I want--we, the truck pull group wants to make things better for the pull at the park," he said in public comment. "What I mean by that is that when you come up over the first road to come in, right next to the track, the entry, from the stop sign to the turn in the blacktop is approximately 80 feet. From the stop sign to that point and then 80 feet in a triangle. Put that in, have the dirt removed, put some webbing down, and then put blue granite in there," he said.
"So you're looking to cut that corner from the stop sign to the northwest?" Mark Fitzsimmons asked.
"Right," Leja said. "And the reason is you see last year, our track has to be what it is now for the WTPA, it has to be that long (450 feet). So the pullers coming around that corner, and their pull vehicles are coming across the grass, and it made a mess. And that is a low area. So we want to remove the black dirt and build that up and compact it with blue granite. It'll drain better, instead of being a hole there, and the pullers coming around won't make a mess." Leja went on to say the Truck Pull would pay for the work.
"We will pay for all this," he said of the blue granite install. "We just want the OK to do it."
"Is that just going to be granite or are you going to put breaker under it first?" Alderperson Keith Samuelson said.
"We're going to have Chuck come there and Joe from the city come and look at it," Leja said. "And determine what they want to do and whatever they want to do we're going to do."
"You'll have to put inch and a quarter down and put gridding down," Fitzsimmons said.
"Whatever it needs to be done properly," Leja said. "So can we have permission to do this?"
Alderperson Laurie Foster had a question for Leja.
"Who's going to keep up with the update maintenance?" she asked, clarifying she meant repairs and touch up.
"We'll maintain it," Leja said for the Truck Pull Committee.
"All right, sounds good," Foster said. No objections were raised after questioning. Top soil removed in the project would be prospectively used by the city for needs like cemetery maintenance.
In other news from May 5 meeting, the council approved consent and bills as well as two agreements with CBS Squared. The first agreement with CBS Squared was a professional services agreement to update city stormwater and utility maps, while the second was a supplemental agreement for professional services for the Stanley water source potassium evaluation study.
The council also approved a bid of $406,035 from Haas Sons for the West Business Park temporary road project. The road in question is 1,000 feet and located alongside property owned by Paul Kluck, with water and sewer included in the bid.
"It's not a lot of road but it's necessary," Fitzsimmons said.
Alderperson Josh Seidl abstained from the Haas vote, being an employee.
Also at May 3 council, the council discussed a city bike path extension, proposed to go from Fourth Avenue near the school to the library, then turning south on Emery to meet First Avenue before heading west on city-owned land. The portion on Fourth to Franklin would include 'no parking' signs, with shared lanes on Fourth from Franklin to Emery as well as on Emery to First Avenue. The path on First Avenue would go behind the seasonal shelter and come out north of the veteran's memorial headed west.
A public hearing on the proposed bike path extension is scheduled May 23 at 6 p.m. in city hall.
The council later went into closed session under state statute 19.85 (1)(f) to discuss Public Works employment concerns, per the agenda.