Marsh Avenue makeover to begin soon, says engineer

By BRYCE KELLY

Mt. Pleasant News

Marsh Avenue will be getting a little makeover soon, or at least that?s the word from Jake Hotchkiss, Henry County engineer.

During Tuesday?s Henry County Board of Supervisors meeting, Hotchkiss presented the board with a contract for a purchase of land for highway easement on Marsh Avenue. The specific plans for the project will be brought up next week for signatures and approval from the board, but Hotchkiss did say the project involves a new bridge for Marsh Avenue, just north of Winfield Avenue.

Besides a teaser for the new Marsh Avenue project, Hotchkiss also informed the board that his staff will be going through the Alert-Lockdown-Inform-Counter-Evacuate Emergency Procedures (ALICE) training program. The training is largely due to recent board discussions about city and county employee safety.

In addition, Hotchkiss says that work will press on for 150th Street, east of Highway 218. This project has been slowed significantly by complications with rain, but Hotchkiss is confident in the progress that is being made.

?We placed rock on 150th yesterday and will continue that today on the one-quarter mile stretch. We also did some grading there,? said Hotchkiss. ?Ditches are drying up slowly and we have a larger crew out there this week in order to push some of the work along. We really appreciate landowner?s patience on this project.?

In other news, Supervisor Greg Moeller gave a sub-committee report on the Great River Housing Trust Fund. According to the latest meeting held in regards to the trust fund, seven applicants were approved for home rehab assistance.

?I am very happy to say that three out of the seven applicants for rehab assistance were residents of Henry County,? said Moeller. ?One was from New London, while the other two were from Mt. Pleasant and Wayland.?

Two applicants were also approved for down-payment assistance from the trust fund.

Marc Lindeen was last to present on Tuesday as he also had a sub-committee report. Lindeen announced that Great River Regional Waste Authority is working with Lee County to try and improve rural waste procedures in their county.

?Lee County is working to do something similar to Henry County as far as getting waste away from rural residents,? Lindeen explained. ?Lee County is also in the process of buying each rural community an area to place a trailer that will allow residents to recycle. The Lee County supervisors are really just trying to work with Great River Regional Waste to try and improve the rural waste situation.?

The next Henry County Board of Supervisors meeting will be on Thursday, Oct. 23, at 9 a.m., in the Henry County Courthouse. All meetings are open to the public.