New London council questions best way to fix Cleveland Street

BY KARYN SPORY

Mt. Pleasant News

NEW LONDON ? How do you solve a problem like Cleveland Street?

There was no question in any of the five New London City Council member?s minds on Tuesday night that Cleveland Street needs to have something done, but what exactly?

?Denny (Bozarth, public works director) wants direction from us,? said Councilman Kirk Miller. ?Does he go back to just patching the sides or do we want to put any money into it at all??

?This is a major artery through town. I think this is something we need to look at getting done,? said Councilman Tom Davis.

Councilman Greg Malott said that back in 2011, the council had a suggestions box of sorts called, ?suggestions to the city.? Malott said one thing that seemed to be on every resident?s mind was the condition of Cleveland Street. Malott said he recalls at one point the city had prepped to do major repairs to the street, which curves off Elm Street and leads residents out to the baseball fields, but had to abandon the project as state funding fell through.

City project engineer Matt Walker suggested a possible solution called a crack and set. ?You just bust it all up and then put a thin layer of gravel and then maybe a four to eight inch asphalt overlay on top,? said Walker. ?The problem then is you?re building your road up, and I don?t know if you have drainage.?

Walker continued that a crack and set is usually difficult to do in a city because everything is suppose to drain into the street, curb and gutter. ?When you raise everything up, all of a sudden, it can?t drain,? he said.

?If we can only do half a block or a block a year, we need to start something on that road,? commented Miller. His fellow council members agreed.

Miller said the street would be put on the list during the budget process for next year and a ?good solid plan? could be constructed.

On the topic of streets, the council waived the second and third reading of an amendment to make South Maple Street a no parking zone, which came as a citizen request. The council unanimously approved the motion. The council, however, did not take any action on removing the restrictive parking signs behind the library, which was another citizen request. Councilmembers stated the only restrictive parking signs were the three right behind the library and they were for employee parking; the rest of the parking spaces were open to the community.

In regards to the Community Hall, City Clerk Kasi Howard asked the council what they wanted to do with the building. Much like Cleveland Street, the building, as a whole is an issue and the question isn?t whether something needs to be done, but what?s the best way to fix it.

?It?s definitely not in great shape,? said Howard. ?The question is do you want to keep cobbling it together or do a big repair??

?That building is a pit, a dungeon,? said Councilman Frank Staley. ?I hate to keep throwing money at it.?

Howard said the building leaks and there are places where daylight can be seen through the cracks.

The council decided to have someone look at the building just to see what it would take to fix it up.

During the latter half of the two-hour meeting, Davis addressed a discrepancy with the minutes published in the New London Journal on Sept. 7.

?What we get in our packets should be in the paper, I think,? he said. ?There is a communication gap between the city government and the people. People don?t know what is going on.?

City Clerk Kasi Howard said the paper prints what they are given and she sends the paper the entirety of the minutes. ?I wouldn?t delete anything from (the minutes),? said Howard.

Howard said when she sends the minutes, the only things not included are who made the motion, but only if it?s a unanimous motion. If it?s a split vote, she includes who voted ?yay? and ?nay.?

?I will look in my email and double check with the paper because I?m upset if it didn?t get printed the way I sent it,? she said.

Davis then suggested Howard read the paper to double check and make sure everything is printed accurately.

?This is something that would be wise to come to Kasi before a meeting so everyone is not surprised by what we?re talking about,? said Miller. ?So we could have done some research and read and seen what was not in there.?

In other business, the council:

? Approved the $38,496.28 payment for the Division Street Project to Fye Excavating.

? Approved the temporary closure of the 100 block of North Pine Street for the Monster Mash 5K run/walk on Saturday, Oct. 24.

? Authorized Kevin Bergman to use the Community Hall for free, twice a month, for Boy Scout meetings.

? Approved the purchase of a new computer and copier for the Public Works Department. The total cost was $2,054, which included the equipment, warranty, antivirus and installation.

? Discussed adding solar lighting to the welcome signs outside of town.

? Discussed scheduling short term/long term planning meetings to develop ideas and priorities for the city.

? Approved applying for the Surface Transportation Program. City Clerk Kasi Howard said she would contact Julie Lehman to see if she would be interested in helping with the application and see what her fee would be.

? Approved setting up a limb drop off site at the daycare. The site would be open only after major storms and would be declared open by the mayor.

The New London City Council will have a joint meeting with the Utility Board of Trustees on Monday, Oct. 12, at 6:30 p.m., at the City Office.