Monday, March 06, 2006

College Drive Business Park Sewer


Folks have been wondering what is going on at the College Drive Business Park. Last fall, we identified the condition of the existing manholes on the sewer system running along the west side of what will be the new shady lake development. We knew that this is the opportune time to replace the manholes and pipe since there would be about 15 feet of cover over the pipes when the shady lake development work is completed.

The Commission approved going to bid last December and we received a proposal from Midland Construction of Kearney, NE.

Over 600 feet of new sewer line and manholes were installed in the past 7 work days. The weather opportunity has been good to us as well. Since there has been little rain, the condition of the work site allowed the contractor to move quickly.

The City Sewer Crew will run our sewer camera system through the pipe late Monday or Tuesday to check the construction. If everything checks out, the project will be complete Wednesday.

Thursday, March 02, 2006



Here is a photo from Monday 2-27-06 theater progress. Brick will cover the face of the metal building across the front and around the sides. The sides will be bricked back about 20 feet at th front and a product that I call Stucco will cover the exposed metal.

We cannot see it yet, but as the brick goes up the front, there will be features added that will simulate window openings like those showing on the building on the right.

Downtown Progress

We are making progress in Downtown. Yesterday was the opening day for the downtown grant process. Kirk Lowell made a presentation at the Commission meeting lastnight (3-1-06) and reported 6 applications were received and another four were in process.

The grant funding comes from a $50,000 allocation from the City which will be matched by a $50,000 low interest loan from Citizens National Bank and owner funds. The funds are divided 45% Grant funds, 45% Loan funds and 10% owner funds. If the property owner didn't want to secure a loan, their share is 55%. In each application, the City's maximum grant ($5,000) and bank loan ($5,000) will be $10,000. Any project where the total cost goes above the grant and loan limits will be covered by the owner.

The theater is progressing as well. The brick is going up on both the theater building and the adjacent Dumbbell's building.

With the progress on the theater and the improvements to our downtown buildings, we will see a vast imporvement to our downtown. It will be a place to be proud of again.