SILVER LAKE - Silver Lake's stormwater drainage project is well underway, but no start date has been set for construction.
Joe Tierney, of GRW Engineers, spoke about construction bids at Silver Lake's town council meeting Tuesday night.
The lowest bid was from Cripe Excavating.
"We have worked with them recently and looked into their references," Tierney said.
Tierney then gave the board an evaluation of the bid, along with copies of all of the other bids that came in.
"We're going in the right direction," Tierney told the board. "The contractor is very interested in the job and is very willing to work with you."
Later, Street Superintendent Jasun Blocher spoke about the project.
Blocher said the start date for the stormwater drainage project will not be set until after a final decision is made about a contractor. However, the board and the street department will continue to update Silver Lake residents as progress is made.
Many residents are concerned about how the construction will affect the annual Silver Lake Days festival in June.
"We'll do everything we can to keep the parade route the same as in the past, but we don't know," Blocher said.
"I hope people understand that this is better for us in the long run," Blocher said about the project. "Some adjustments will have to be made, but we'll do our best to make sure people are notified in advance."
Some small trees were planted last year along areas that will soon be torn up. Blocher told the board that his department is going to try to transplant those trees so that the money was not wasted.
Other news from the street department included leaf and limb pickup. The department will try to do a spring leaf pickup for one to one and a half weeks. Limbs will also be picked up soon.
Starting in April, the street department will accept bids for painting the water tower. It is not guaranteed that the project will be done this year, but the department needs to get bids to judge when the tower can be painted.
In other business:
- Town Marshal Craig Hollopeter reported to the board that Mark Hoppus is doing very well at the police academy.
Hollopeter also requested to put a child identification kit on the town's website. Parents would be able to fill out the information at home, and then bring their children into the police station to be fingerprinted. The kit should be online soon.
- Julie Reahard, deputy clerk, will be eligible for insurance as of this week. The board moved to approve insurance for Reahard.
"It's hard for anyone to get insurance right now," Clerk-Treasurer Angie Glass said, "so as far as I'm concerned, if we can help them out, we should."
- The board reviewed bids for mowing lawns that do not stand up to the town's lawn care ordinance. Scott's Lawn and Garden was the lowest bidder.
The board moved to accept the bid, pending verification of insurance. If the cost of insurance will change the bid price, the board will re-evaluate the bids at their April meeting.
The next meeting of the Silver Lake Town Council will be April 12 at 7 p.m.
