Skate Park Passes Inspection; Update on Truck Route
By John Earp
At the Monday March 24th meeting of the Jal City Council, City Manager Wesley Hooper gave updates on various projects, including the long-awaited skate park at Jal Lake. He noted that the bad cement had been removed and replaced. Concerning the redoing of the cement, he said, “We had an inspection. They did a fantastic job this time. Contractor that came in was their A team.” He said, “It’s really good. So we got what we paid for there. Hopefully, in the next three weeks we’ll have it completed. That’ll be the landscaping and the shape structure that still needs to go in. We’ll have it open for summer. It should’ve been last summer.” Mayor Aldridge asked if there was a planned date for opening the splash pad. Public Works Director Van Myrick said it usually was turned on around Easter, noting the sprinkler parts for the splash pad are extremely expensive, so avoiding a potential late spring hard freeze is necessary. Question was raised by Councilor Seifts about the utilities being put in north of the golf course. Myrick said the Woolworth Trust had asked for utilities to be put in north of the country club. Brian Snider, representing the Woolworth Trust, said that the utilities were being put in to facilitate a car wash on one side of Country Club Rd. and a golf facility on the other. Seifts asked about the purchase of the storage buildings at Third and Wyoming. Hooper said, “We contacted the owner and we had it appraised and the difference was quite a bit and the owner didn’t want to come down to the appraised price. That project is still ongoing. We’re not going to be able to make that radius as good as we’d like to, but we’re going to kick that off and get that radius to where it’s a little bit better.” Seifts said, “Them eighteen-wheelers making a right turn right there take up the entire Third St.” Hooper said, “Even with the new radius that we’re going to put in, they’re going to be able to make it, but northbound, they’re going to need some space. It’ll make it a little bit better, but it’s still going to be tight.”
Councilor Richard asked, “Are we at a standstill on the truck route? What’s going on with that?” Hooper replied, “I guess I should’ve talked about that. No, we’re not at a standstill. We actually will be getting the ground work for $500,000 for the right-of-way acquisitions. That’s where we’re at right now. Once we receive that funding, which we should probably about August. It was a capital outlay grant that was awarded to us. So, we’ll be able to get the right-of-way in place and then just keep moving forward piece by piece.” He continued, “The design is complete. We’ve just got to get right-of-way in place and figure out, phase it, depending on funding.” He said, “We received $500,000 from the legislature for the relief route. We also received $500,000 for the mechanical building at the new wastewater treatment plant.” Mayor Aldridge said, “The EMS building is paid for, right?” Hooper said, “Yes,” with Aldridge saying there was a lot of grant money involved, and Hooper concurring.
Councilor Ward made a motion to accept the City Manager’s Report, which was seconded by Councilor Chacon and approved by unanimous vote of the city council.