Special meeting set for Dec. 19

The ongoing Environmental Protection Agency-mandated storm/sanitary sewer separation project is causing some concerns over its third phase, which is currently put on hold until negotiations between the city and Tribute Contracting and Consultants, LLC, can be reached.

Part of the third phase involves some of the city’s brick streets, in which they would be torn up for the project, and possibly not replaced with brick when the streets get put back together.

At the previous Finance Committee meeting before Thursday, a change work order to exceed project costs and repave the streets with brick was rejected unanimously, because the city only wants to use change work orders for unforeseen or unexpected occurrences during the project, which don’t include the bricks.

Budgeted for repaving brick streets with brick was $40,000. However, Tribute said it was going to cost an additional $50,000, making the total to repave the streets with brick $90,000.

A city ordinance states that any work done in the city must be replaced with what comes out, and a stop work order was placed on the third phase of the project until the city and Tribute can negotiate a deal.

Brent Pyles, a resident on South Fifth Street between Vine and McGovney, expressed his concern to Ironton City Council Thursday, stating he wanted to keep the bricks in place.

Phase four of the project needs to be designed and contracted by Jan. 31, 2017, and has an estimated engineering cost of $597,000.

Also at council:

• Ironton Mayor Katrina Keith expressed her interest in making city policies and procedures more efficient and said, in February, she and each department will meet to examine and discuss city procedures to make changes or improvements. An annual report will come out at that time. She also told council that a pre-construction meeting was had on the Memorial Hall improvement project.

• Council Chairman Craig Harvey requested a special meeting at 6 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 19, for the purpose of giving Ordinance 16-50, to adopt the temporary operating budget for the city of Ironton for the fiscal year ending Dec. 31, 2017, and declaring an emergency, a second reading and possible action, to give the mayor a chance to speak about the city’s accomplishments of 2016 and goals and challenges of 2017, to discuss the results of the finance director search and to give Councilman Chuck O’Leary a chance to talk about the goals he came into council with at this time last year. The special meeting will be open to the public, however, there will be no audience participation.

• Councilman Bob Cleary made a motion to adjourn the meeting Thursday before Ordinance 16-50 was given its second reading, stating that some council members did not receive their council agendas in the allotted 24 hour period before the meeting. The motion was seconded by Councilman Dave Frazer, and approved. Councilman Kevin Waldo and Councilwoman Beth Rist were not at the meeting.