Hardwick City Council moves forward with street improvement project

The Hardwick City Council is considering street improvements on roughly 13 city blocks, and a cost analysis will provide options for how much work can be done for the best price.
Meeting in special session Wednesday night, Aug. 10, council members charged Gary Kurth of DGR Engineering, Rock Rapids, Iowa, with completing the study.
DGR has worked with Hardwick officials on projects in 1994, 2006 and 2007, which primarily involved seal coating.
The current project, however, would rebuild many of the deteriorating asphalt road surfaces.
“It’s a big challenge for any community at some point to make an improvement,” Kurth said.
Earlier this year Kurth estimated costs from $61,200 to $80,900 to rebuild and/or replace 2,420 square yards of street surface.
Cost to completely resurface 13 blocks — about 23,000 square yards — comes with a larger price tag. That amount will be unknown until Kurth completes the newest study.
Different cost options will be included in the study.
That advice was from attorney Don Klosterbuer who has worked with city officials on previous street improvement projects and attended the last two council meetings.
“Price out what your dream is and then determine how much of your dream you can afford,” Klosterbuer suggested.
The dream would be to reconstruct every street with options to rebuild and/or resurface individual streets based on the current condition and use.
Klosterbuer also explained funding options including special assessments, levy or a combination.
“Financing is the easy part compared to the project preparations,” Klosterbuer said at the July 14 meeting.
The final costs would stipulate the best financial option for residents, he said.
Council members did rule curb and gutter, which would cost more than $600,000 — too much for the city of 195 people to repay.
“I have a concern for people on fixed incomes like I am,” said Mayor Jan Baustian. “We want to keep (paved streets) for what value we’ve got here, yet at the same time we want to keep it reasonable.”
The council, minus Crystal Swenson who couldn’t attend the special meeting, agreed paved streets are positive assets for a community and approved the scope of the study.
Kurth estimated finishing the study in about 30 days.
In July the council conducted a public meeting to gauge residents’ support for street improvements. No one from the public offered any opinions at that meeting.
Since then several residents have voiced their support for improving city streets, said Mayor Baustian at last week’s meeting.
Hardwick resident Joan Kindt wrote an Aug. 9 email to council members.
“As a resident I am willing to share the burden of these upgrades through taxes and assessments as needed,” she wrote. “Hardwick offers a good quality of life and I wish to retain that for future generations.”
Baustian told the council that those feelings could change once the final cost estimates are received.
The Hardwick council’s next meeting is Thursday, Sept. 8.