Geneva plans, paves, purchases

By MARGIE TRAX PAGE - Staff Writer - mtrax@starbeacon.com
Star Beacon

May 04, 2008 10:13 pm

— GENEVA — In the infrastructure and paving game, winning is like a board of Stratego, where planning and patience wins the match.
“There is a lot of planning and thought that goes into deciding which roads get paved and which ones can wait another year,” City Manager Jim Pearson said.
Geneva has made several moves to resurface and prepare roads this year. South Eagle and Sherman streets are both on the list, Pearson said.
“We had our engineering firm evaluate both roads. It looks like we will resurface South Eagle and do a separate bid for base repair and drainage for Sherman Street,” he said.
Pearson said Sherman Street, which is craggy with holes and loose road material, needs a lot of base work, especially along the edges of the asphalt.
“This will prepare the road for resurfacing in 2009,” he said.
North Nearing Circle will be repaved soon, Pearson said.
The project, funded by Issue I money, will require the removal of maple trees along the road and a short section of deteriorated water line, Pearson said.
Crews need the right tools to do the best job, so the city will purchase a $60,000 street patching machine and a $30,000 Global Infrastructure System (GIS), Pearson said.
“The GIS system is a great tool that locates manholes, storm drains and other infrastructure points. It is a very, very accurate tool that translates to better efficiency for us,” he said.
The GIS will be used by the streets, wastewater, water and zoning crews, Pearson said.
Pearson said the new street patching machine will eliminate the need for expensive cold patch fill.
The city’s new gravel parking lot is complete and ready for use. The lot, located across the street from City Hall on North Forest Street, was purchased last year after the house on the property burned down.
Final work is being done on the East Main Street wastewater relining project, which included some storm water work on Woodlawn Street.
“We up-sized approximately 200 feet of storm water line at the east end of Woodlawn from 12 inches to 36 inches. This will prepare the storm water line for total replacement to 36 inches along Woodlawn Street to the Depot Street area sometime in the future,” Pearson said.
Emergency repair work was recently completed at the Geneva Wastewater Treatment Plant, and Pearson said the problems come around just like clockwork.
“For the last 15 years during the winter months, we have had to make numerous repairs on the water lines. This year we experienced a leak that our crews were unable to detect because f the depth of the lines,” Pearson said.
The city hired an excavating company to locate and repair the leak. In the process, the city officially abandoned unneeded lines and relocated necessary lines to a more convenient depth. The bill was $10,000, Pearson said.
“Now we can safely work on the lines if needed,” Pearson said.