Study would support Range View Drive project

By TOM LAVENTURE

[email protected]

Hurley — The Hurley Finance Committee on Monday will consider the cost of an environmental study to supplement future project proposals to improve Range View Drive.

The study proposal was introduced to the Hurley Public Works Committee on Wednesday by public works director Scott Santini. The study would be submitted with a grant application to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, he said. 

Public works committee chair Robert Lanctoe and members Jamey Francis and Tom Conhartoski deferred the decision to recommend the $4,000 environmental study to the finance committee. If recommended, the decision would go to the full council on Tuesday.

Funding for the project has been a challenge, but the environmental study report would be valid for four years for use in project fundraising and construction permits, Santini said. Approving the study now will avoid delaying the road project for a year, he said. 

The study is the next step in addressing reconstruction of West Range View Drive and 10th Avenue from U.S. 51 to the Hurley K-12 School entrance. The current road is uneven and only 21 feet wide without shoulders. 

The city’s application for a Multimodel Local Supplement program grant through the Wisconsin Department of Transportation would have funded most of the $934,766 project in 2020 dollars but was not approved. The DOT responded with a $450,000 grant offer in late 2020 which would require the city to provide a $484,766 match.

The city is attempting to partner with other entities to share costs including the school district and the town of Kimball, which owns a portion of the road in the project area. 

In other business, Wednesday, Santini said there are various water line and storm sewer main repair projects happening simultaneously to time the activity with road work. The work to improve Riccelli Park and the basketball court has reached the point of blacktopping, he said.

The department is moving forward faster than expected with its first phase of the lead and galvanized water line replacement project, according to Gary Laguna, city water manager. 

The project is possible with $200,000 in reimbursement grant funds from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. The two-year project allows up to $5,000 in reimbursement to replace lead or galvanized lines downstream from lead on a private property.

“It looks like we’re going to be able to do around 55 or so with the extra money that came in,” Laguna said. “I am hesitant to go over 50 right now (to avoid the possibility of going over budget).”

There are around 20 line replacements completed so far this summer, he said. If weather permits, there are around eight more replacements scheduled for next week.

“Yeah, it’s going good,” Laguna said. 

Francis asked about the process and how the residents involved are notified. Laguna said the residents are notified in small numbers to ensure projects are completed before the next group is notified to avoid possibly overwhelming department staff and the contractor, he said. 

“We move forward as the contractor moves forward,” Laguna said. 

The city may apply for the grant again in October, he said. This would allow the city to reimburse for more line replacements.

A resident present at the meeting inquired about city responsibility in regards to a sewer line issue. The resident’s sewer line is linked with a neighboring apartment building and is resulting in backups into the basement. 

Santini said he was aware of the situation and said the private lines were installed at a time when both properties were owned by the same family. The city would have notified the homeowners of opportunities to link the residential sewer lines to a new sewer main installed in 2007 but there were no requests, he said.

The committee members said they sympathized with the homeowner and recommended the first course of action to contact the apartment owner. In this way, it may be possible to share the costs of removing the joined sewer line and linking to the main.

“We can’t disconnect them from you,” said Santini of the city’s role in the matter.

In other business, the committee members mentioned the need to address settling of the roadway at the intersection of Copper Street and 5th Avenue.