New playground equipment in Sunnyview Park and work on a sewer line project, as well as the purchase of a pick-up for the street department were items on the agenda when the Wayne City Council met on Tuesday.
A proposal from Creative Sites was accepted for the purchase of playground equipment in Sunnyview Park on Providence Road in Wayne. The cost of the equipment is $79,411.
City Administrator Wes Blecke said three requests for proposals were received and city staff felt the Creative Sites equipment would best fit the needs of the area. The ground in the area has already been prepared by city staff. Staff will also install the equipment and put in the edging and wood chips in connection with the project.
Discussion was held on the best way to move forward with the Wayne State College Foundation Alumni House Sanitary Sewer Line Project .
Casey Junck, Water/Wastewater Supervisor, told the council there have been problems with a lift station in this area for several months and his department has had to pump it out once or twice a week since that time. The lift station is out-of-date and Junck feels repairing it is not an option.
Council members debated what the city's responsibility was for making repairs as the area affected is owned by Wayne State College.
A bid of $17,585 was accepted from Kay Contracting, Inc. for work to be done. It is anticipated the work will be completed before the start of the new school year.
A bid of $29,499 from Quality Auto Sales was accepted for the purchase of a 2020 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 four-wheel drive pick-up truck. The bid was the lowest of three received for the vehicle, which will be used by the street department.
City Street & Planner Director Joel Hansen said the vehicle will replace a car that he has been driving. He noted that the car is not able to be used in certain circumstances and is not able to carry equipment when needed. The city will continue to use the car in other areas within the city.
A brief COVID-19 update was given with Wayne Area Economic Development Director Luke Virgil presenting information on a grant opportunity available through the state.
Virgil said the grant would be only awarded to one for-profit business. Both he and City Administrator Blecke said they felt it "wasn't the city's job to pick the one business that should receive the money."
Three ordinances dealing with parking on Wayne streets were presented during the meeting.
Following considerable discussion on restricting truck parking on an area on South Pearl Street, council members voted to table the agenda item until further information could be obtained.
It was noted that the city would like to keep trucks out of the residential areas, but the street on South Pearl is not wide enough for truck parking.
Council member Chris Woehler said that while he felt there was a problem in this area "if you prohibit parking in one area, they (truckers) will go somewhere else."
Council member Matt Eischeid said he did not want to create an ordinance that would blanket the whole town.
"There is no easy solution for this problem," Eischeid said.
Additional ordinances dealing with parking from midnight to 5 a.m. in the Southeast Quadrant of the city and prohibited parking in the Southwest Quadrant of the city were also tabled until a later date.
An ordinance amending the city code regarding liability of owners of animals was approved and the three readings waived.
The change will add the language "to injure any person, or" to the current language in the code. This will allow a person who is injured by an animal to hold the animal's owner liable for costs associated with the incident.
In other action, the council approved a request for funding assistance for the Wayne Community Housing Development Corporation (WCHDC).
The $20,000 will be taken from the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) budget and is a match for a grant received by WCHDC for daily operations.
Council members set the dates of July 21 and Aug. 4 for Budget Work sessions. These dates coincide with the next two regular council meetings.
Discussion was held on whether or not to continue using Zoom to allow the public and city staff to attend meetings. Also discussed was the location of upcoming meetings. Most of the council members preferred to wait to make decisions on these items until at least the end of July.
The Wayne City Council will next meet in regular session on Tuesday, July 21 at 5:30 p.m. The meeting location has yet to be determined.
