TonganoxieMirror.com

Bridge work to cost $35,000

In a unanimous vote, the Tonganoxie City Council approved $35,000 on Monday for the design and construction of a temporary superstructure that will allow all traffic, including emergency vehicles, to cross the Pleasant Street bridge for at least the next five years.

Mike Yanez, city administrator, told the council of the plan for a new reinforced deck during a June 18 budget workshop.

"We could probably have a new deck on that bridge by Labor Day," Yanez said. "On the good side, within two months we are going to have a major bridge problem solved. On the bad side, the street will be closed for two or three weeks while this work is ongoing and the bridge is shut down, but I think that is a really good trade off considering our other options that the city faces."

Council member Jim Truesdell and Yanez, who attended a meeting with bridge engineers from BG Consultants, the city's engineers, agreed all that could slow down the project is finding the steel beams needed for construction.

"Our main goal is to get emergency services south of the bridge and get it done as soon as possible," Tonganoxie Mayor Mike Vestal said. "Lives are worth more than $35,000."

City Web site changes unveiled

Cheryl Hanback, Tonganoxie Chamber of Commerce co-president, presented to the council on Monday the new and improved design for the city's Web site.

Some of the new features include: breadcrumbs, which will allow users to keep track of where on the site they are; a search option that will help guide users through the site and help them find necessary city documents; driving directions that will link to a map of the city with the location of key points already flagged.

The new site will also include a section where users could send an e-mail to city staff and have them respond.

Hanback said that the Web site would be ready in a few weeks.

Budget work session set for July 10

The council voted to have a budget work session to discuss department budgets for 2008 for 6 p.m. July 10 in the council chambers.

Budget decisions won't take effect until after a public hearing and adoption of the budget by the council later this summer.

Airport board

The council appointed the city administrator to be the city's representative for any future meetings to discuss the possibility of building a regional airport in Leavenworth County.

On June 16, City Administrator Mike Yanez and Council member Jim Truesdell attended a meeting in Leavenworth to discuss plans for a regional airport. The meeting included city and industrial development officials from throughout the county.

Quorum change to be considered

Council member Tom Putthoff wants the council to consider adopting a charter ordinance that would allow two council members to speak about city business outside of the council chambers.

Kathy Bard, city clerk, said the city had already written an ordinance for this purpose, but it was never adopted.

The council directed City Attorney Mike Kelly to look into the matter.