SOLON — City Administrator Cami Rasmussen spoke at Solon Senior Dining Wednesday, July 26 providing an update on various happenings around town.
Watermain
project underwayThe watermain replacement project on Chabal and Elm streets is underway with work in-progress in front of Lakeview Elementary.
“The goal is to get the part in front of Lakeview done before school starts,” Rasmussen said. “Then they’ll have the rest of Chabal, and they’ll go up Elm Street.” The City Council accepted a $554,567.00 bid from Local Boring Company, LLC, of Morse, to replace the undersized watermain in the area. Once completed residents will see increased water pressure with a higher flow available for firefighting. $400,000 of American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) funding has been set aside for the project. ARPA provided $65.1 billion in direct aid to state and local governments to help in response to public health and economic emergency, protect infrastructure, and support governmental services; and was drafted in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Replacing aging infrastructure, including water and sewer lines, is permissible under the guidelines.
Solon Hardware Store update “You’ll see it looks like a prison in front of the store,” she said in reference to the cribbing, covered walkway, and fencing, which was erected before Beef Days to reinforce the front wall and protect against the possibility of falling bricks. The fencing, she said, will likely remain in place until contractors are ready to work on the structure. The March 31 tornado ripped the roof off and during repairs it was discovered that at least one of three layers of brick had come loose.
“We don’t have a timeline, they’re still trying to get bids, which are coming in very high,” said Rasmussen. “Once they decide on a contractor, it’ll be four-to-six weeks for the bricks to be made. It’s not going to be a quick fix.” She added the look of the façade will change with at least two designs under consideration. A consultant’s report examining the downtown area recommended updating the appearance of the Hardware Store along with El Sol and the Legion.
“Right now, it’s looking like it’ll be all red brick again and along the bottom (where the façade is wood) will be either white or light blue with the brick columns and some new windows.” Also, “They’re not going to put the big sign back up, they’ll maybe put up an awning. So, they’ve got some renderings with some ideas, but it won’t look like it does now.”
City Council meetings The Council meets the first and third Wednesday of each month at 5:30 p.m. at Solon City Hall, 101 N. Iowa Street. Agendas are available online at www.solon-iowa.com/195/City-Council and meetings can be viewed online via Zoom.
Rasmussen appears monthly at Senior Dining on the last Wednesday of the month.