By Tina Kitt

The Wauneta Breeze

Wauneta has made some solid investments in their streets in recent years, noted Wauneta’s street engineer Greg Wolford of McCook, advising that this year the town put their efforts into maintenance projects rather than additional paving projects.

In the one-and-six-year street plan recommended by Wolford, no new street projects would be initiated in 2010. Instead, crack-sealing work would be expanded to cover as much area as possible.

Wolford commended Wauneta’s street crew for its aggressive efforts to get snow removed from the streets as quickly and as thoroughly as possible, pointing out that standing snow piles and ice packs contribute significantly to asphalt deterioration. To keep Wauneta’s streets in good repair up to 20 blocks will likely be crack-sealed this spring, at an estimated cost of $16,000 to $20,000. The community’s highway allocation funds, which will likely total $60,000 this year, can be used to cover this expense.

Wauneta’s six-year plan includes 10 proposed projects, all of which include water or sewer projects as well as street work. Five of those 10 projects were given prioritized designations, including:

• Valley Street between Pontiac Street and Willow Street.

• Wichita Street between Pontiac Street and Willow Street.

• Legion Street between Otoe Street and Shawnee Street.

• Pontiac Street from Wichita to Valley Street.

• Shawnee Street extending from Kiowa Street to the south end of Shawnee.

Other streets targeted for repair work down the road include the North Railway and Shawnee Street intersection, extending one block out on each street; Falls Drive; and Sioux Street.

One project that appeared on previous one-and-six-year plans that has been eliminated was East Park Road. At one time the graded gravel road that extends from the upper park playground area north past the lower picnic area and ball park was in line for hard surfacing. Among the possibilities discussed was packed millings or armor coating.

Due to increasing costs and the low amount of traffic this area sees on a daily basis, explained Wolford, that plan doesn’t seem practical.

Housing unit update

In recent months the board has fielded requests for financial assistance in making improvements at the Housing Authority apartment units in Wauneta.

During these talks some misunderstandings concerning insurance funds have arisen. As a result, Rick Einspahr and Terry Engell of HomeTown Agency, which handles insurance for the units, met with the board to help better inform them on insurance matters and to clear up misconceptions.

To date, explained Engell, $23,063 has been paid by North Star to cover damages suffered during a hailstorm in June 2008. Another $2,673 will be paid once siding damaged in the storm is repaired or replaced, bringing the total claim payout to $25,700, not $9,215 as had been reported to the board at their December meeting.

Repairs completed to date using insurance funds include $14,804 for roofing work; $3,970 to replace gutters and spouts; $3,375 for painting and surface preparation; $817 for repairs to glass, screens and sills; and $450 for air conditioner repairs.

Other areas of siding not damaged by the storm may need replaced also due to age and rotting, explained Engell, but that damage was not caused by the hailstorm and therefore not included in the insurance payout.

Since the Village Board’s December meeting, however, the Housing Authority Board has indicated that instead of attempting to have all of the units resided at this time they will instead proceed with having the structures repainted.

The board thanked Engell and Einspahr for helping clear up the matter and for going above and beyond in assisting the Village with its insurance needs. Later in the meeting Bischoff noted that the staff at HomeTown Agency has been invaluable in trying to resolve insurance claim issues relating to a damaged power bank in the alley behind Frenchman Valley Co-op which had to be replaced when hit by an Affiliated Foods truck making a delivery to the grocery store.

Village Clerk Evelyn Skelton also announced to the board that HomeTown Agency had recently presented a check to the Village totalling $2,500 to be used to help cover the cost of propane used to heat the swimming pool. The local insurance agency has made similar donations for the past three years, noted Skelton.

In other discussions, Bischoff told the board that work was nearly complete on the electric rate study being conducted for Wauneta.

He also updated the board on progress made on properties slated for demolition, noting that grant funds are being sought to help with costs.