Harris grapples with gravel roads

By Danielle Strenke
The Harris City Council denied payment of a towing bill due to an impassable gravel road at its Monday, May 8 meeting, and later in that same meeting they told a local developer that they would prefer any new roads in the city to be paved.
Harris resident Joe Carchedi was granted preliminary plat approval at the council meeting for subdividing his land into four lots. One home is already located on the property; the subdivision would allow for three additional lots to be sold.
The approval came after much discussion of several items, including culvert size, ghost plat positioning and the roadway into the subdivision. At the time, the subdivision blueprint contained a cul-de-sac road, which Carchedi told the council would be gravel.
The preliminary plat approval was granted, provided Carchedi comply with requests to modify several parts of the plans for the subdivision. Carchedi told the council Monday he had met all the conditions set by the council.
ìThe streets will be gravel, we discussed that at some length last time,î he said.
Council members said the gravel debate, however, was not decided at the May meeting. ìWith all the problems and hassle weíve taken on gravel roads this year, itís got to be blacktop or nothing,î council member Don Cardinal said.
ìThereís nothing in any ordinance with the city or county that says it has to be paved,î Carchedi said.
City Attorney Kevin Shoeberg said after discussions with city engineers and city maintenance staff, he believed the city was unequipped to grade a gravel cul-de-sac.
The recommendation to pave the road also came from City Engineer Chuck Schwartz, who was unable to attend the meeting. Carchedi said he was told at the last meeting that as long as the road included an 18-inch culvert, the city would be willing to accept it as a gravel road. ìI believe that it was discussed to base that decision on recommendations from the city engineer,î council member Kathleen Olson said.
Shoeberg suggested tabling final plat approval to the agenda of an upcoming council meeting. The council is already holding a special meeting Tuesday, June 24 and will be checking with Schwartz to see if the final plat discussion can be added to that meeting as well.
The June 24 meeting is a public hearing for the purpose of the city vacating property along Golden and First Avenues. The property would return to Jeff Pfeffer, who owns the adjacent property. The city would never be able to expand those roads, and felt it was applicable to vacate the property and put it back on the tax rolls.
Several gravel roads within the city suffered from frost boils and at times were impassable this spring. The city received numerous calls and complaints from residents asking the city to improve the condition of the roads this summer. During one of the impassable streaks, a delivery driver became stranded. He had his car towed and subsequently submitted the bill to the city.
ìI donít recommend you pay this, if you do, better get the checkbook ready,î Shoeberg told the council. The council denied payment of the bill, and discussed the status of road repair projects with city maintenance supervisor Mike Kriz. He said he has been working on improvements for all of the roads in question.
Kriz also outlined cost estimates for replacing two defunct fire hydrants within the city, and repairing leaks in another. The two inoperable hydrants are located at the intersections of 439th St. and Golden Ave., and Grant Ave. and CR 9. He told the council that preliminary cost estimates are from $5,000-$6,000 per hydrant, and he could have the hydrants replaced within a week or so.
City water on the east side of the platted area would be shut down during the replacement project, Kriz said. ìHow long would the system be down?î Mayor Richard Hanson asked. ìTypically itís around four hours on this type of project, but it all depends ñ it could be double that,î Kriz said. The two hydrants would be replaced on separate days, he explained, with each one requiring water shut off for a few hours.
Mayor Hanson said residents in the affected area would be notified that the water would be shut off temporarily so they can plan for those two days. The leaking hydrant along Ginger Ave. should only take about 15 minutes to repair, Kriz said. He is fairly certain it will require a repair only.
Cardinal, as a member of the park board, invited council, city staff and residents to come to a work night at Schoolhouse Park tomorrow, June 12 starting at
7 p.m. The park board and other volunteers began work to clean up and make minor repairs to parts of the park on the city clean-up day in May, but several projects need to be completed, Cardinal said.

Top of Page

©ECM Post Review

6448 Main Street
North Branch, MN 55056
Telephone: 651-674-7025
Fax: 651-674-7026
E-mail: editor.postreview@ecm-inc.com