Walking trail deadline extended

Extending a construction deadline and selecting an engineer for the Kelley Park Walking Trail were several consent agenda items the McCook City Council approved Monday night at its regular meeting.

When completed, the 13.2 mile trail will loop in and around the city. The items the council approved Monday night concerned Phase I, that begins along the existing grass trail at East Fifth in Kelley Park to East H and currently has handicapped accessible ramps and Phase II, that will run in a northwesterly direction from Kelley Park to Norris Avenue.

For Phase I, the council approved an agreement with the Nebraska Department of Roads, that will extend the deadline from May 1 to July 1, to have a construction contract in place.

This is the second extension the city has sought concerning the construction contract for this phase. The first, approved by the council at its January meeting, moved the deadline for the construction contract from March to May of this year and was due to time spent obtaining property easements.

This time, the extension is needed as it will take three to four weeks for the NDOR to request the funds, which would take the project beyond the May 1 deadline.

To get things going on Phase II, the council approved an agreement between McCook and the Nebraska Games and Park Commission that calls for the project to be completed Sept. 30, 2009.

In a related item, the council also approved the selection of Miller and Associates for engineering services on this phase. The city requested quotes from several engineering firms, as required by the Nebraska Game and Parks. Out of seven requests, two quotes were received from W Designs Associates and Miller and Associates, both of McCook.

Miller and Associates offered the lower quote at $20,000, with the W Designs quote at $22,000.

A right-of-way certificate required by the Nebraska Games and Parks was also approved by the council for Phase II, that verifies that all necessary right-of-way easements have been acquired, although Phase II does not require any easements.