Hurley road work continues through fall

By TOM LAVENTURE

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Hurley — The city of Hurley Streets Department is working to get as many road and park projects completed as possible while the fall weather still allows.

In his report to the Hurley Board of Public Works Committee, street commissioner Scott Santini said there are various projects that can still be completed as the city prepares for the transition to the winter schedule. Other ongoing projects include paving the new basketball court at Riccelli Park, although the basketball poles and hoops may need to wait until spring, he said.

In his report, Hurley water manager Gary Laguna said the project to replace around 50 residential lead or galvanized steel lines is exceeding expectations. The project uses state grant dollars to reimburse contractors that replace lead and galvanized steel lines on private property from the homes to the city main connection.

The funding may make it possible to do closer to 60 replacements overall, Laguna said. For this construction season phase there will be a case-by-case assessment moving forward to determine which projects can be completed before winter — taking into account that projects requiring removal of sidewalks may need to wait until next spring, he said.

Laguna informed the committee of Robert Lanctoe, chair, Jamey Francis and Tom Conhartoski, that the city is again eligible for the lead line service replacement funds from Wisconsin for 2022-2023. However, he said eligibility criteria has changed somewhat and the earliest the city can apply is in January.

“But we will definitely apply,” Laguna said.

Regarding the transition of the city’s automatic water meter reading systems to the advanced metering infrastructure system, Laguna said that applications for two possible funding sources were completed. The first funding source said the city is eligible and the second source granted an extension for the city to provide additional documentation to complete the application.

“We will know by the middle of November if we are eligible,” Laguna said.

The two funding source opportunities will be reviewed and a recommendation on the preferred source will be presented to the city council, he said.

The Hurley City Council held a special meeting following the committee meeting in order to approve a resolution that authorizes a city representative to sign and file applications for loans in regard to the city’s water meter replacement project.

The city council went into an executive session to discuss strategies related to the police union contract and employee wages. The council returned to open session, taking no action on matters held in the closed session.