The Miller-Sibley recreation complex is one step closer to renovation, Franklin city manager Tracy Jamieson told city council members Monday.
Jamieson said local architect Amos E. Rudolph, who has been instrumental in the grant-writing process and creation of plans for the complex, has agreed to engineer the project to get it ready for bid.
“He’s willing to do it for $10,000, which is a really good price,” Jamieson said.
Jamieson said as of now, the entire phase one project is funded. This is mostly due to a series of grants the city secured throughout 2019 that total $620,000.
The 2020 budget also set aside $15,000 specifically for work at the complex.
This is all good news for Franklin’s Little League and men’s softball league, which both received approval from council to continue using the fields for 2020.
In other city upkeep concerns, council voted Monday to use $110,000 in liquid fuels money to pave parts of Elk and Buffalo streets this summer.
The decision comes after residents from the lower part of Elk near Komatsu and Outdoor Allegheny River Services spoke at meetings last fall on the deteriorating conditions of their road.
At one of those meetings, which was being held to decide how council would spend Community Development Block Grant funds, residents urged council to “find the money from somewhere else.”
Jamieson noted that her referral of that portion of the street for this project is, in part, a direct response to those community members.
On the other side of the city, Jamieson said the 1200 block of Buffalo is “in bad shape.” She also said a project slated to be completed this summer could fall short of its intentions if the road isn’t repaved.
Jamieson has said she believes the project will help bring foot traffic to Liberty Street.
The project also calls for changes to the parking lot behind Subway, an area that may lose a few spaces to make way for the handicap-accessible walkway.
Jamieson said that approving these repaving projects early will hopefully allow the bidding process to begin sooner and, in turn, lead to better pricing.
She said the liquid fuels money is enough for both projects, which includes both milling and paving, and each should be completed within three to four days once started if the weather cooperates.
