SIDNEY — A virtual tour of the city of Sidney’s 2021 capital projects was presented during the Sidney City Council workshop meeting Monday evening.
Council members viewed the city’s annual update on the improvement projects this year for the parks and recreation, fire and emergency services, streets and utilities departments, as well as the Sidney Airport/public transport.
Parks and Recreation Director Duane Gaier kicked off the tour with a PowerPoint on the improvements at the parks.
Seven light poles at Custenborder Field were identified as needing replaced. The cost to replace seven wood poles with seven new wood poles, Gaier said, is $86,085. The inspection cost of the poles in 2020 was $1,775.
A memorial facility in the Aschenbach Grove, the site of Big Rock, at Tawawa Park, called Binkley Pavilion is expected to be completed during the summer of 2021. The structure is named after and in memory of William Binkley, the maternal great-grandfather of former Sidney resident Albert Binkley Dickas, who is sponsoring the structure. Binkley was the editor of The Sidney Journal from 1869 to 1905.
The project includes an asphalt drive leading up to a parking lot with a 26-foot circular pavilion. The cost of gazebo is $68,580, the parking lot is $34,541, and the recognition/interactive signage is set at $5,590. Gaier said an agreement is in place for private funds to be donated from the Community Foundation for the project.
A dog park at Deam Park has been in a topic of interest for several years, Gaier admitted. City Council has budgeted $40,000 for a dog park. Additional funds to create a dog park include a $5,000 donation from the estate of Richard Steenrod. Also, he said roughly $4,482.61 are held at the Community Foundation of Shelby County from donations made in memory of Joe Rudy.
The south play structure at Custenborder Field is set to be replaced this year. Each year, one to two structures are replaced, Gaier said. It will cost $30,119.45 to replace this structure. City Council has budgeted $37,000; the remaining funds will be used for concrete footers, gravel play surface areas and additional amenities around the play area.
Fire Chief Chad Hollinger discussed several updates within the Sidney Department of Fire and Emergency Services. He displayed a picture of the 2007 Horton medium-duty chassis medic unit purchased from Anna Rescue Squad. The unit replaces the department’s refurbished “van-style,” reserve medic unit which has had maintenance issues. The recently purchased medic was the same unit borrowed from Anna when maintenance was being performed on Sidney’s other unit, Hollinger said.
The cost of the purchase, maintenance, and re-lettering of the medic unit was approximately $30,000.
The fire department also plans to conduct a feasibility study on Station 2 using Freytag & Associates. Station 2 was opened in 1982, and originally had two firefighters stationed there, Hollinger said. Lack of room, as three firefighters are now stationed there, along with structural longevity, systems efficiency and storage concerns, prompted the study. The goal of the report is to reveal whether the building should be renovated or replaced.
The blacktop parking lot at Station 1 is to be re-sealed and striped in 2021. Hollinger expected the cost to come in much higher — around $14,000 — but with the help and connections of Street Supervisor Brian Green, the cost of the seal and striping was estimated at $3,788.10 from Superior Seal Coating. The repairs should extend the life of the parking lot an additional five years.
Hollinger also explained about and showed pictures of several tools the fire department has or is to acquire this year, including Hurst battery-powered hydraulic extrication tools, DrÄger Ucf-7000 thermal imaging cameras and Physio Control Lifepak 15 cardiac monitors.
