Assistant Editor Jerry Lindsey wrote this report.
On Thursday, January 14, 2021, the City of Morrison held a Special Council Meeting, at 6:00 p.m. The location was the City of Morrison Community Room, 307 S. Madison Street, Morrison, IL.
Matt Hansen and Geoffrey Smith, representatives from Willett-Hofmann & Associates, Inc., provided details of construction, materials, maintenance procedures, and associated expenses–comparing a concrete surface to a hot mix asphalt (HMA) surface–on the Main Street Renovation Project. The project is due for the summer of 2021.
The concrete surface reflected a 45-year, present year worth cost of $108,968 over the proposed HMA surface. It was predicted by Willett-Hofmann that the HMA surface would require a patch and reseal every five years. A concrete surface has a history-proven, 19-year record of no maintenance.
Understanding the variance in maintenance of the two surfaces played a large part in the final vote.
Aldermen focused much discussion on the proposed financial needs currently being considered, which require up-to-two million dollars for new storage facilities, while continuing to maintain City streets. Alderman Dale Eizenga summed up the discussions when he commented, “I would love to have concrete, but that takes funds from our other necessary projects.”
After 45 minutes of consideration and reexamining details and previous decisions, a motion was made and seconded, to rescind the previous decision to surface the Main Street with HMA and approve a concrete surface.
The vote tally ended in a four-to-four tie, requiring the tie-breaking vote to be placed by Mayor Everett Pannier. He simply replied, “Concrete.”