The Ava City Council agreed to split the cost of new tile for the Ava Senior Center at their regular meeting on Jan. 12.
Bonnie Evans, director of the senior center, presented a proposal to the council outlining five bids for the project, which would re-tile the floors in the kitchen, dining areas and hallway of the senior center.
“Our main concern is the kitchen, where the tile is coming loose,” Evans said. “We have the funding for the labor, we just need help with the supplies.”
The bids were in the $4,000 to $5,000 range, and were for commercial-grade tile.
The council voted to fund 50 percent of the project.
Next, Jackie Cornelius addressed the council about the parks and recreation department.
Voters approved a ½ cent sales tax in 2001 for the parks and recreation department, to be put in a special fund and used only for that department.
Cornelius encouraged the council to use leftover funding in the account to improve the parks and recreation department.
He also asked that a park board be developed, instead of an advisory committee.
A park board would have more control over the department and the ability to make short- and long-range plans.
Janice Lorrain, director of planning & development, reported on the MoDOT sidewalk grant.
There were 14 applications requesting money for sidewalk improvements, and Ava’s application was ranked 2nd out of the 14.
The grant is for $380,000, and Lorrain announced that Ava is the only city who was approved to receive 90 percent funding from MoDot, compared to 80 percent that other towns received.
The city will pay $42,000 for the sidewalks.
The sidewalk will begin on NW 12th Avenue across from the Roberts Centre, and will likely only be on the north side of the street.
“We’ll go as far east as we can, hopefully to Radio Shack,” Lorrain said.
The city sent out requests for qualifications for the sidewalk project, and received responses from 10 engineering firms.
“We had several out of St. Louis,” Lorrain said. “I was hesitant to recommend one of them, since they couldn’t come down here on a moment’s notice to check on things.”
She recommended Scott Consulting, which completed Phase 1 of the sidewalk project.
“Scott Consulting and Great River Engineering (which completed Phase 2 of the project), both did a great job,” Lorrain said. “However, Great River lost the engineer who was working on the project halfway through it, which caused some issues.
“The engineer with Scott Consulting helped with our cost estimate and has been very responsive.”
Mayor Leon Harris gave an update on the water line.
He said the project only lacks approximately 400 feet of line to the new water tower.
A total of nearly 3400 feet of line has been installed.
The council approved a lease agreement for a 1929 model fire truck with David Norman.
They then approved four re-zonings by request of the Planning & Zoning Commission:
Property located on SW 2nd Street and owned by the City of Ava was rezoned from B-2 (central business) to B-3 (general business).
Property located at 205 W. Washington and owned by Brent and Karla Davis was re-zoned from B-2 (central business) to B-3 (general business).
Property located on SW 2nd Street and owned by Thomas and Vicky Durham was re-zoned from B-2 (central business) to B-3 (general business).
Property lots 1-4 located in Pleasant Row Subdivision and owned by David & Dorothy Norman were re-zoned from B-2 (central business) to B-3 (general business).
The council then approved the December 2010 court docket and the accounts payable.
Council members present were Burrely Loftin, Judy Lovan, Billy Long and Ric Engelhardt.
The next regular council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 25 at 5 p.m. in City Hall.
