Phase one is getting closer to being let for bids, although that is not likely until next spring. This fall and winter, there will be many meetings between city officials and DGR to iron out the details. 

Some of those details include the width of the streets once the infrastructure is installed. Howard Street is a standard 37 feet wide, while Maple Street is much wider. The plan right now is to narrow the wider streets to a more affordable size. Main Street would stay as wide as it is now. 

In the next few weeks, there will be geological boring taking place in the areas where the streets will be replaced. Small three-to-four-inch holes will be bored to test the soil composition and then the streets will be patched in those areas. 

By the time of this printing, seal coating should be complete in town. Residents may wonder why the city would already be seal coating the new Northwest First Addition. Jeff Snyder said that the reason for this is that they have found that the sooner a street is seal coated, the longer it lasts. 

Next month the council will set their preliminary tax levy. This year they also need to give the state a preliminary balanced budget. Once the city sets a preliminary levy in September, they cannot go any higher than that when they set the official budget in December.