The Yuma City Council heard from the public during last week’s regular meeting.
All seven members were in attendance at City Hall — Mayor Tim McClung Mayor Pro-tem Nathan O’Neal, Dan Baucke, Marc Shay, Jerry Thompson, Michael Fitzsimons and Jene Rutz.
Charlotte Parks addressed the council during public comment. She said she had read in the newspaper about the plan to replaced the pavers on S. Main with colored concrete. Parks suggested that instead of replacing the pavers, take the out, pour concrete to the proper depth, then reinstall the pavers. She said that would solve the problem of the pavers sinking lower than the sidewalk and the curb.
She told the council that she really likes the pavers, and that she thinks color concrete would end up looking tacky.
“They are beautiful,” Parks said of the pavers.
She added that she also did not like the idea of utilizing the pavers at the railroad crossing for pedestrian and bike traffic. She suggested using concrete for that.
Later in the meeting, Rutz said she also is concerned about putting the pavers at the railroad tracks, citing safety concerns. Baucke said he thought Parks had a good idea.
Dori Mekelburg also visited with the council about something else. She explained that the city’s girls softball program ends at the age of 12, so there is a gap from there to high school. Parents have been active in recent years getting the junior high-age girls in the Border League.
The Yuma team has been using the high school softball field for home games. However, it has been an issue because the field does not have lights, so games have had to be cut short.
Mekelburg asked if Yuma’s Border League team could play at the city fields at the Jeff Armstrong Ballpark complex. It would require a handful of nights on Tuesdays or Thursdays in May and June. She said the parents would pay all associated costs and line up the umpires.
When asked, she said they have visited with the City Recreation before but was told there was not availability. McClung directed her to visit more with the city.
The council considered a change order for the Third and Fourth avenues paving project. The engineering plans included drainage boxes constructed elsewhere and delivered for installation. However, contractor Concrete Specialties has told the city it can build the boxes onsite, saving considerable time and $35,000. The plan, though, has not been signed off by the engineering firm SEH. McClung expressed concern the city would be left holding the bag if the boxes failed sometime in the future.
The council ended up unanimously approving the change order with the stipulation Concrete Specialties provide detailed drawings to SEH for review.
Another change order, installing four new water service meters on Third Ave. was approved on a 7-0 vote, at a cost of $8,800.
A non-disturbance agreement with S E Municipal Colorado LLC was approved on a 7-0 vote. S E Municipal is the subsidiary of Sandhills Energy that installed the solar power field at the wastewater treatment plant. The agreement means the lease with the city will remain in effect no matter who owns the solar field in the future. It was explained that everything in the contract, such as liability, would transfer to a new owner.