Kirkwood street improvements begin in June

The city council voted Tuesday night to assess curb and gutter fees, but Kirkwood Addition residents have five years at 0 percent interest to pay for their improvements.

In a separate but related vote, council members accepted the low bid to do the construction work, which was $2,155,586.36 submitted by TCMC-Commercial LP in Tyler, the same company responsible for the Main Street construction project downtown.

The bid is about $800,000 less than the city had antici- pated when it announced two years ago it planned to do the project, which includes widening and repaving several streets in addition to the drainage work and some water line replacement.

A couple of residents said they didn't want the improvements during a public hearing held during the regular council meeting, a couple more had written e-mails saying they could not afford the improvements as they were on fixed incomes, and three other residents said they were against the project. However, most spoke in favor of the multimillion dollar drainage and street improvement project and just wanted to now when construction will begin.

Councilmen asked Todd Williams, TCMC owner, if this new project would affect the downtown construction and he assured them it would not.

Construction in the Kirkwood Addition will likely begin by the end of June and the contractor has 360 days to finish. Work will begin first on: Dwain Drive, from Woodlawn to Everett Street; Kathleen Street, from Dwain to Chandler Street; and Hays Street, from Dwain to Roy Street. The project also includes: Everett Street, from Dwain to Clay Street; Roy Street, from Kathleen to 55 feet east of Redbud Street; and Redbud, from Roy to 630 feet south of Woodlawn.

The cost to residents is estimated to be $20 per foot for curbs and gutters and $35 per foot for driveway approaches. The actual cost for each resident will not be known until the work is complete and the council has accepted the project as complete, and at that time property owners will be assessed. The cost may actually be less to homeowners.

Tim Hobbs, the city's street director, said culverts under driveways and bar ditches will disappear and will be replaced with curbs, gutters and underground storm drains. Yards will become "nice, flat and smooth all the way to the back of the curb, just like other residential areas with curbs and gutters."

Ed Thieman, a professional real estate appraiser, said the curb and gutter work will increase the value of the properties "substantially more than the cost" of the work.

"I personally think it's very necessary for subdivisions in the city," Thieman said, adding that ditches breed mosquitoes. "In my opinion, it's a no-brainer and much better than bar ditches."

Another resident said his property on Redbud has been there for 51 years and he's never had drainage problems and didn't see the need for curbing.

Others said they favored the project and the council's idea to give residents five years at 0 percent interest to pay for their portion of the work.

The original resolution called for a 6 percent interest rate and the council discussed charging 4 percent after 60 months has passed, but members settled on a one-time 10 percent penalty on the balance of any resident's assessment after five years.

Property owners will have the option to pay the cost upon receipt or pay it out monthly or annually. They may also choose to pay their bills at the end of the five years.

Those who don't pay within 30 days of project completion will have a lien placed on the property until the assessment is paid. Once paid, the city will issue a release that must be filed at the courthouse by the resident to remove the lien.

Clayton Scales from KSA Engineers, which scoped the project for the city, said mailboxes and automatic sprinkler heads will be relocated and then placed back where they were. French drain systems will be tied into the new gutter system.

Scales explained the drainage system must function cohesively. Residents on Redbud might not experience drainage problems, but streets downhill cannot drain effectively if Redbud, on the upper end, is not included in the drainage plan, which calls for excess rainwater to drain into Turkey Creek.

The city held two public meetings about two years ago to gauge residents' opinions regarding the improvements and the projected cost to them for curbs and gutters in front of their properties.