City Council Meets with Main Street Business Owners Thursday, April 25—City Hall
On Thursday of last week, Soda Springs mayor Austin Robinson and members of the City Council met with Main Street business owners to discuss the proposed Main Street renovation project, present a tentative timeline for the construction process, and answer questions.
Mayor Robinson opened the meeting by presenting the idea that Main Streets are becoming something of a rarity across the country as downtown areas are becoming less focal to communities, and business is often spread throughout areas as a consequence of sprawl. “This is a chance for us to do something to make our Main Street last,” he remarked, before explaining the major goals for the project, which included upgraded lighting, new water mains, functional water shutoffs, curb and gutter improvements, and other upgrades.
Robinson noted that within the funding district there were over a hundred towns that had applied for the grant which is making the project possible, but that Soda Springs was one of less than a third of that number that had been awarded the funding to supplement the multi-million dollar project.
City Engineer Alan Skinner introduced the project by stating that a total of seven contractors had picked up plans for the project. Bids for the project were due by Monday of this week, and will be discussed at the City Council meeting on May 1. The project itself is not likely to officially begin until the first of June, in order to put all of the preliminary requirements in place. The project is anticipated to take somewhere between ninety and one hundred twenty days, with the understanding that some unforeseen developments were at least possible that might delay the process as a whole.
Following the overview, the floor was opened to questions from those in attendance, who were primarily individuals with business locations on Main Street which will be affected by the construction, members of the city crews involved in the project, and other interested parties.
A schedule for future meetings on the project was inquired about, and the mayor stated that meetings would be held as often as needed, but he and Engineer Skinner explained that they planned to hold meetings weekly at a minimum.
Responding to further questions, it was also clarified that the construction process would take place in stages, which would be planned to cause as little disruption as possible to the operation of businesses on Main Street. A range of related issues that would be involved were also discussed during the roughly hour long meeting.
Parking, traffic flow on the street, and sidewalk access were among the topics that generated a good deal of conversation and feedback. In order to disrupt street traffic as little as possible, construction will be limited to one section of one side of the street at a time, which should allow for two lanes of traffic to operate simultaneously, with few exceptions. Similarly, sections of sidewalk would be worked on at a time, rather than an entire streetside, which should minimize the amount of time any one business is directly affected in terms of accessibility to foot traffic. Benches and other structures utilized by the stores will be left in place for the most part, and curb and sidewalks will be worked around them.
Parking represents a longer term disruption potentially, as there is simply no way to make street side parking available in many areas of the project zone. The city plans to direct visitors to the parking lot behind Enders near the geyser (which is owned by the city), as well as the parking areas around the City Park to the east of the Main Street construction area.
Power and water to businesses should not be affected more than some very brief periods of times which are unavoidable as part of the process of connecting to waters lines.
Some business owners asked about the possibility of having additional work done on their properties during the construction period. The Senior Center, for instance, wondered whether it would be possible to replace their outside stairs while the contractors were on site in order to make the process as efficient as possible. Alan Skinner indicated that it would be easiest to discuss individual business concerns of that type in a one on one setting than a large meeting.
Several questions were asked about liability during the construction process, and business owners were assured that any damage that occurred as a result of the construction would be the covered by the city and the contractors and not the business owners.
Construction equipment will be staged at the county shops and other parking areas north of the City Park to minimize the impact on surrounding streets as well.
New sewer and water hookups to the main will be financed by the city at no interest for three years for businesses in need of replacing those connections.
Pedestrian safety during the construction process was discussed, with some consideration given to what forms of signage or other alert devices were planned, especially for children crossing the street. The potential for flashing lights, flags for use during crossings, and other increased safety precautions were mentioned.
Businesses were encouraged to inform their patrons ahead of time about the upcoming disruptions to the normal shopping routine, and the idea of creating a calendar of when and where construction would be occurring that could be viewed online was raised by Councilmember Gritton and considered a good step moving forward toward transparency and information distribution.
“The last thing we want to do is keep anybody in the dark,” Councilmember Ryan Carpenter affirmed. We want to do our best to make sure it’s as painless as possible.” Mayor Robinson agreed. “We plan to meet every week on this subject, and we want to keep people informed. I’m excited for it. What an opportunity to have someone pay for the bulk of the project, and change the whole look of downtown. We beat out quite a few communities for this.”
City Services Director Justin Hansen remarked: “I think it’s great that so many of you showed up—we have to do it in a way that’s sensitive to you all, but also do it right. There are going to be frustrating times and confusion, but in the event of concerns, bring it to city hall and we’ll try to fix it. We’ll to our best to respond where we can. If there are problems, please make us aware.”
Mayor Robinson closed the meeting by stating “Now it’s just getting a shovel in the ground. Please be patient with us.”
