The Cortez City Council voted on Tuesday to approve the agreement between Empire Electric to install streetlights on Seventh Street leading up to the school.
In June, Empire offered to install the light poles and lights for $42,500, providing that the city excavate roughly 2,500 cubic feet of trench for two transformers and the poles.
The plan would entail installing three lights on South Sligo and four lights on Seventh Street near South Madison Street.
While the city didn’t budget for this project specifically this year, City Manager Shane Hale said some funds can moved from the Industrial Park expansion project that likely won’t be completed by the end of the fiscal year.
“We had capital, we had budgeted this year, I think $800,000 for the development of the industrial park, while we do want to get going on that this fall, but I know there’s no way we’re going to finish it this year. There’s no way we’re going to spend that money this year,” said Hale.
When the project was discussed at the June city council workshop, questions were raised about the possibility of connecting the sidewalk from the Seventh Street bridge to the path in front of school on south Sligo. Public Works director Phil Johnson said construction estimates for a 7-foot-wide sidewalk to connect and finish the path came in at $26,350. Approximately, $4,000 of that work can be done by the Public Works Department. The remainder will be funded by the city’s concrete cost share program.
“We’re going to do everything we can in-house to keep those costs down,” said Johnson.