St. Joseph City Commissioners have opted to proceed with the reconstruction of a city parking lot, but without several features they had originally sought. At a meeting this week, Public Works Director Greg Grothous told commissioners Parking Lot 12, behind the fire station and near Our Lady of the Lake High School, has been in rough shape for some time. He said the budgeted amount to replace the lot was $530,000, but the bid came back at $701,000. That’s when the city started taking features out.
“We did get it down to $598,000 by removing the electric vehicle charging stations, light poles, permeable brick pavers, street parking bump outs,” Grothous said.
Grothous said the work will still include drainage features and a strong base that will ensure the lot lasts for decades. Commissioners then talked at length about whether they should proceed with the scaled back plan and leave the addition of extra features for later, or try to add in some features now. Grothous noted the conduit to add streetlights, for example, will still be installed, so the lights could be added later. Commissioners also had to decide if they wanted to drop plans for seven parking spaces on the street to be made possible with bump outs. In the end, they opted to proceed with the scaled back project and seek the other additions later. Grothous said Hollerbach Excavating of Stevensville could get started on the project this month.
