Capital projects’ plan reviewed in Morrison

MORRISON – The Morrison City Council this week reviewed its capital improvement plan, with City Administrator Brian Melton providing updates about planned roadwork and water infrastructure improvements.

“Yes, there are more capital plans and things to do within the city, of course, but right now we’re focusing on the water infrastructure and the streets because in many ways these two portions of our overall plan affect each other,” Melton said.

Regarding water system improvements, the city is finishing up its Phase 2 plan for water infrastructure work and now is active in Phase 3. Phase 2 included upgrades to water meters to eliminate the practice of collecting meter readings and allowing City Hall to collect data with a wireless network. The work also connects water main from Milnes Drive to West Wall Street. The project is costing the city $1,079,772 and is funded with an EPA loan and $400,000 of loan forgiveness.

Phase 3 is work on water main infrastructure in coordination with the Illinois Department of Transportation’s project to reconstruct state Route 78 south. Water loops included in the project are from Carolyn Drive to Jackson Street, Randall Drive to Hilltop Drive and Prairie View Court to Genesee Avenue. The cost is $1,456,000 and is funded with an EPA loan and 50% loan forgiveness.

In Phase 4, the plan in 2024 is to add aeration to the water tower and include a water loop on Elm to Maple streets, which the city will fund in a manner yet to be determined. Water main and loop work from Larch Street to Morris and Wall streets would be paid for with federal American Rescue Plan Act funds.

Melton said the hope is that the city in 2025, during Phase 5, will be able to begin work on completing and connecting a 10-inch water main from a new line at Main and Clinton streets to Jackson Street. This $900,000 project would include a water loop for North Orange to North Genesee streets and replace and repair the valves at Prospect and Orange streets. The funding source is yet to be determined.

Melton said when that work is done, the city can move toward improving East Main Street from Clinton to Jackson streets and West Main Street from Orange to Heaton streets, possibly in fiscal 2026.

“If you’ve driven down [East Main Street], you better have a mouthguard in and strapped in tight, especially if you even want to try the speed limit, which I do not recommend,” Melton said, adding he is waiting for cost estimates for East and West Main streets’ work.

Melton said water work costs are easier to manage because of EPA loans and loan forgiveness. Roadwork is more difficult to pay for because it comes from two pots: motor fuel taxes and the 1% sales tax fund.

He said that while the city’s 1% sales tax fund is healthy – the city gets about $260,000 per year – some of that funding is earmarked for larger projects, specifically the Crocker Bridge in 2026. He also said motor fuel tax funding coming to the city is limited. The city receives about $150,000 to $160,000 per year in those funds. He said the city may have to consider completing a major road project every other year rather than every year.

Three street improvement projects are underway: South Cherry Street from Wall Street south to Winfield Street, North Heaton Street to the railroad and North Jackson Street from U.S. 30 to the railroad. As part of the project, some curbs and inlets will be repaired, intersection sidewalk approaches will be reconstructed and the road surface will be milled and overlaid with new asphalt. The project was awarded to Martin & Company, based in Oregon, with engineering services completed by Willett Hofmann & Associates of Dixon.

Those three projects come in at a combined cost of $379,400 and are being paid for with Rebuild Illinois funds and motor fuel tax revenue. The projected completion date is Nov. 1, 2023.

Road improvement work on the horizon, which Melton described as open-ended, includes improvements on the Crocker Bridge at Genesee Court, budgeted for fiscal 2026 at a cost of $300,000. Fiscal 2027 work includes improvements to North Jackson Street from U.S. 30 to Hazel Road at a cost of $250,000 and on South Jackson from the railroad to Elm Street at a budgeted cost of $200,000. The funding is expected to come from the 1% sales tax and motor fuel tax funds.

Also planned are improvements to all of Glenwood Drive and Diamond Court, both of which are budgeted for fiscal 2027. The Glenwood project is budgeted at $300,000, while the Diamond Court improvements are estimated to need $100,000 in funding. Dollars would come from the 1% sales tax and motor fuel tax funds.

Funds also are budgeted for roadwork from French Creek to Sawyer Road, with the Sawyer Road bridge, at a cost of $1.5 million. Costs are expected to be shared with the county. The project is included in fiscal 2027 planning.