At the Wednesday night Paynesville City Council meeting, residents along Highway 23 were in attendance to hear what the council had to say about the boulevards.
The narrow boulevards were sodded as part of the 1994 Street Recon-struction project. At that time, Highway 23 was widened to accommodate right turn lanes, leaving only two feet between the curb and sidewalk. As part of the project, the council decided to sod the narrow strip which runs from Washburne Avenue to almost Maple Street.
Joe Kremer, resident along Highway 23 and a city employee, met with his neighbors to find out how they felt about the situation.
Bob Jung, homeowner on the 300 block, said he has lived there 20 years and has worked hard the last two years trying to keep the space green, it can’t be done, he conceded. He urged the council to fill in the space with concrete.
The council had received letters from the Johnson Funeral Home and Community First National Bank urging their boulevards be filled in with concrete.
The council approved replacing the sod on the north side along Highway 23 from Washburne Avenue to the Brad Lingl residence just past Garfield Avenue.
In other business:
• Peter Carlson, city engineer, informed the council the underground pipe work was completed on the 1998 Street Project and subcontractors would be starting on the sidewalks any day. “Augusta Avenue has proved to be more of a challenge than the other streets,” Carlson said. “We found poorer soils which will need to be excavated to improve the base before the street can be paved.”
Carlson told the council all the streets should be completed (including sod work) by the end of June.