Ephrata council talks road repairs, flag project

EPHRATA — The Ephrata City Council considered a draft policy governing the use of the city’s newly approved street repair fund and an Eagle Scout project that would nearly double the number of flags on display along Basin Street on federal holidays.

Following the approval on the April 24 special election of a city-wide, 10-year, two-tenths of one percent sales tax increase to fund road maintenance and repairs in Ephrata, City Administrator Wes Crago was asking for some guidance from the council in crafting a policy to spend the estimated $220,000 in revenue the new tax the city forecasts every year.

“We want to be careful how we do this, we want to be transparent,” Crago said.

The state will start collecting the new sales in October 2018, but will not start transferring money to the city until January 2019.

Crago was suggesting using 75 percent of the money for preventative maintenance improving city streets, 15 percent for responsive repairs like patching potholes, and setting 10 percent aside as a “savings” to build up in the event of emergencies.

The council could adjust these numbers during its August budget hearings, Crago added.

The city administrator also suggested it might be prudent to set as a policy the creation of a three-year work plan based on an evaluation of the city streets, with 100 being new asphalt and 0 as “gravel, bad gravel.”

“We need a fair distribution of funds, so it’s not all spent in one place,” Crago said. “This will be as fact-based as possible.”

A formal policy and open process is important, Craig added, because it’s “the Ephrata way of doing business.”

However, council members wanted to make sure the apportionment formula was flexible enough to respond to changing situations. And several weren’t sure saving up for bigger projects is what the money is for.

“If we have a really bad winter and the roads suck, maybe we should spend 50 percent on responsive repairs and back off on saving,” said Council Member Valli Millard. “It’s not something we can really hard and fast decide tonight.”

“People voted on this to see action,” said Mayor Bruce Reim.”I don’t want to tie us into an automatic percentage that may force us to neglect issues.”

“This is largely meant to be fixing potholes and have a proper chip seal program,” said Council Member Matt Moore.

Crago responded by saying that in August of 2019, when the council will first sit down and figure out how to spend the road fund, the city will have “millions of dollars worth of work and $220,000 to spend.”

“We need to plan a little,” he added. “Process is important.”

The council made no decision on the matter, and will continue discussing the road maintenance fund policy.

The city council also unanimously approved the Eagle Scout project of Ephrata High School Sophomore J.T. Van Kirk to add 42 more flags from Second Avenue South to 11th Avenue South on Basin Street to be displayed on federal holidays.

Van Kirk said he intends to raise funds for the flags, flagpoles, and will work with the city’s Public Works Department to drill a number of holes in the sidewalk along both sides of Basin Street.

He told council members he hopes to have the work done and the flags added by Veterans Day in November.

“We’ll need additional help to get the flags up, but the Scouts will be able to do it,” he said.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached via email at countygvt@columbiabasinherald.com.