Sidewalk in front of Memorial will be removed

HARTINGTON — A portion of downtown sidewalk will soon be off limits to pedestrians.

Sidewalk in front of the new Hartington Veterans’ Memorial will need to be torn out as work on the site continues.

The Council got an update from Dan Kathol on the Veteran’s Memorial being built at the corner of Broadway and State streets.

Kathol asked the city for permission to remove the sidewalk.

Since the sand has been removed from the lot, sand from under the sidewalk has been hollowed out making the sidewalk unsafe, so Kathol asked permission to remove it and temporarily close the sidewalk.

Kathol said his hope is that new sidewalk can be put in place by late September or early October.

Before that can happen, though, quite a bit of work has to be done, he said.

Concrete walls must be built along the edge of the site. Once they are in place new dirt will be put into the site, which will be compacted. When it is complete the monument will be level with Broadway Avenue.

The top of the wall will be about three or four inches higher than the sidewalk grade.

A 42-inch fence will then be built on top of it.

“We have a very challenging lot to work with. It’s going to take time, money and effort, but nothing we can’t overcome,” he said.

Kathol said about 100 truckloads of sand has been taken out of the site and most of that went to the fairgrounds for three new sand volleyball courts that the Ag Society is building.

Kathol credited the work of Gayle Hochstein, Ken Hochstein, Laverle Heimes, Ron Arens and John Kleinschmit to help get the old dirt and sand removed and trucked away.

“They’ve really helped a lot. That kind of help — you just can’t say enough about it,” he said.

The Council also heard about two potential leases at their Monday meeting.

Laverle Heimes wants to lease a portion of city land between the city drainage ditch and his property. Heimes plans to haul dirt onto the ground to improve it, then use it to park equipment on.

Council members agreed in principle with the plan, but said they must first have the city attorney draft a lease. The Council also heard a proposal from U.S. Cellular to put an antennea on top of the city auditorium.

The company said they would agree to pay $500 a month to rent the space. They also indicated they would pay half the cost to upgrade the fire escape on the eastern side of the auditorium to make for easier access to the roof.

Wiechelman Repair gave the city an estimate of $5,000 for the repair work.

Councilman Roman Sudbeck, who oversees the auditorium said he feels both Wiechelman’s estimate and the U.S. Cellular proposal seem “more than fair,” to him.

The company is asking the city to sign a 30-year lease agreement.

The Council also approved three building permits Monday.

The Council approved a building permit for Neil Kramer to build a shed to the west of his house.

A permit was also approved for Jon Arens to build a roof over his porch.

A permit was also granted to Heath Walter for an addition to the west of his garage.

The next Hartington City Council meeting is slated for July 27, at 7 p.m.

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