Street maintenance will be a bit more expensive in Iola this summer.
City Council members discussed costs Monday associated with their annual chip-seal maintenance program, which will cover much of the northeast quarter of town.
Last year, emulsion oil for the chip and seal process cost about $2.40 per gallon. This year’s oil supply will cost $3 per gallon.
Council members voted, 5-0, to accept a bid from Vance Brothers LLC of Kansas City, Mo., for the emulsion oil, which will bring an average tanker load to about $17,480, according to figures from Street and Alley Superintendent Jason Ellis.
Vance is one of only two vendors in this part of the country that makes the specific oil the city needs, Ellis explained, and was the only bidder to submit an offer this time around. (Ergon Asphalt and Emulsions of Kansas City is the second vendor, but did not submit a bid.)
“I think it’s just the nature of the beast with oil costs this year,” Assistant City Administrator Corey Schinstock said.
Last year’s oil price came in at about $115,000 for the chip-seal work.
City Clerk Roxanne Hutton told the Register Tuesday she expects this year’s bill to be slightly higher, noting the 155 blocks planned for the program this summer is down from previous years because the city is using a different maintenance process for Oregion Road.
The Street and Alley Department has $212,000 budgeted for the chip-seal work this year, which includes ditch cleaning, creak sealing and miscellaneous concrete work.
Council members Doug Kerr, Mark Peters and Joelle Shallah were absent.
COUNCIL members approved a request from Doug Desmarteau of Allen Community College to host a fireworks show July 2, following an Iola American Legion baseball game at the college baseball diamond.
Council approval is necessary because the show will include aerial rockets and mortar displays, which typically are illegal to shoot inside Iola city limits.
Desmarteau noted the college hosted a similar fireworks show last summer, which was well received.
The fireworks will be shot off from inside the track and field complex, well away from houses and other structures.
THE COUNCIL also:
— Approved a request from Allen County Relay For Life organizers to use the Recreation Community Building at Riverside Park for no charge for the group’s annual fundraiser June 20, and agreed to lift the curfew at the park until 2 a.m. the next day to allow for cleanup.
