FAIRMONT — One Fairmont City Council member cast a no vote on Monday against the 2019 street improvement program to protest the omission of Lake Avenue from slate of roadways scheduled for repairs.

At previous council meetings, Ward 2 representative Randy Lubenow has pushed for the repair of the western leg of Lake Avenue to the fairgrounds road, citing its need to be in good condition as an entrance to the city. He questioned spending money on resurfacing Lynn Street, a project on the 2019 list, which would impact a handful of homes instead of using those funds to fix Lake Avenue.

“I just want to say I’m disappointed we are not doing Lake Avenue. In my opinion, that is a higher priority than Lynn Street,” Lubenow said.

Troy Nemmers, city engineer/public works director, said that streets are evaluated every improvement cycle, which is every other year. The 2019 projects will focus on 5.3 miles at a cost of almost $6 million. The two most expensive projects are reconstruction of Winnebago Avenue from Highway 15 east to the gravel and Lake Avenue from Fourth Street to Downtown Plaza, a project budgeted for this year with construction in 2020.

Improvements fall into four categories: reconstruction of street and underground infrastructure, assessed at $80 per foot with an actual construction cost of up to $1,400 per foot; resurfacing only the road surface, assessed at $54 per foot with an actual cost of $350 per foot; overlays as a short-term fix by putting a 2-inch layer of asphalt to improve ride, assessed at $32 per foot with an actual cost of $150 per foot; and seal coating, a short-term fix to extend the life of an asphalt surface, assessed at the actual cost of $2.50 per foot.

Because only a portion of the actual cost is assessed to adjacent homeowners, the remainder of the funds must come from state aid, if available, and property taxes. This creates a limited budget for street projects, Nemmers said. The Lynn Street project is estimated at $155,000 while redoing the western portion of Lake Avenue could cost about six times that amount.

Residents living along the proposed street projects filled the council chambers, but Mike Humpal, city administrator, said that any appeals concerning assessments would be handled at a public hearing in October. He encouraged the residents to contact city staff any time between now and October to address their issues with assessments.

The council approved the 2019 improvement program by a 4-1 vote with Lubenow dissenting.

In other business, the council:

o Set public hearings concerning the expansion of Lakeview Methodist Health Care Center for 5:30 p.m. April 8. The hearings will cover the rezoning of a parcel of land from single family residential (R-1) to multiple family residential (R-3) and approval of the final plat of the Lakeview addition.

o Approved the mayor’s request to appoint Jon Omvig and Liz Wheeler to the Fairmont Planning Commission.

o Approved an event permit for the Borderline Cruisers Car Club to barricade several downtown streets for their car show on June 8.

o Approved an event permit for the Martin County Library to provide “Songs at Sylvania,” summer concerts and family activities on June 13 and June 20 at Sylvania Park.