Next week, the Mower County Board of Commissioners will hold a historic bid-opening.

Friday, December 15, 2000

Next week, the Mower County Board of Commissioners will hold a historic bid-opening.

Bids for the proposed new multipurpose building at the county fairgrounds in southwest Austin are due Tuesday.

The county is proposing to build a building that would relieve some of the building needs at the fairgrounds while also providing a two-sheets-of-ice rink for Austin Public Schools, the Austin Youth Hockey Association and Riverside Figure Skating Club.

The project involves both public – the county and the city of Austin – financial participation as well as money from the private sector.

At last Tuesday’s regular meeting of the county board, the commissioners were reminded of the important date next week, but had no comment on the status of the project.

Also Tuesday, the commissioners briefly discussed the new four-way stop intersection along 18th Avenue NW.

County Engineer Mike Hanson reported the new intersection was providing better traffic control.

The intersection on the designated county road north of OakPark Mall was moved from west of the Indy Lube business to east of the same business, where it aligns with an entrance to the Cash Wise Food and Drug store complex.

David Hillier, Third Distract county commissioner, asked if stop signs inside OakPark Mall near the old and now closed entrance west of Indy Lube could be removed. "If you’re going to the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant, you have to stop and it’s really probably not necessary," Hillier said.

Hanson said he would relay the information to the manager of the shopping center, because the stop signs were on their private property.

Eighteenth Avenue NW is slated for major reconstruction in year 2002, when a joint city of Austin and Mower County highway improvement project gets under way.

The link between Fourth Street NW and U.S. Highway 218 is one of the most heavily-traveled thoroughfares in the city.

The discussion of one street prompted a discussion of another: Third Street NE.

The county is responsible for all bridges in Mower County, including those in municipalities.

The city blocked a portion of Third Street NE, prohibiting all traffic, including that of Arens Heating and Cooling to make way for its second upscale apartment project, Chauncey Apartments.

During the July flooding, Oakland Place, the street that runs beneath two bridges on Third and Second Streets NE was blocked by flood water which spilled over into the neighborhoods around the area.

"Why not fill it in?" suggested Len Miller, Fourth District county commissioner. "That would solve all the flood problems there and, besides, we’re responsible for all the bridges in Mower County," Ray Tucker, Second District county commissioner, said.

"It could be done, but it would be expensive," county engineer Hanson said.