Twin Lakes Main Street spruce up active again

This section of Main Street in Twin Lakes may be getting a facelift.

This section of Main Street in Twin Lakes may be getting a facelift.

Twin Lakes Main Street may get a new look after all.

The Village Board Monday unanimously approved the execution of a state/municipal agreement for the road portion of the Main Street Improvement Project.

The village could receive a $585,000 grant, which would cover almost all of the road related improvements included in the project. The village could then decide how much of other downtown improvements — including water and sewer improvement, sidewalks and trees — it might want to include.

Likely to be included if the project moves forward are sewer and fire suppression water system work that would be best placed underground while the road is torn up.

One aspect of the program caused some pause among the board. Because of the structure of the federal American Recovery Act grant that will fund the project, it will be directed by the state, not the village.

“I’m a little scared about this,” said Trustee Kevin Fitzgerald.

But village administrator David Cox advised that at least a road project falls well within the state’s expertise.

“The good thing is it’s a road project and they do those with their eyes closed,” Cox said.

The stretch of Main Street to be rehabbed would be from North Lake Street west to Burden Street.

The sewer and water system work could add another $400,000 to the  project, which could come from tax incremental finance district funding. In a TIF district, infrastructure improvements are paid for by increases in property values — and consequently tax revenue — within the district.

Planned downtown improvements were earlier put off when key new development in the TIF district fell through.

The village has not received official notice that it will receive the grant, but it is the only proposed project in the designated urbanized area that could use the federal money, Cox said.

If the village decided to pull out of the project, it could lose money paid for state review of plans, Cox said. He estimated that amount to be about $10,000.

In a related measure, the board also passed a resolution supporting the economic need for continuing angled parking in the project area. Such parking typically is not allowed in federal road projects.

However, the board resolution asking for an exception points out that the safety record of angle parking in Twin Lakes is good. Board members want to preserve the 30 to 40 parking spots that could be lost downtown if angle parking were eliminated.

Cox also said the village just learned Monday that it could receive state grant funds for some of the project aspects outside of the road improvements.


View Larger Map

0 Shares

Comments are closed.

  • Follow us on

  • Archives