City hopes to move ahead with south side beautification project

A beautified entrance to Sidney is in the works for the intersection of 11th Ave. and Old Post Rd.

Scott Day of Urban Development Services spoke to the city council at Tuesday’s meeting about what he called a gateway to Sidney which would include a long stone wall with a lighted “Sidney” sign, as well as surrounding landscaping.

The project has been in the planning stages for quite some time. In the past, the council suggested that more work be done to beautify the entire intersection.

“This is one of the key entryways to your community from the south,” Day said. “And you’re going to have other new development occurring where a lot of visitors are going to be trafficking those areas, so it’s important that we say something special is ahead when you go in this direction.”

The stone that Day proposed for the wall ties in to other areas of the community. The columns and buildings at Legion Park, the Fort Sidney marker on the highway and many downtown buildings and area churches were built including the same type of stone.

“Aren’t we setting ourselves up for accidents at the corner to run into that sign?” Councilman Mark Nienhueser asked.

Day answered that if the sign is pushed much further north it would be on top of a drain. Moving it to the back of the property line would make it less visible. He did, however, agree that there is room for adjustment.

“I would say you could easily push it back 15 feet, no problem,” Day said.

Day presented a fairly extensive conceptual plan to beautify the intersection as well as a good portion of 11th Ave., but said it could be implemented in phases as the city’s budget allows. One portion of the project includes trees lining 11th Ave., in addition to a biking and walking trail from 11th Ave. and Old Post Rd. to Summit Drive or Village Way.

The west side of 11th Ave. regularly experiences some erosion. Day’s company proposed installing a storm drain of some kind to take care of this issue before work on a trail begins. This might be corrected with better landscape or turf practices, but as more development occurs in the area the problem could grow.

“I think it’s probably better money spent now to go ahead and put that drain in,” Day said.

He recommended a 10 foot minimum width for a biking and walking trail with a 5 foot separation from the street. Trees planted on both sides of the road could encourage drivers to slow down and provide a nice entryway to the city.

“Those are all positives for people entering your community,” Day said.

The conceptual plan includes a little more than 200 trees planted over a stretch of almost a half mile.

Jack Baker of Baker and Associates provided the council a cost estimate of around $70,000 for the sign and the wall. This estimate includes the landscaping and irrigation for the 5,000 square feet surrounding the sign.

The city has $100,000 budgeted for the corner.

The cost estimate for a wide trail with a storm drain would be around $380,000 verses $270,000 for a more bare-bones trail.

Many on the council expressed interest in the trail and tree portion of the project, and hoped that it could be funded in the near future.

“I like that idea of the trees and stuff and the path going all the way up there,” said Mayor Wendall Gaston.

Nienhueser wanted to ensure that there was enough space in between the trail and the road. He also expressed a desire that snow cleared from the road didn’t end up on the trail.

Hank Radtke, of the street department, confirmed for the council that a separation of five feet from the road would be fine for snow removal.

The council asked Day and Baker to put together a cost estimate for the sign project with landscaping for the entire acre and a half at the corner included. The council also authorized an engineering study to obtain more concrete concepts for the trail and tree portion of the project with an updated cost estimate.

“We’ve been playing with the acre and a half for a year and a half now,” Nienhueser said.

Nienhueser added that he’d like to see the corner portion of the project with the sign completed by the end of summer.

“At least it gives us something to start working towards,” Gaston said.